Leadership
Executive leadership team
Our leadership team is dedicated to advancing children's health in our community and is driven by a passion to put children first.
Elias Neujahr, MHA, MBA
President
Email: Elias.Neujahr@vcuhealth.org
Read more about our president.
Karen Hendricks-Muñoz, MD, MPH
Interim physician-in-chief, CHoR
Interim chair, Department of Pediatrics
Professor and chief, Division of Neonatal Medicine
Inaugural William Tate Graham Professor of Neonatal Medicine
Email: Karen.Hendricks-Munoz@vcuhealth.org
C.D. Anthony Herndon, MD
Surgeon-in-chief
Professor and chief, Division of Urology
Email: claude.herndon@vcuhealth.org
David A. Lanning, MD, PhD
Associate chief medical officer
Professor, Division of General Surgery
Email: david.lanning@vcuhealth.org
Jeniece S. Roane, PhD, RN, NE-BC
Vice president of operations
Email: jeniece.roane@vcuhealth.org
Matthew Schefft, DO, MSHA
Associate chief quality and safety officer
Interim chief and associate professor, Division of Hospital Medicine
Email: Matthew.Schefft@vcuhealth.org
Karen Webb, DNP, RN, NEA-BC
Interim associate chief nursing officer
Email: Karen.Webb@vcuhealth.org
Gisela Chelimsky, MD
Vice Chair of health care engagement
Professor and chief, Division of Gastroenterology and Nutrition
Email: Gisela.Chelimsky@vcuhealth.org
Marieka Helou, MD, MPH
Vice chair of education
Associate professor, Division of Hematology and Oncology
Email: marieka.helou@vcuhealth.org
Rajanya Shah Petersson, MD, MS, FACS
Medical director for ambulatory surgical care
Professor and section director, otolaryngology
Email: rajanya.petersson@vcuhealth.org
Frank Petruzella, MD, MS
Medical director of pediatric emergency services and strategy
Chief, Division of Emergency Medicine
Email: Frank.Petruzella@vcuhealth.org
India Sisler, MD
Vice chair of faculty development
Interim division chief and clinical director,
Division of Hematology and Oncology
Email: India.Sisler@vcuhealth.org
Gary Southard Jr., MBA
Senior administrator
Department of Pediatrics
Email: gary.southard@vcuhealth.org
Jessica Stewart-Collins
Senior administrator
Northside Campus
Email: Jessica.StewartCollins@vcuhealth.org
Lauren Doyle Strauss, DO
Vice chair of clinical operations
Chief, Division of General Neurology and Headache, VCU Health
Email: Lauren.Strauss@vcuhealth.org
Nursing leadership
Sharon Cone, PhD, RNC, NNP
Director of nursing for women and infants' health
Jennifer Farmer, MSN, RN, CCRN, CPN, CPST, NRP
Director of nursing for pediatric long-term care
Transitional Care Unit
Bridget Hutchinson, MSN, RN, CPEN
Director of nursing for acute care pediatrics, critical care and child life
Email: bridget.hutchinson@vcuhealth.org
Jaime Lovelace, MSN, BS, RN, PMH-BC
Director of nursing, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Email: Jaime.Lovelace@vcuhealth.org