Healthcare
IN THE HEARTLAND
Kinnick Event Center | Coralville, Iowa
SPEAKERS
Additional speaker bios will be updated as they are provided by the speaker.
List of Services
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Autumn Brunia, DO
Session: The Pscyhology of Pain
Autumn Brunia, D.O., is a faculty psychiatrist at Des Moines University Clinic – Behavioral Health. She also serves as a faculty member for the Broadlawns/UnityPoint psychiatry residency program.
Dr. Brunia specializes in treating anxiety, depression, PTSD, and trauma-related disorders, and provides perinatal psychiatry services and care for LGBTQ patients. She collaborates with primary care providers to ensure access to psychiatric care. As a doctor of osteopathic medicine, she also uses osteopathic manipulative treatment for pain and dysfunction related to trauma or conditions like anxiety and depression.
Dr. Brunia holds a business degree from Drake University and a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from DMU. She completed her psychiatry residency at Broadlawns/UnityPoint, where she was chief resident and received the Des Moines Resident Teacher of the Year Award. She is passionate about wellness initiatives and improving access to mental health services for Iowans.
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Dr. Alan Bolliger, DO
Session: MAT Addictive Medicine
Passionately devoted to creating healthy relationships by developing new beliefs and experiences for patients suffering from addictive behaviors.
Currently providing addiction medicine services to patients through Primary Health Care Inc. at 7555 Hickman Rd., Urbandale, Iowa 50325.
Graduate of Southeast Missouri State University with a B.S. degree in psychology, minoring in biology and chemistry. Graduate of the University of Osteopathic Medicine and Health Sciences with a Doctorate degree in Osteopathic Medicine. Graduate from Broadlawns Medical Center family practice residency program.
Experience practicing emergency medicine at Broadlawns Medical Center and Mercy Medical Center in Des Moines, Iowa for approximately 17 years. Practicing addiction medicine for the past 15 years, exclusively for the past 8 years.
Greatest achievement in my personal life is having the loving relationship I have with my family. Greatest achievement in my professional life is helping patients get free from their addiction by developing loving relationships.
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Dave Anders, MS, CCC-SLP, CBIST
Session: How to Communicate with Patients After Brain Injury & Stroke
Dave Anders, MS, CCC-SLP, CBIST, is an Iowa licensed speech-language pathologist who has been practicing in the field of acquired brain injury rehabilitation since 1997 and currently holds the position of clinical director at On With Life, a CARF accredited setting with brain injury and stroke specialty designations. Dave is a member of the Brain Injury Alliance of Iowa’s board of directors and has presented both nationally and internationally on a wide variety of topics related to acquired brain injury. He is a member of the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine’s Brain Injury and Stroke Interdisciplinary Special Interest Groups and has passions for the areas of rehabilitation philosophy and disorders of consciousness (DoC).
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Logan Murray
Session: Legislative Update & 2026 Outlook
Logan brings nearly a decade of government relations experience building and maintaining bi-partisan relationships at all levels of government. Through his previous roles as a political staffer and lobbyist, Logan has developed a reputation as a trusted resource for clients, policymakers, and legislators.
After graduating from Drake University Law School, Logan joined the Iowa House Republican Caucus as a Legislative Analyst and Policy Advisor. He drafted and analyzed proposed legislation for state and local government and labor committees. He also served as the primary staffer for the Transportation Budget and the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund. This role required Logan to have a thorough understanding of the political, fiscal, and industry impacts of approximately 150 bills per session and $500 million worth of appropriations. The diverse slate of bills gave Logan expertise in the public bidding process, gaming, alcohol, occupational licensing, and financial and election laws.
Upon leaving the caucus staff, Logan served as a multi-client lobbyist and attorney at an Iowa-based boutique law firm and later at a regional law firm where he represented trade associations, non-profit organizations, municipal governments, law enforcement, a casino, and national corporations.
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Sydney Gangestad
Session: Legislative Update & 2026 Outlook
Sydney is an attorney and lobbyist with over 10 years of public policy experience. In her various policy roles, she has developed a fundamental understanding of the legislative process and a non-partisan and bi-partisan approach to lobbying to help advance clients’ legislative agendas.
Sydney represents client interests at the Iowa legislature and executive branch. She assists in developing their legislative agendas and is active at the Capitol during session advocating for clients, and garnering support from legislators and other entities with similar interests.
As policy is made to implement legislation, Sydney represents clients before regulatory committees and testifies as needed in state agency hearings, and board and commission meetings.
Sydney also provides clients policy analysis and has experience educating constituency groups to inform members about changes that will impact them in proposed or new legislation.
Prior to joining Davis Brown, Sydney served as the Special Counsel and Legislative Liaison for the Iowa Judicial Branch where she represented the interests of the Iowa judiciary before the legislative and executive branches. She assisted the State Court Administrator and the Iowa Supreme Court in policy development for the state court system.
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Dr. Tom Benzoni
Session: EKG Workshop
- Basics of EKG
- MI by Geography
Dr. Thomas E. Benzoni is an emergency medicine physician in Des Moines, Iowa and is affiliated with multiple hospitals in the area, including Boone County Hospital and UnityPoint Health-Iowa Methodist Medical Center. He received his medical degree from Des Moines University College of Osteopathic Medicine and has been in practice for more than 20 years.
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Adam Bjornson, DO
Session: PA’s Role with Myofascial Release - Into to FDM Therapy
Adam Bjornson is an experienced Physician Assistant with over 17 years of clinical practice in emergency medicine and urgent care. He currently serves as an Assistant Professor at Des Moines University, where he is part of the didactic faculty for the Physician Assistant program, coordinating Clinical Applications courses that emphasize clinical reasoning, patient care, and problem-based learning. His diverse medical background includes urgent care, bedside ultrasound, sport medicine, wilderness and travel medicine. Adam's dedication to patient care and clinical education is complemented by his passion for continuous learning and global health. Looking forward to “Hands on Health” and improving outcomes using the Facial Distortion Model.
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Dr. Vuong Nayima, DO
Session: Eczema in the Primary Care Office
Dr. Nayima is Internal Medicine trained and board-certified in Allergy/Immunology. Born in Viet Nam, Dr. Nayima moved to Des Moines as a child. Dr. Nayima studied Biology at the University of Iowa before attending Des Moines University for medical school. He completed the University of Iowa - Des Moines Internal Medicine Residency Program at Iowa Methodist Medical Center in 2014 and his Allergy/Immunology Fellowship at the University of Alabama-Birmingham in 2016. Dr. Nayima then returned to Des Moines and founded Iowa Allergy in 2018, now with a permanent office in West Des Moines and Ankeny and outreaches throughout the state.
Dr. Nayima is a big proponent of medical education and serves as adjunct faculty with the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics as well as adjunct assistant professor of Internal Medicine with Des Moines University. Dr. Nayima also provides lectures and preceptorships to medical students and residency programs in the metro area.
Dr. Nayima's medical interests include seasonal allergies, food allergy, asthma, drug allergy, and immune deficiency.
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Nick Rains, PA-C
Session: Food Allergies\Intolerances
Nicholas Rains is a board certified and licensed physician assistant practicing full time in the Des Moines metropolitan area. Nick obtained his bachelor’s degree in athletic training from the University of Iowa before attending the University of Toledo, where he obtained a master’s degree in exercise science and sports medicine. He completed a year long athletic training residency program at the University of Michigan before attending Rosalind Franklin University for PA school. Upon completion of his PA degree, he practiced in rural family medicine in the Waterloo/Cedar Falls region.
In 2023, he and his family moved to West Des Moines where he was an assistant professor at Des Moines University in the PA program. He is currently practicing full time with Iowa Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology in West Des Moines and Ankeny, along with part time shifts at The Iowa Clinic urgent care. Nick also provides preceptorships for PA students to various programs throughout the state of Iowa. Medical interests include seasonal and year-round allergies, food allergies, drug allergies, and immune deficiency. Outside of work, Nick enjoys spending time with his wife and two (soon to be three) kids, golfing, and cheering on the Hawkeyes.
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Amy Epstein, CNM
Session: Pregnancy and Postpartum
Amy Epstein is a certified nurse midwife and advanced practice nurse with an extensive background in both high and low risk obstetrics. She took a non-traditional route to nursing, working towards her associates degree in nursing with 4 children at home ranging in age from 9 months to 13 years. After receiving her associates degree in nursing from DMACC, she worked briefly on a medical step down unit, and then for multiple years on a busy high risk OB floor. While working full time weekends, she received her bachelors of science in nursing from Chamberlain University. Shortly after finishing that degree, she accepted a position as Clinical Education Specialist on the same unit. She achieved her Master’s in Nursing - Midwifery from Frontier Nursing University. She has attended approximately 3,000 births over her career. She provides full spectrum midwifery care ranging from pap smears and birth control consults to multiple procedures, deliveries, and coordinating of obstetric care with specialists. Currently, she works at an FQHC, navigating the complexities of uninsured and underserved populations and balancing high quality care vs high cost. In her free time, Amy is a marching band mom.
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Britta Ten Haken, PA-C
Session: CBC Mini Sessions
Britta Ten Haken earned her Master’s degree in Physician Assistant Studies at Des Moines University in 2019. She has been at Mission Cancer + Blood University of Iowa Healthcare, a community oncology/hematology practice that serves the Des Moines metro and much of central Iowa since graduation. She has enjoyed precepting students from as well as guest-lecturing at DMU since 2020. Britta is passionate about empowering patients and students through education and goofy analogies.
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Christian Ostrander, PA-C
Session: Exercise Prescription and Migraines/Headaches in the Primary Care Office
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Hailey Huey, P.T., D.P.T., M.H.A.
Session: Pelvic Floor in the Pediatric Population
Hailey Huey is a physical therapist and assistant professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at Des Moines University. She earned her Doctor of Physical Therapy degree and Master of Health Care Administration degree at DMU. Huey’s clinical interests include treating individuals of all ages for orthopedic conditions, pre- and post-surgical rehabilitation, dry needling, pediatric developmental delay, and pediatric pelvic floor dysfunction.
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Aileen Berquist, MPS
Session: Advancing Healthcare: AAPA Update
Aileen Berquist is a Manager of State Advocacy and Outreach at AAPA where she provides support to 16 states and Puerto Rico. In this role she tracks policy and assists state constituent organizations through advocacy strategy, development of advocacy plans, training, capacity building, and technical assistance. She has a background in government relations, grassroots advocacy, coalition management, advocacy campaign development, public relations, and lobbying at the federal, state, and local levels.
Prior to her work in government relations and stakeholder engagement, Aileen built extensive experience working on candidate and issue campaigns and supporting communities through direct advocacy. Aileen is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (Botswana ‘12-’14), an alumna of the University of Kansas, and holds a master’s degree in Legislative Affairs from George Washington University. She is a proud daughter of rural Kansas.
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Nikita Kulkarni, PA-S
Session: Equitable Dermatology: Minimizing Diagnostic Delays of Acral Lentiginous Melanoma in Skin of Color
Nikita Kulkarni is a second-year physician assistant student at Des Moines University, with special interests in dermatology, oncology, and health equity. Nikita graduated from Marquette University in May of 2022 with her Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Sciences. During her gap year, Nikita accumulated a wide range of patient care experience working as an emergency department medical scribe, CNA on an orthopedics/ENT/spine unit, ophthalmic technician specializing in visual fields testing, and most recently, as a Mohs surgery technician. Some of her most transformative patient care experiences occurred in rural family medicine with medical service trips to both Honduras and Panama through the organization “Global Brigades.”
These experiences have solidified Nikita’s passion for improving diagnostic accuracy and addressing health disparities in underserved populations. This April, Nikita is working within the metastatic melanoma division of surgical oncology at MD Anderson in Houston, Texas. Her presentation, "Minimizing Diagnostic Delays of Acral Lentiginous Melanoma in Skin of Color," highlights the unique clinical presentation of this rare melanoma subtype and the critical need for early recognition. She is committed to promoting inclusive medical education and advocating for equitable healthcare practices in her future career as a physician assistant.
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Dana Obzut, MD
Session: Alexion Pharmaceuticals Sponsored Lunch Session - Treating NF1 Plexiform Neurofibromas: Case Studies
Dana Obzut, MD, is board certified in pediatric hematology-oncology. She earned her undergraduate degree in biology, magna cum laude, from King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and her Doctor of Medicine from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. Dr Obzut completed her residency at Rush Presbyterian Medical Center, Rush Children’s Hospital in Chicago and a fellowship in pediatric hematology-oncology at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia.
Dr Obzut’s clinical interests include leukemia/lymphoma, oncology supportive care, and ambulatory hematology. She is a member of the American Society of Hematology, American Society of Clinical Oncology, and the American Society of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology.