Courtney Rosborough MS CCLS PTP: Courtney received her MS in Child Life and Pediatric Psychosocial Care from the Health Sciences department at McMaster University in 2017. She has been a Certified Child Life Specialist since 2014 and was initially hired as a Child Life Specialist at the Stollery Children's Hospital in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Since then, she has taken child life out into the community in non-traditional settings such as the non-profit organization, Kids with Cancer Society and private specialized services company Kids Uncomplicated. For the past six years, she has worked in an elementary/junior high school as an Emotional Behavioural Specialist. Courtney is passionate about collaborative communication, the power of play, and advocating for child life beyond the hospital walls.

Nikki Orkoskey, MA, CCLS (she/her/hers) is a child life specialist at the University of Maryland Children's Hospital, working with patients of all ages and developmental levels on an inpatient medical unit and outpatient radiology. Nikki has worked with patients who identify as gender diverse and their families in a variety of healthcare settings, both inpatient and outpatient. Nikki has a professional interest in educating professionals about evidence-based practice for patients who identify as LGBTQ+.

Alex Seabrook is Senior Child Life Specialist at Children's Health in Dallas, TX. She has been a child life specialist since 2016 and currently serves the neuro-oncology population. Prior to her role in oncology, Alex held positions in trauma and radiology. She is also a facility dog handler for the hospital’s Paws for Hope animal assisted therapy program. Alex serves on committees such as the student programming committee and Adolescents and Young Adults in Oncology and recently graduated from the Children's Health Emerging Leaders Acceleration Program. Alex is a formal mentor to several novice and experienced child life specialists and has supervised many child life students.

Caroline Thompson is a Certified Child Life Specialist at Children's Health in Dallas, TX. She earned her B.S. in Child Development from Texas Christian University and her M.S. in Child Life from the University of Georgia. She completed her internship at Children's Health and has been a child life specialist for three and a half years. She worked in inpatient cardiology for two years prior to transitioning to her current role in inpatient oncology. She participates in multiple committees within the child life department at Children's and is a student supervisor. Caroline grew in her passion for peer-to-peer mentorship due to her positive experience being a mentee to co-presenter Alex Seabrook.

Kyra Murdoch (she/they) is a Certified Child Life Specialist at the Stollery Children's Hospital in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Kyra has been at the Stollery since 2021 working in a multitude of areas including the pediatric emergency room and the inpatient play program. Beginning in December of 2022, Kyra began a new position covering both inpatient and outpatient pediatric mental health at the Stollery. Kyra achieved their MSc from Boston University (Wheelock College) in 2020 after completing internships at Boston Children's Hospital and Boston Medical Center. Kyra has a professional interest in advancing the support provided to children and youth experiencing mental health crises.

Andie Moore, MS, CCLS in her undergraduate years at Ohio University received a degree in arts and sciences with a focus of psychology and a degree in international studies with a focus of African studies. Andie decided to stay for another two years and obtain her masters of science in child and family studies with a child life concentration. Through multiple university opportunities, Andie traveled to the country of South Africa to work with various vulnerable populations and volunteered in Cape Town’s children’s hospital. She continued her child life volunteer work and student experiences in Florida and Ohio back in the United States. Andie has held her child life certification since March, 2019. Andie was a practicing child life specialist from April 2019 – November 2021. She worked in a regional hospital that had a pediatric unit and pediatric emergency room. Furthermore, Andie supported many children of adult patients and covered the regional hospital as a whole. She transitioned in November, 2021 into her role as an Administrative Program Coordinator to work for a program that supports unlicensed health care professionals—Patient Care Nursing Assistants.

Presenter Hannah Donofrio is a 2017 graduate of Child Life from the University of Akron. Throughout her collegiate years she spent time volunteering and in practicum with Akron Children’s Hospital in Akron Ohio. During this learning period, Hannah was active working with children of all abilities and diagnoses at Akron Rotary Camp for Children with Special Needs. Hannah went on to complete a child life internship at A.I. DuPont Nemours Children’s Hospital in Wilmington, Delaware. Following these monumental experiences, Hannah became certified and employed as a CCLS in 2017. Since this time, she has worked in a regional hospital setting in Northeast Ohio providing child life services across all hospital departments to children of adult patients, NICU families, inpatient pediatric patients, but primarily dedicated time to the pediatric emergency room. Hannah recently completed her master’s degree in Social Work through The Ohio State University where she concentrated on loss and grief during her field placement at Cornerstone of Hope Bereavement Center in Independence, Ohio. She continues to support children and families through their losses individually, and in support group settings at this agency. Hannah is also employed as a Caregiver Support Specialist for a hospital system beginning this role in July, 2021 where she dedicates herself to the holistic coaching and support of Patient Care Nursing Assistants (PCNAs) throughout the hospital system, to promote their personal and professional success. In this role she is able to utilize much of her experiences as a child life specialist and her education and training as a social worker to identify the barriers PCNAs are up against, and work towards resolving and learning from those challenges over the course of their first year of employment at the hospital.

Hilary Woodward, MS, CCLS is a child life specialist in the Pediatric Emergency Department at NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City. She is an adjunct faculty member at Bank Street College of Education as well as founder and director of the child life program at BASE Camp, a simulation-based training program in pediatric emergency medicine for physicians, nurses, and child life specialists (pembasecamp.org). In 2021, Hilary was elected to the executive board of INSPIRE (International Network for Simulation-based Pediatric Innovation, Research, & Education), and she is the first psychosocial professional to serve in this role

Hilary’s professional interests include simulation, interprofessional education and collaboration, and pediatric pain management; she has published and presented her work locally, nationally, and internationally. Hilary has served as a subject matter expert and item writer for the Child Life Certification Commission, and she is a past chair of the Association of Child Life Professionals' Mentorship Committee and Pre-Internship Work Group.

Annie Levinson, MS, CCLS, is a certified child life specialist living and working in NYC. After 3 years working in a traditional hospital setting, Annie recently made the switch to working in a community based setting in NYC. With the team at A Good Place Therapy, Annie is developing a child life private practice to help serve the community of Lower Manhattan and bring child life services outside of the four walls of the hospital. In addition to this work, Annie maintains per diem status at a local hospital in Queens.

Annie is thrilled to be attending her first child life conference with her colleagues from Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital- New York Presbyterian to present on the important work she was able to do while she was on their child life team!

Zach Pitkowsky, MD MPH is a pediatric resident at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center. He attended Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons for medical school where he collaborated with child life specialists on curriculum development and implementation for medical students. He grew up in New Jersey and currently lives in Cincinnati. Zach is excited about a career in pediatrics and continuing to collaborate with his child life colleagues!

Dr. Kihm earned her undergraduate degree from The Ohio State University, Master's degree in Child Life from the University of Akron, and Doctorate in Human Ecology from Louisiana State University. She is currently a professor of Human Sciences at Southeastern Louisiana University and graduate coordinator of their Child Life master's program. She's held certification as a child life specialist for nearly 25 years. Dr. Kihm teaches a variety of both undergraduate and graduate courses on child life theory, child health psychology, child life administration, and research. She has published over 40 peer-reviewed papers and given numerous presentations at the international and national levels. She has been awarded her university president's award for excellence in research and her latest grant will support research and collaboration with area children's hospitals using virtual reality technologies and high fidelity robots. Dr. Kihm will be presenting research she conducted using the Buzzy pain management tool with college students receiving Covid-19 vaccines and boosters.

Nabil El-Ghoroury, PhD, CAE, is a psychologist and principal at Executive Therapy & Consulting. He worked for 13 years as a nonprofit executive, including 4 years as a CEO. Dr. El-Ghoroury is a licensed psychologist who can see patients in over 30 states via telehealth, including DC, MD, VA, IL, TX, and NJ. He is available for individual counseling for your mental health concerns. As a global speaker, Dr. El-Ghoroury has spoken to many organizations on mental health topics such as stress and wellness, burnout, impostor experience, and creating a culture of employee wellbeing. 

After childhood cancer left her paralyzed, Rebekah Taussig has spent most of her life interacting with physicians and healthcare systems. She’s felt the impact of being seen as a medical object to study, and she also knows through her bones what a difference it makes to be treated as a whole person. Relying on a rich history of personal stories and research on the patient experience, Taussig makes a compelling case for patient-centered care.