Daniel P. Alford, MD, MPH, FACP, DFASAM

Associate Dean and Professor of Medicine

Daniel P. Alford, MD, MPH, is Professor of Medicine and Associate Dean of Continuing Medical Education at Boston University Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. He is on staff in the Section of General Internal Medicine and Director of the Clinical Addiction Research and Education Unit at Boston Medical Center. He is the course director of the Boston University Safer and more Competent Opioid Prescribing Education (SCOPE of Pain) program, which has successfully trained over 250,000 clinicians across the country.

He is past president of the Association for Multidisciplinary Education and Research in Substance use and Addiction (AMERSA). He has been recognized as a “Champion of Change” by the White House and has received the AMA’s “Award for Health Education”, the American Society of Addiction Medicine “Educator of the Year Award”, the American College of Physicians “Award for Distinguished Contributions to Behavioral Medicine” and the AMERSA “McGovern Award for Excellence in Medical Education”. His clinical, educational and research interests focus on safer and more competent opioid prescribing for managing pain and managing opioid use disorders.
 

Linda G. Baer, MSPH, CHCP

Grants and Diabetes Education Manager

Linda G. Baer, MSPH, CHCP, joined the CCE in June 2021. She researches and develops grant proposals primary focused on quality improvement initiatives and Project ECHO programs, collaborating with faculty, staff, medical writers, and external partners. Additionally, she develops and advises on the implementation of diabetes focused programming. She is also the Co-Founder & COO of ECHO Diabetes Action Network. Trained in public health policy and management, she has been in the field of continuing healthcare education since 2000 and has led continuing medical education departments at Joslin Diabetes Center, Harvard Medical School and Stanford University. Her expertise in creating education based on adult learning principles has led to the development of thousands of continuing education programs. While the Director of CME for Stanford, she built online programs that are nationally recognized for their innovation.

 

Michael Burk, BS

Senior Program Operations Manager - Projects

Michael Burk, BS, Program Operations Manager- Projects, has been with the CCE since 2012. Mr. Burk has over seventeen years of CE project management experience. He manages enduring materials, internet-based CE activities, international programming, and various live meetings conducted independently by the (CCE) or jointly with our educational partners.


 

Elizabeth Drury, BA

Senior Program Operations Manager, Compliance, RSS and LMS

Elizabeth Drury, B.A. began working for the CCE in 2007, as a program manager, working with our partners on jointly provided programs. She moved to Charleston, SC in 2010, where she managed the CME Department for four years. She came back to the CCE as a Senior Program Operations Manager, working with our outside Medical Education Partners. She has since taken over the operations for the regularly scheduled series. She is also responsible for accreditation compliance, annual reporting and the learning management system for the department. Elizabeth has 20 years of CE experience working on jointly provided and independently provided programs, enduring materials, internet activities, performance improvement programs, and regularly scheduled series.

 

Sophia Finfer, BA

Grant Manager and Developer

Sophia Finfer, BA, RYT-200, joined the CCE team in October 2021 as the Senior Program Manager for Grant Funding. She researches and develops grant proposals, collaborating with faculty, staff, medical writers, and external partners. While new to continuing education, Sophia has 10 years of experience in grant writing, public health, and higher education development. She is also a certified yoga instructor.


 

Emmett Grealish, BA

Administrative Coordinator

Emmett Grealish, BA Boston University Class of 2018, is an Administrative Coordinator who joined the CCE in September 2021. He supports the Grants and Contracts Manager and the Senior Program Manager, Accreditation and Outcomes.

 

 

Claire Grimble, CMP

Conference Operations Manager

Claire P. Grimble, CMP, is our Conference Operations Manager and has been with the CCE since 2001. She plans and manages all aspects of our directly sponsored and jointly accredited live conferences (in-person, virtual and hybrid). She has over 25 years’ experience in meeting planning and has held her Certified Meeting Professional designation since 2002. She is a graduate of Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.


 

Ilana Hardesty, MA

Assistant Director, Operations

Ilana Hardesty, MA,  joined the CCE as a program manager in 2007. Ilana has a background working as a project manager in several science and arts based organizations. Ilana is in charge of affiliate programs, Internet-based CE activities, and several of our enduring material activities. She is also Program Operations Manager for SCOPE of Pain, a multi-year project funded by the first grant awarded to address the FDA-mandated Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy for ER/LA Opioid Analgesics.

 

Alison Li, MPH

Program Manager – Quality Improvement and Educational Programs

Alison Li, MPH, is the Program Manager at the CCE. Alison has a background in public health, receiving her MPH degree in May 2024 from Boston University, School of Public Health. Alison began her journey with the CCE in 2023 as the Program Assistant to support the QI Hub using quality improvement tools and methodologies. She is now our Program Manager and supports quality improvement projects on behalf of Boston Medical Center (BMC) and Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian Medical School, Center for Continuing Education (BU CCE). Alison also continues to assist with the day-to-day operations of the QI Hub and coordinates all accredited continuing education and Maintenance of Certification (MOC). 

 

Naomi Moeller, BA, CHCP

Senior Operations Manager - Accreditation and Outcomes

Naomi Moeller, BA, Sociology and Anthropology, joined the CCE as a Program Manager in 2011 with over ten years’ experience working in Continuing Medical Education. Currently Naomi manages the Journals Program, multiple direct and jointly provided activities, live conferences and outcomes for various programs.


 

Catherine Pagliaro, BS

Program Assistant

Catherine Pagliaro, BS, is the Administrative Coordinator who joined the CCE in November 2019. She currently supports the office administratively and provides direct support to multiple CE programs, including SCOPE of Pain, SHIELD, the Journals Program and some conferences.



 

Andy Paraskevas, BFA

Senior Designer & Marketing Manager

Andy Paraskevas, BFA, joined the CCE team in 2012. He is our Senior Designer & Marketing Manager who handles all of the design needs for our website, promotional materials, email campaigns, and the general marketing of CE programs. In addition, Andy is responsible for ensuring BU marketing/design compliance throughout the office.

 

 

Denzel Samuel, BSC

Financial Analyst

Denzel Samuel, BSC is the financial analyst for the CCE team. He is responsible for all department wide financial transactions including processing, tracking, and monitoring day to day financial activities. Denzel is an experienced financial professional, and previously worked in financial services at State Street Corporation. Denzel earned his Bachelor of Finance and American History at Bentley University.
 

 

Natalie Sanfratello, MPH, CHCP

Senior Program Manager – Quality Improvement, Educational Programs, and Contracts

Natalie Sanfratello, MPH, is the Senior Program Manager- Quality Improvement, Educational Programs, and Contracts in the CCE. She began her tenure in 2015 as an Office Administrator and after several years of growth she now manages quality improvement initiatives and other large scale national continuing education programs. Natalie co-manages the QI Hub, the central QI educational resource for the Boston Medical Center (BMC) Health System, which is jointly provided by the (CCE) and the BMC Department of Quality and Patient Safety. Natalie serves as a manager and faculty member for our flagship quality improvement capacity-building program: the Improvement Leadership Academy. She provides consultative and technical assistance to members of the BMC community on their quality improvement projects. She completed quality improvement training through the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s Model for Improvement. Additionally, she helps to prepare and submit grant proposals and drafts and executes business contracts and letters of agreement. Natalie earned her master of public health degree from Boston University School of Public Health in 2016.

 

Ernestina Sena

SHIELD Administrative Coordinator

Ernestina Sena joined the CCE in April 2022.  As the School Health Institute Administrative Coordinator, she works with the program manager and director of SHIELD to offer customer service to our learners, to create activities in our learning management system, and to track registrations and financial transactions for the program.

 

 

Julie L. White, MS, CHCP, FSACME

Director

Julie White, MS, CHCP, FSACME is the Director of the Barry M. Manuel Center for Continuing Education (CCE). Julie has been with the Center since 1995, directing the day-to-day operations of the office. She is responsible for overseeing all accreditation, financial, and personnel areas of our operations. Julie has considerable experience in the area of adult learning, educational design, and program development. Julie has given numerous presentations at the Alliance and other venues including talks on performance improvement, re-accreditation, small group learning, and the interface of quality improvement and continuing medical education.


 

Lesly Zapata, BA, MPH

SHIELD Senior Program Manager

Lesly Zapata, BA in Neuroscience, is a program manager who joined the CCE in October 2020. She currently supports SHIELD (School Health Institute for Education and Leadership Development). She works with the Boston University School of Public Health Community Health Sciences to provide accredited educational programs.