STARS Team
Christopher Moriates MD
Executive Director
Dr. Chris Moriates is the Executive Director for Costs of Care. He is also the Chief of Hospital Medicine for the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, and a Full Professor of Clinical Medicine at UCLA. He previously served as the Assistant Dean for Healthcare Value, Associate Chair for Quality, Safety, and Value, and an Associate Professor at Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Moriates led the creation of the UCSF Cost Awareness Curriculum, the Dell Med Discovering Value-Based Health Care Interactive Learning Modules, and the U.S STARS Program. He co authored the book Understanding Value Based Healthcare (McGraw-Hill, 2015) and has published more than 75 peer-reviewed articles.
September Wallingford RN, MSN
Deputy Director
Ms. Wallingford is the Deputy Director for Costs of Care. She leads and supports multiple grants and subcontracts from various organizations, as well as develops partnerships with leading healthcare organizations such as The Leapfrog Group, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Ms. Wallingford is a practicing medical/surgical oncology nurse at a large academic medical center in Boston, Massachusetts, and has brought significant interprofessional insights to the Costs of Care team.
Anne Smeraglio,
MD
Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU)
Dr. Smeraglio attended Oregon Health & Science University for medical school then completed her residency in Internal Medicine at Stanford University where she co-launched a hospitalist track at Stanford in 2015, while still a resident, called SHAPE (Stanford Hospitalist Advanced Practice & Education). In 2016, she joined the Division of Hospital Medicine at Portland Veterans Hospital. Since returning to Portland, Dr. Smeraglio has served as a clinical teacher/attending physician for medical students and residents on the Portland VA acute care wards. She is the director for Health Systems Science for OHSU’s internal medicine residency program and runs a year-long longitudinal curriculum called Teaching Improvement Science (TIS) for the internal medicine residents. She has also served as OHSU’s STARS site director since 2018. She has research interest in the cross-section of education and health system sciences. Specifically, how to engage trainees in using improvement science to provide better, more affordable, more equitable and safer care for our patients.
Micah Prochaska, MD (co-chair)
University of Chicago
Dr. Prochaska is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Chicago. He is a clinical investigator and hospitalist clinician, and is supported by grants from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to study how red blood cell (RBC) transfusion for hospitalized patients with anemia affects their fatigue, activity, and fatigability levels after they have been discharged from the hospital. Dr. Prochaska is also the Associate Director and Co-Investigator of the University of Chicago Hospitalist Project research infrastructure, the University of Chicago Translational Medicine Program (CTMP), and the Cultivating Health & Aging Researchers by Integrating Science, Medicine, & Aging (CHARISMA) Program, which all train undergraduate students in clinical and translational research. Dr. Prochaska is an Associate Director of the MacLean center for Clinical and Medical Ethics and a Healthcare Delivery Science and Innovation Scholar at the University of Chicago, and the Course Director for the Pritzker School of Medicine 1st year course Introduction to Medical Evidence. Dr. Prochaska is also an elected member of the AABB Patient Blood Management and Clinical Transfusion Medicine guidelines committees, Chair of the Scientific Committee for the Society for the Advancement of Patient Blood Management (SABM), and a member of the research committee at the Society for Hospital Medicine (SHM).
STARS Advisory Board
William Silverstein MD, MSc
Choosing Wisely Canada STARS, University of Toronto
Dr. Silverstein is a General Internist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and an Assistant Professor (Clinician in Quality and Innovation) at the University of Toronto. Dr. Silverstein completed his medical school, internal medicine, and General Internal Medicine training at the University of Toronto, where he also served as Sunnybrook’s Chief Medical Resident. He has completed a Master of Science degree with a concentration in Quality Improvement and Patient Safety at the University of Toronto, an Editorial Fellowship at JAMA Internal Medicine, and a Healthcare Improvement Fellowship through Choosing Wisely Canada and the Centre for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety. He is currently an Editor of the JAMA Internal Medicine Teachable Moments Series, the Chair of the Canadian Society of Internal Medicine’s Choosing Wisely Committee, and is the Lead of Choosing Wisely Canada. His academic interests including implementing initiatives to reduce provision of low-value care, using health system databases to identify areas of low-value care; and leading educational programs to educate trainees and clinicians on how to incorporate high-value care into their practices.
Sandhya Tagaram, MD
UMass Chan Medical School
Dr. Tagaram is a STARS Faculty Mentor at UMass Chan Medical School. She is an academic hospitalist at UMass Memorial Medical Center, dedicated to advancing healthcare quality, patient safety, and medical education. She serves as a Unit Director, where she focuses on improving operational efficiency and patient safety. As the Quality Improvement Lead at one of her institution’s affiliated hospitals, she collaborates with care teams and leadership to drive meaningful improvements. She is passionate about shaping the next generation of clinicians through education, academic writing, and leadership, continuously striving to improve healthcare systems and deliver safe, evidence-based, and value-driven care.
Jhansi Raju, MD
Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
Dr. Raju is an Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at Loyola University and the TeleSpecialty Chief for the HSA 5.3 Clinical Resource Hub within the Veterans Health Administration. With over eleven years of VA experience, she previously served as the Section Chief of Ophthalmology at Edward Hines, Jr. VA Medical Center, where she initiated numerous projects focused on process improvement, quality, and outcomes. Dr. Raju has championed innovative approaches to care delivery, including the implementation of Technology-based Eye Care Services (TECS) at the Hines VA. In her current role, she oversees the delivery of specialty telehealth services bringing critical access to Veterans across rural and urban settings. As Director of Health Data Science for Loyola Ophthalmology, Dr. Raju works to integrate health data science with clinical operations, leading research to advance patient outcomes and quality improvement. She serves as a mentor to this year’s STARS Ambassadors at Loyola Stritch School of Medicine. She is also involved in health policy and advocacy, serving as a Student Alternate Delegate to the Illinois Delegation to the AMA, a member of the Illinois State Medical Society Council on Economics, and a member of the AMA Medical Student Section Committee on Health Economics and Coverage, where she reviews resolutions related to health insurance coverage.
Vincent Ooi, OMS4
William Carey University College of Medicine
Vincent is a medical student at William Carey University and a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned Honors in Molecular and Cellular Biology with double minors in Education and Global Poverty & Practice. His goal is to become a surgeon in private practice, and he is deeply committed to practicing medicine that is both evidence-based and patient-centered.
High-value care is at the core of Vincent’s approach to medicine—he believes that healthcare should prioritize outcomes that matter to patients while minimizing unnecessary costs and interventions. This philosophy guides not only his clinical work but also his broader professional efforts.
In addition to Vincent’s medical training, he stays actively involved in part-time clinical work, leads research focused on innovative and sustainable solutions in healthcare, and directs a startup project that provides free online education to low-income individuals in underserved regions. Vincent is passionate about nonprofit work and remain dedicated to addressing poverty, improving access to care, and tackling social injustices through both medicine and education.
Steven Gong, MS3
Stanford University
Steven is a Stanford MS3 and Health Equity Scholar (MBA Track) committed to transforming healthcare from a privilege into a right—starting with how medicine is financed, valued, and delivered. At Stanford, he helps lead the student-run free clinics, consults for health systems, and conducts research across the law, business, and medical schools. Before medical school, he worked at the White House, HHS, NIH, DOJ, and led a patient advocacy nonprofit. Raised in San Francisco’s Chinatown, Steven aspires to ensure no patient ever has to choose between medical or economic survival—viewing high-value care, health equity, and human potential as inseparable. He holds a BS in Human Biology and BAs in Economics and Political Science from UC Irvine.
Diana Lois, OMS3
William Carey University
Diana is a medical student at William Carey University, committed to making healthcare more affordable and transparent. She believes patients should understand the cost of their care, and providers should be empowered to deliver high-value care that avoids waste. Diana is focused on driving real change by promoting cost-conscious decision-making at every level of care.
Maha Khan, MS4
Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine
Maha Khan is a fourth-year medical student at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine with a strong interest in health economics, high-value care, health equity, and global health. She studied Economics at the University of Chicago, where she was first introduced to the principles of high-value care and developed an interest in the intersection of healthcare and economics. During college, she gained experience in global health policy through internships with Women in Global Health, where she contributed to a WHO policy action paper, and Population Services International, where she worked on malaria monitoring and evaluation projects. During her gap year before medical school, she worked in healthcare strategy consulting at Health Advances.
Sohum Purao, MBA, MS4
Texas A&M University
Sohum Purao is a fourth-year medical student at Texas A&M University Naresh K. Vashisht College of Medicine and a passionate advocate for value-based care. His interest began during his MBA, where his team placed 6th nationally in the Humana-Mays Healthcare Case Competition and top 12 in the Cornell case competition, presenting proposals to hospital C-suite executives. He has since gained hands-on experience in physician education and hospital innovation through internships with the curriculum development office and innovation center at a large academic hospital system. In medical school, Sohum has continued to champion value-based care, teaching his peers about its principles and serving as a medical student representative on the Texas Medical Association’s Committee for Alternative Payment Models. He is also leading a student research project exploring how AI-driven care coordination can improve patient follow-up and access to care, work that is now expanding to a larger patient population following success with its pilot study.
Katy Axel, MPH, MS2
UMass Chan Medical School
Katy Axel is a second-year medical student at UMass Chan Medical School with a background in public health and a strong interest in primary care and population health. Her professional experience before medical school fostered a particular interest in high-value care and improving healthcare quality and affordability. Clinically, she is particularly interested in OB/GYN and women’s health.
Evan Wells, MS2
University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine
Evan Wells is an MD Candidate at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine and a recent alumnus of the University of Notre Dame. Before medicine, he advised health systems, payers, and large provider groups at Boston Consulting Group and HealthScape Advisors. He is guided by a commitment to promote the flourishing of his community—whether in conversation, song, or prose. Long-term, he aspires to build a career that marries clinical (surgical) practice and healthcare leadership.
Clerkship Task Force Members
Hannah Bassett, MD - Pediatric Hospitalist
Co-Chair and Costs of Care Director
Stanford University
Dr. Hannah Bassett is a Clinical Assistant Professor at Stanford University School of Medicine and a pediatric hospitalist at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital (LPCH). She is the co-director of the Packard Clinical Pathway Program and the Physician Lead for Acute Care in the Clinical Effectiveness Program at LPCH. Her institutional work focuses on decreasing unnecessary variation in clinical care, promoting high value care at the bedside, and making it easier for clinical teams to “do the right thing, for the right patient, at the right time.” Her research focuses on patient- and family-centered healthcare cost transparency and better understanding the financial impact of acute care.
Allison Heacock, MD - Pediatric Hospitalist
Co-Chair and Faculty Mentor
The Ohio State University
Allison Heacock, MD, is an assistant professor of clinical internal medicine and pediatrics in the section of Hospital Pediatrics. When not providing hospital based pediatrics and adult care, she focuses on improving the quality, patient safety and resources utilization in the health systems for which she works. Dr. Heacock oversees the systems based practice education to the medical students at Ohio State University. Lastly, she is passionate about caring for patients admitted with failure to thrive and serves as a physician lead for the Failure to Thrive Pathway.
Aahil Merchant, MS4
University of South Carolina School of Medicine – Greenville
Aahil is a fourth-year medical student at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine Greenville. After graduating from Washington University in St. Louis with a degree in Economics, he worked at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, where he became acutely aware of the financial burden that healthcare costs placed on families. This experience inspired him to join the Choosing Wisely STARS program as a first-year medical student, determined to address the issue through advocacy for resource stewardship.
As a STARS representative, he collaborated with a team of students to integrate high-value care topics into the medical school’s pre-clerkship curriculum. Aahil hopes to leverage these experiences as he serves on the STARS Clerkship Task Force during the 2025-2026 academic year. He is excited to work with medical students from around the country to search for effective ways to introduce high-value care topics into clerkship curriculums.
Elena Moncada, MS4
University of Virginia School of Medicine
Elena is a fourth-year medical student at University of Virginia School of Medicine, currently based in Fairfax, VA as part of the Pinn College Inova Program. She was part of the 2024 STARS cohort representing UVA, and since then has tried her best to shine a light on HVC principles for her classmates and peers by asking cost-conscious questions and discussing value-based principles in both the classroom and the wards. Elena has also gained hands on experience with HVC through a quality improvement research project on cardiac telemetry stewardship, along with her UVA STARS mentor, which they presented a poster for at the 2024 HVPA National Conference. In the future, Elena plans to apply to residency in Internal Medicine and has a particular interest in Pulmonology and Critical Care, hoping to build a career centered on providing humanistic, value-based care for all patients, especially the most vulnerable.
Robin Ji, MS4
University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine
Robin is a fourth-year medical student at the University of
Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. She studied Public Health at UC
Berkeley and spent two years before medical school working on research
and policy initiatives focused on advancing high-value care and patient
safety. During her first year at Pritzker, she became involved with STARS
through a research project evaluating an EHR-based intervention to
improve evidence-based delirium management at UChicago Medicine.
She has also served on Pritzker’s Curriculum Review Committee, an
experience that sparked her interest in undergraduate medical
education. She joined the STARS clerkship task force to bring together her
interests in high-value care and medical education. Robin is applying to
internal medicine residency this year.
Zachary Holtz, MS3
The Ohio State University
Zachary Holtz is a third-year medical student at The Ohio
State University College of Medicine who is passionate about promoting
financial education for medical students. He is currently working with Dr. Allison Heacock and other STARS at OSU to revamp how OSU teaches its medical students about high-value care and the financial considerations
that go into clinical practice. Following medical school, he is interested in pursuing a career in Anesthesiology, with a focus on pain management.
Aaron Lee, MS3
UMass Chan Medical School
Aaron Lee is an MS3 at UMass Chan Medical School. He was
recently at Stanford as a cardiology clinical research coordinator in Palo
Alto and free clinic coordinator at Ashland Free Medical Clinic in San
Lorenzo.
Audrey Nguyen, MS3
Baylor College of Medicine
Audrey Nguyen is third-year medical student at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) in Houston, Texas. She first became interested in quality improvement in high school and has continued to nurture that passion by becoming involved with BCM leadership, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, and STARS. Her work is informed by a deep
commitment to cultural competency and implementing system-level
practices to promote high-value care. Ultimately, she strives to become a
physician who heals with not just her mind, but also her heart. Outside of
healthcare, Audrey loves dancing, trying new restaurants, and arts and
crafts.
Suchitaa Sawhney, MS3
Texas A&M University
Suchitaa is a third year medical student at Texas A&M College of Medicine who loves learning medicine while staying involved in her community. Outside of school, she loves baking, exploring new
restaurants, and spending time with her family.
Stephanie Zhang, MS2
UCSF
Stephanie is an MS2 at UCSF, originally from the Bay Area.
In undergrad, she became aware of the concepts of overdiagnosis and
overtreatment, which set her on the path to appreciating the importance
of high-value care. At UCSF, she helps coordinate the High Value Care
elective and collaborate with the Center for Healthcare Value to promote high-value role modeling in clinical practice.