May 13th Speaker Biographies

Dr. Unruh serves as the Director of Education and Training at the National Center for Disaster Medicine and Public Health. She has previously worked as an epidemiologist and infection preventionist at PeaceHealth hospital and volunteered as a firefighter with Lane Fire Authority in Eugene, Oregon. She completed her medical degree at Oregon Health and Science University, followed by residency in emergency medicine from Cook County Health in Chicago, Illinois. During her residency, she was competitively elected to serve as chief resident. Dr. Unruh also completed a fellowship in Disaster and Operational Medicine at George Washington University. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in honors biology from the University of Oregon and a Master in Public Health in epidemiology from Columbia University. 

David Willey is an infrastructure resilience project manager for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). His responsibilities include leading the development of infrastructure resilience methodologies, tools, and guidance for governmental and non-governmental stakeholders and supporting critical infrastructure security and resilience assessments.

David began his federal civilian career in 2011 when he joined the Office of Infrastructure Protection in the National Protection and Programs Directorate (now CISA) as a policy and program analyst. From 2019 to 2023, David was CISA’s Recovery Coordinator and led the development of the agency’s initial operating capability for Emergency Support Function #14 (Cross-Sector Business and Infrastructure). He has represented CISA in federal recovery bodies such as the Recovery Support Function Leadership Group and the National Security Council’s Recovery Interagency Policy Committee. He has supported several federal post-disaster recovery missions, including Hurricane Maria. From January 2021 to February 2023, David was the acting section chief of the Infrastructure Resilience Planning Section.

David served in the U.S. Army Reserves with two active-duty deployments in Iraq, one at the tactical level and one at the headquarters level. David holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies and is a Distinguished Graduate of Virginia Military Institute. He earned a Juris Doctor with a certificate in International and Comparative Law and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Pittsburgh. He is admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia. He recently graduated from the National Defense University College of Information and Cyberspace with a Master of Science in Strategic Information and Cyberspace Studies.

Dr. Zanker is a board certified practicing emergency medicine physician with thirty years  clinical experience. He currently serves as Medical Services Division Director and Chief  Medical Officer for the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) at HHS/ASPR.  

He began his career in disaster medicine as a medical officer with CT-1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team (CT-1 DMAT)  in 2003, eventually assuming the role of Team Commander and transitioning to the ASPR Incident Management Team  (IMT) briefly before coming on board at NDMS headquarters in May of 2022. Dr. Zanker has previously served as  Medical Director for the Connecticut State Department of Public Health Office of Emergency Medical Services from  2003-2006 until he accepted a detail to the Department of Homeland Security. From 2006-2012 he served in senior  leadership at the DHS/Office of Health Affairs. He served primarily as the senior medical liaison to FEMA before  assuming the position of Acting Associate Chief Medical Officer for Medical Readiness. In this position he worked  closely with interagency partners and the White House on matters of public health preparedness and preparedness  for response to natural and manmade/intentional incidents with public health and medical consequences. 

Rachel Lehman is the Acting Director of the Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response’s (ASPR) Technical Resources, Assistance Center, and Information Exchange (TRACIE) Program. ASPR TRACIE is a healthcare emergency preparedness information gateway that serves the informational and technical assistance needs of those working in disaster medicine and healthcare preparedness. In her role as Acting Director, she oversees the day-to-day operations of program, provides guidance on emerging issues and gaps/challenges, and acts as a liaison for the program. Previously Rachel was an analyst in ASPRs Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection where she worked on all-hazards risk assessment for the Healthcare and Public Health Sector and assisted with the development ASPRs Risk Identification and Site Criticality (RISC) Toolkit. 

Clary is an Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Specialist at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) with the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). He has over two decades of experience in the emergency services sector. Clary is a National Registry Paramedic (NRP) and Nationally Certified EMS Educator (NCEE). He received his Bachelor of Science in Biology from Erskine College and his Master of Science in Emergency Management from Jacksonville State University.

Before joining NHTSA in 2020, Clary was the Director of the Department of Education and Staff Development within the EMS Division at Grady Health System in Atlanta, Georgia. He also served as the Program Director of the Grady EMS Education Academy and received the Georgia Commendation Metal from the Georgia Department of Defense for his work in developing and facilitating an Advanced EMT conversion curriculum for the Georgia Army/Air Reserve National Guard.  

In the Office of EMS, Clary is the program manager administering the NHTSA statutory EMS committees, the National EMS Advisory Council (NEMSAC) and the Federal Interagency Committee on EMS (FICEMS). He serves as a Contracting Officer’s Representative (Level 2), providing leadership in procurement and contract oversight. He also provides leadership for the NHTSA Office of EMS programs and projects in emergency management, EMS education, pediatric readiness, emerging infectious diseases, statewide EMS assessments, and access to care issues.

With more than 30 years of corporate security expertise, Ty Richmond oversees the Allied Universal Event Services business unit. Prior to joining Allied Universal, Ty held senior management and executive positions for companies in the energy, consumer products, logistics, high-tech, and entertainment industries. He served as senior vice president of global security at Sony Pictures Entertainment and was responsible for the physical, personnel and operational security programs and services for the Theatrical, Television and Home Entertainment businesses. Ty also served as the chief operating officer for Andrews International and held executive management and chief security officer roles in several corporations including Agilent Technologies, where he led global security, environment, health and safety, and aviation services businesses. At Agilent, Ty also lived in Singapore as an expatriate running the Asia Pacific Workplace Services organization for 16 APAC countries. 

Suzanne recently joined the Center for Advanced Preparedness and Threat Response Simulation (CAPTRS) as a Game Facilitator/Consultant. CAPTRS, a 501c3, is pioneering the science of next-generation games to improve decision making processes, team dynamics, and situational awareness of threats and their cascading impacts. Designing and facilitating serious games has long been a deep passion and active part of Suzanne’s career portfolio. She has developed, facilitated and evaluated training and exercises and written response handbooks for mass casualty attacks for almost 20 years. Suzanne leads The Frew Group consultancy, based in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she brings extensive domestic and international experience creating quality human-focused communications, training and exercises, serious games, storytelling, and community risk resilience programs. Suzanne's specialty is helping clients navigate cultural influences on community and organizational behavior and building trust communicating with and serving others.

An active public speaker and conference keynote, Suzanne speaks, consults and facilitates throughout the U.S., SE Asia, Asia Pacific, Caribbean and Canada. She is the coauthor or contributing author to four risk communications / emergency management books and numerous professional articles. Suzanne is an instructor with the University of Hawaii's National Disaster Preparedness Training Center. She serves on the International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) Emerging Technology Caucus and is a member of the International Visual Sociology Association, California Women in Homeland Security, and California Emergency Services Association. Suzanne began her career as writer/producer/director of documentary-style video productions and photographer for business/industry and non-profits before joining the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in public information, hazard mitigation, and public-private partnerships.

Dr. Matthew Levy is an academic emergency medicine and EMS physician, educator, policy and program implementor and civic leader. He holds full time appointments at Johns Hopkins University as an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine and Surgery, Associate Director of the Johns Hopkins Emergency Medical Services Fellowship, and Deputy Director of Operational Medicine. He is also a Clinical Associate Professor and the paramedic program Medical Director at the University of Maryland Baltimore County Department of Emergency Health Services. In addition, Dr. Levy is a Visiting Scholar at the National Center for Disaster Medicine and Public Health. His career in Emergency Medical Services began as an EMS clinician and spans nearly three decades. He currently serves as the Chief Medical Officer and EMS Medical Director of the Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services and the Central Maryland (Region III) EMS Medical Director for the State of Maryland. He is a Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians and a Fellow of the Academy of Emergency Medical Services. Dr. Levy is chair of the national non-profit Stop the Bleed Coalition and a member of the Scientific Advisory Council of the American Red Cross.  He is a passionate educator and advocate for outcomes-driven prehospital care. He actively participates in various local, state, federal, and international organizations related to prehospital, operational, and disaster medicine. 

Colonel (Dr.) Michael J. Higgins is the Command Surgeon, North American Aerospace Defense Command and United States Northern Command, Peterson Space Force Base, Colorado. He advises the Commander and coordinates Department of Defense medical operations for health service support in the conduct of homeland defense, civil support and security cooperation to defend and secure North America, the United States and its interests.

Colonel Higgins was born at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He graduated from the United States Air Force Academy as a distinguished military graduate earning a degree in Biochemistry. He earned his Doctor of Medicine Degree from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. He completed a combined residency in Family Medicine and Psychiatry through a joint service program with Malcolm Grow Medical Center and Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Col Higgins holds board Certifications in Family Medicine, Psychiatry and Medical Management as a Certified Physician Executive.

Prior to his current position, Colonel Higgins was the Command Surgeon for the Air Force Air Education and Training Command. He commanded at the squadron and group levels overseas and deployed including at RAF Lakenheath, England, the Craig Joint Theater Hospital, Bagram Afghanistan, the 380th Expeditionary Medical Group, Southwest Asia, and at David Grant USAF Medical Center, Travis AFB. He further led teams as Vice Commander of the Air Force Medical Operations and Medical Readiness Agencies.