Suzan “Suzie” Kardong-Edgren, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN, FSSH is an internationally known and award winning researcher and speaker in simulation and education. She served as the Editor-in-Chief for Clinical Simulation in Nursing, the journal of the International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning, for 10 years. She has published over 100 articles on simulation and education and serves on the editorial boards and as a reviewer for several education and simulation journals. Dr. Edgren holds fellowships in the American Academy of Nursing, the Society for Simulation in Healthcare, and the National League for Nursing. She has served as the VP of Research for the INACSL organization and the Chair of the Research Committee for the SSH. Dr. Edgren was a consultant on the landmark 2013 NCSBN National Simulation Study which led to published simulation guidelines for nursing programs in the USA. She has worked on a research team conducting CPR research studies for the last decade with the American Heart Association, Laerdal Medical, and the National League for Nursing. Her current research efforts focus on the use of simulation for recertification of certified registered nurse anesthetists.

She served as the Director of the SSH accredited Regional Research and Innovation for SImulation Education (RISE) Center at Robert Morris University in Moon Township PA. for 4 years. She also taught in the Drexel College of Medicine ‘s Masters in Medical Simulation program for 4 years. Dr. Edgren is currently a Senior Fellow at the Center for Medical Simulation in Boston and a Nurse Scientist at Texas Health Resources in Ft. Worth TX.

Janice C. Palaganas, PhD, APRN, ANEF, FNAP, FAAN, FSSH is the Director of Educational Innovation and Development for the Center for Medical Simulation (CMS) in Boston, Massachusetts and faculty for Harvard Medical School, Department of Anesthesia, and Interprofessional Studies at the Institute for Health Professions, Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Palaganas has developed a passion in teamwork from her background as an emergency nurse, trauma nurse practitioner, director of emergency and critical care services, and faculty for schools of medicine, nursing, allied health, management, and emergency medicine. As a behavioral scientist and former clinician and administrator, Dr. Palaganas’ passion is in using healthcare simulation as a platform for interprofessional education (IPE) and has served as a member of the National Academy of Medicine’s (Institute of Medicine) report on measuring the impact of IPE on practice. Dr. Palaganas’ primary role is to develop educators in an IPE setting. She led CMS’s Instructor Course educating educators in simulation globally and developed an interprofessional virtual campus as the principal investigator of a board grant awarded by the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation.

Dr. Palaganas has shaped the field of simulation, led the development of the Society for Simulation’s (SSH) Accreditation and Certification Program, was the editor-in-chief of two textbooks in simulation (Defining Excellence in Simulation Programs and Mastering Simulation 2nd Ed), authored several chapters, seminal articles and field-changing research including the national study for high-stakes assessment using simulation. She is currently the Chair of the Credentialing Commission of SSH with oversight over SSH Accreditation, Certification, Academy of Fellows, Dictionary, and Code of Ethics. She is a Fellow for the Academy of Nurse Educators, American Academy of Nursing, National Academy of Practice, and was part of the inaugural group of the Academy of Fellows for Simulation in Healthcare. She is co-podcaster on “DJ Simulationistas….’sup?” and “SimFails.” Dr. Palaganas has been an invited keynote speaker and visiting professor in 30 countries. She is currently leading the creation of the first PhD in IPE and the first PhD in Healthcare Simulation within the MGH IHP and CMS.

Matt Charnetski, MSMS, NRP, CHSOS, CHSE. Matthew is the Director of Simulation Based Education and Research at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, NH. He is actively pursuing his PhD in Medical Education at Maastricht University in Maastricht, Netherlands.

During his upper class years of study at Grinnell College in Grinnell, Iowa Matthew became enthralled with the rest of the planet while studying microbiology and anthropology in East Africa and Central America. Discovering a love for intentional travel, Matthew landed at the United States Antarctic Program based out of McMurdo Station in Antarctica. Matthew’s time in Antarctica was punctuated with time working in science support logistics and information technologies, as a member of the Joint Antarctic Search and Rescue Team, and as a member of the Field Safety Training Program where he was a field mountaineer and instructor for survival school and wilderness medicine courses. After seven years traveling the world and working in Antarctica, Matthew worked as a paramedic in central Iowa and as an application analyst and project manager for several different hospital systems implementing their electronic health records. 

He began work at Des Moines University as a Simulation Specialist in the Iowa Simulation Center. Shortly after starting at DMU, Matthew matriculated into the Masters of Medical and Healthcare Simulation Program at Drexel University. Continuing to grow in the field and seek new challenges, Matthew moved to Astana Kazakhstan to be the Founding Director of Medical Simulation and an Assistant Professor of Practice at Nazarbayev University before returning to the USA in 2017. His return brought him to be the Director of Simulation Learning on the Jonesboro, Arkansas campus of the New York Institute of Technology where he remained for several years before moving to his current position.

Matthew is Secretary of the Board of Directors of SimGHOSTS and serves as the Renewal Technologies subcommittee chair for the Internal Relations Committee for The Society for Simulation in Healthcare.  He works with inter professional teams to develop and update the INACSL Standards of Best Practice, specifically the Simulation Operations and Professional Development standards. He is a regular contributor the SimGHOSTS Blog, and serves as a mentor at IMSH and through SSH.  Matthew also served as one of the original members of the CHSOS Readiness Review Course Development Committee for SSH and taught these courses until becoming involved in question writing for the CHSOS exam.  Most recently, Matthew has served as a contributing author to both Comprehensive Healthcare Simulation: Operations, Technology, and Innovative Practice and the second edition of Defining Excellence in Simulation Programs.