Sharon D’Souza, MD
President
Sharon D’Souza, MD, MPH is a board-certified diagnostic radiologist in private practice in Tulsa, Oklahoma and is a lifetime founding member of Physicians for Patient Protection. Dr. D’Souza completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Oklahoma, followed by a masters degree in public health and doctorate of medicine. Following medical school she completed a general surgery internship and diagnostic radiology residency. She then went on to complete fellowships in MRI and breast imaging at the University of Wisconsin. Since that time she has been in private practice in Illinois, Washington, and Oregon.
Sharon D’Souza, MD, MPH
Sharon D’Souza, MD, MPH is a board-certified diagnostic radiologist in private practice in Tulsa, Oklahoma and is a lifetime founding member of Physicians for Patient Protection.
Dr. D’Souza completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Oklahoma, followed by a masters degree in public health and doctorate of medicine. Following medical school she completed a general surgery internship and diagnostic radiology residency. She then went on to complete fellowships in MRI and breast imaging at the University of Wisconsin. Since that time she has been in private practice in Illinois, Washington, and Oregon.
Throughout her career Dr. D’Souza has remained active in multiple state, local, and national medical societies, including the American College of radiology and the Society of breast imaging, among others. She currently serves as the president for the Oklahoma State Radiological Society. Additionally, she serves on the board of trustees for the Oklahoma State Medical Association, is a board member of the Tulsa County medical society, as well as an executive board member of Physicians for Patient Protection. She remains active with her alma mater, participating in the medical school admissions process. She also take part in medical student and resident education, primarily via lectures on the importance of service and patient advocacy.
Purvi Parikh, MD
President Elect
Purvi Parikh, MD, FACAAI, FACP is an allergist and immunologist at Allergy and Asthma Associates of Murray Hill. She is currently on faculty as Clinical Assistant Professor in both departments of Medicine and Pediatrics at New York University School of Medicine. Dr. Parikh has published articles in allergy, asthma, and immunodeficiency syndromes in various peer reviewed journals and textbooks.
Purvi Parikh, MD, FACAAI, FACP
Purvi Parikh, MD, FACAAI, FACP is an allergist and immunologist at Allergy and Asthma Associates of Murray Hill. She is currently on faculty as Clinical Assistant Professor in both departments of Medicine and Pediatrics at New York University School of Medicine. Dr. Parikh has published articles in allergy, asthma, and immunodeficiency syndromes in various peer reviewed journals and textbooks.
She is a champion and spokesperson for the United Nation Foundation’s vaccine initiative Shot@life and has traveled on their behalf to Zambia.
She is also a national spokesperson for the Allergy and Asthma Network which is the leading patient advocacy group for patients and their families who suffer from life threatening allergic and immunologic conditions. She frequently makes appearance as a medical expert on their behalf to NBC, FOX, CNN, Wallstreet Journal, CNBC and CBS. She also regularly contributes to numerous print magazines and other publications.
She has been passionate about health policy since she was a medical student and sits on committees for American Medical Association and Board of directors of the advocacy council of the American college of allergy asthma and Immunology. She travels to Washington, D.C. multiple times per year to influence policy, testify before the government, and advocate for her patients.
During the pandemic, in addition to taking care of patients, she is an investigator/researcher in three (Pfizer, Astra zeneca, and Sanofi) of the Covid-19 vaccine trials at NYU Langone Health’s vaccine center. She also is part of the NIH – Momivax trial which studies vaccine safety in pregnant and breastfeeding moms and their babies. She is also now involved in covid long haul research. Since the early days of the pandemic, Dr Parikh has volunteered her time on a daily basis to tirelessly fight misinformation at the grassroots level through community organizations, in the local and national media, social media, and alongside government officials such as the surgeon general, Dr. Vivek Murty, Immunologist Dr. Anthony Fauci, and the US department of health and human services.
She was the youngest president of the New York Allergy and Asthma Society in 2018. She was recently named in Emory University’s 40 under 40 class. She recently received the most distinguished young physician award from the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin for 2020-2021 due to her work in vaccine research and on the front lines of the global pandemic. She also received the Dr. I A Modi award in the young physician category for achieving excellence in Medicine in February of 2021 by Global Association of Physicians of Indian Origin
Marsha Haley Loalbo, MD
Secretary
Marsha Haley Loalbo, MD, MPH, is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. She is on the Congressional Relations Subcommittee for ASTRO and is the Chair of Patient and Practice Advocacy Committee for the Pennsylvania Medical Society Women Physician Section. She is active in grant-funded research on the public health effects of industrial pollution.
Marsha Haley, MD, MPH
Marsha Haley Loalbo, MD, MPH, is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Radiation Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. She is on the Congressional Relations Subcommittee for ASTRO and is the Chair of Patient and Practice Advocacy Committee for the Pennsylvania Medical Society Women Physician Section. She is active in grant-funded research on the public health effects of industrial pollution.
Dr. Loalbo received her medical degree from the University of Virginia School of Medicine and completed a residency in radiation oncology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. She received her Master of Public Health Degree from the University of Pittsburgh.
I’m involved in PPP because as a physician, I understand the long arduous road that we take to reach the point where we can take care of patients independently. There is a reason that physician education and training take so long. Medicine isn’t easy, and it takes many years to understand the complexities of the human body and become an expert in one’s field. There are no shortcuts or substitutions to becoming a physician. I believe that every patient should have access to physician-led care and transparency regarding who is providing medical care.
Bikram Dhillon, MD
Treasurer
Bikram Dhillon, MD, MS is an emergency physician with training and experience in administrative medicine and public health. He is a former emergency medicine educator and has clinical experience working in a broad range of practice environments from academic, tertiary care, trauma centers to single-coverage critical access hospitals and military settings. Bikram also has a background in financial planning and business administration. He consults with organizations to assist their key executives to identify opportunities and implement changes to increase their performance.
Bikram Dhillon, MD
Bikram Dhillon, MD, MS is an emergency physician with training and experience in administrative medicine and public health. He is a former emergency medicine educator and has clinical experience working in a broad range of practice environments from academic, tertiary care, trauma centers to single-coverage critical access hospitals and military settings. Bikram also has a background in financial planning and business administration. He consults with organizations to assist their key executives to identify opportunities and implement changes to increase their performance. His interests revolve around the opportunities and constraints that systems present to individuals, both those who participate in those systems and those who are served by those systems. As a physician, Bikram advocates for his individual patients. As a member of PPP, he advocates for all patients within systems, by preserving their right to be cared for by professionals with the highest levels of education and training: physicians and physician-led healthcare teams.
Carmen Kavali, MD
Immediate Past President
Beginning in her medical school days over 30 years ago, Dr. Kavali has been engaged in patient and healthcare advocacy and leadership. She served on the Governing Council of the Medical Student Section of the American Medical Association. She is a founding member and now President of Physicians for Patient Protection. She has served on the Board of Directors for the Southeastern Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons, the Georgia Society of Plastic Surgeons, the Medical Association of Georgia, and the Medical Association of Atlanta. She is a plastic surgeon, certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, and she has been in private practice in Atlanta since 2002.
Carmen, Kavali, MD
Beginning in her medical school days over 30 years ago, Dr. Kavali has been engaged in patient and healthcare advocacy and leadership. She served on the Governing Council of the Medical Student Section of the American Medical Association. She is a founding member and now President of Physicians for Patient Protection. She has served on the Board of Directors for the Southeastern Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons, the Georgia Society of Plastic Surgeons, the Medical Association of Georgia, and the Medical Association of Atlanta. She is a plastic surgeon, certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery, and she has been in private practice in Atlanta since 2002.
Dr. Kavali is a patient herself, and her family members are patients. She firmly believes in the mission of Physicians for Patient Protection and is working to preserve physician-led care and to ensure truth and transparency regarding healthcare credentials. Every patient deserves to have a physician on their care team, and every patient deserves to clearly understand exactly who is caring for them.
When she isn’t in the operating room or attending Board meetings, she is a wife, as well as a mom to two teenagers, three beagles, and five chickens.
Tina Chee, MD, MPA
Board Member
Dr. Tina Chee, MD, MPA is a board-certified internist and educator with experience in healthcare policy advocacy. She earned her medical degree from the CUNY School of Medicine (previously Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education), an accelerated program focused on training physicians to serve diverse and underserved communities. Dr. Chee completed her internal medicine residency with an Underserved Medicine and Public Health Concentration and Health Policy Fellowship at George Washington University.
Tina Chee, MD, MPA
Dr. Tina Chee, MD, MPA is a board-certified internist and educator with experience in healthcare policy advocacy.
She earned her medical degree from the CUNY School of Medicine (previously Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education), an accelerated program focused on training physicians to serve diverse and underserved communities. Dr. Chee completed her internal medicine residency with an Underserved Medicine and Public Health Concentration and Health Policy Fellowship at George Washington University. She practiced in academic medical settings and served as Medical Director, gaining first hand insight into how scope-of-practice expansion and administrative pressures impact patient safety and care quality. She founded a Direct Primary Care (DPC) practice that restores transparency, continuity, and time to the physician–patient relationship.
Dr. Chee advocates for all patients to have physician-led care and for truth and transparency in healthcare to promote patient safety and ethical medical practice. Dr. Chee is also actively involved in various organized medicine – the Onondaga County Medical Society (OCMS), the Medical Society of the State of New York (MSSNY), and the New York Chapter of the American College of Physicians (NYACP). She was awarded the Jerry Hoffman Advocacy Award in 2024 by OCMS for her contributions.
Deborah Fletcher, MD
Board Member
Deborah Fletcher, MD is a community emergency medicine physician in Shreveport, LA. She completed residencies in both emergency medicine and pediatrics, and currently works clinically at Overton Brooks VA Medical Center. She has become a strong physician and patient advocate after seeing first-hand how staffing groups could replace physicians with non-physician practitioners, being told “it’s just business”. But, it is NOT just business – there are real consequences to the business model for healthcare.
Deborah Fletcher, MD
Deborah Fletcher, MD is a community emergency medicine physician in Shreveport, LA. She completed residencies in both emergency medicine and pediatrics, and currently works clinically at Overton Brooks VA Medical Center. She has become a strong physician and patient advocate after seeing first-hand how staffing groups could replace physicians with non-physician practitioners, being told “it’s just business”. But, it is NOT just business – there are real consequences to the business model for healthcare – patients’ lives are at risk with NPP-only mismanagement, and shown by the Hattiesburg study to lead to higher costs, more referrals and tests ordered, higher ED use, and lower patient satisfaction. Because of this, she has become active in her state medical society, and co-founded Louisiana Physicians For Patients, a non-profit to educate physicians, patients and legislators on the value of physician-led care. She also works at the national level with American Academy of Emergency Medicine as Workforce Committee Chair and AMA HOD delegate, and with American College of Emergency Physicians as past Workforce Section Chair, State Legislative and Regulatory Committee, and Emergency Medicine Practice Committee. PPP is already doing great education and advocacy on scope of practice, and she is so excited to work with the other amazing advocates as a board member to preserve physician-led medical care. Her personal goal would be for the gold-standard of a physician in every emergency department in the US to become a reality.
Phil Shaffer, MD
Board Member
Dr. Shaffer’s undergraduate degree was in Biochemistry from the Ohio State University, 1973. His MD degree was from the University of Toledo in 1976. He completed a rotating internship at Riverside hospital in 1977, and a Radiology residency at Ohio State in 1980. He then completed a fellowship in Nuclear Medicine in 1981. He is board certified in Radiology (1980) and Radiology with special competence in Nuclear Medicine (1981). After finishing fellowship, he was on Faculty at Ohio State, holding a joint appointment in Radiology and Medicine. He attained the level of Associate Professor of Radiology and Medicine in 1988. During his years at Ohio State, he was co-director of the Cardiac Nuclear Medicine stress lab. He also was one of two radiologists at Ohio State providing mammography services. His research interests were primarily within Cardiology.
Phil Shaffer, MD
Dr. Shaffer’s undergraduate degree was in Biochemistry from the Ohio State University, 1973. His MD degree was from the University of Toledo in 1976. He completed a rotating internship at Riverside hospital in 1977, and a Radiology residency at Ohio State in 1980. He then completed a fellowship in Nuclear Medicine in 1981. He is board certified in Radiology (1980) and Radiology with special competence in Nuclear Medicine (1981). After finishing fellowship, he was on Faculty at Ohio State, holding a joint appointment in Radiology and Medicine. He attained the level of Associate Professor of Radiology and Medicine in 1988. During his years at Ohio State, he was co-director of the Cardiac Nuclear Medicine stress lab. He also was one of two radiologists at Ohio State providing mammography services. His research interests were primarily within Cardiology.
In 1989 he moved to a private practice in Columbus Ohio, where he continued his interests in breast radiology and cardiac radiology, as well as nuclear medicine. In 2000, he began the Cardiac MR imaging project at Riverside Hospital, and the Breast MR imaging project. The Breast MR imaging project he started at Riverside Methodist hospital was groundbreaking, it was the second hospital in Ohio to offer Breast MR imaging, which has since become central to the care of breast cancer patients and to the evaluation of patients at high risk of breast cancer.
He later began to turn his attention to issues of health care delivery, prompted in large part by witnessing first-hand the issues that family members were having with their care. This led him to join Physicians for Patient Protection, and subsequently, join the Board of Directors.
He is currently active in Physicians for Patient Protection, and Take Medicine Back, and spends a good deal of time researching issues involving delivery of medical care.
Denise Weiss, DO
Board Member
Denise Weiss DO is an anesthesiologist currently in the pediatric anesthesiology fellowship at Children’s Mercy Hospital Kansas City Missouri. Following the completion of fellowship she will be on staff at Children’s Mercy. Prior to starting fellowship Dr Weiss was an anesthesiologist with Anesthesia Associates of Central Kansas in Salina Ks for 13 years, serving as the group president for 6 years. Dr Weiss was an associate professor for the University of Kansas School of Medicine-Salina Campus for 4 years.
Denise Weiss DO
Denise Weiss DO is an anesthesiologist currently in the pediatric anesthesiology fellowship at Children’s Mercy Hospital Kansas City Missouri. Following the completion of fellowship she will be on staff at Children’s Mercy. Prior to starting fellowship Dr Weiss was an anesthesiologist with Anesthesia Associates of Central Kansas in Salina Ks for 13 years, serving as the group president for 6 years. Dr Weiss was an associate professor for the University of Kansas School of Medicine-Salina Campus for 4 years.
Dr Weiss brings a unique perspective to the board as she was a registered nurse and a family nurse practitioner prior to starting medical school. She sees the significant value of all members of the health care team but understands the different educational pathways as significantly different and important.
Brian Wilhelmi, MD
Board Member
Brian Wilhelmi M.D., J.D. is an anesthesiologist and attorney who has frequently worked at the intersections of medicine and law. He has worked with attorneys preparing malpractice cases involving title fraud, billing fraud, and inappropriate physician supervision. He advises physicians on issues involving the medical board, contracts, and compliance with regulation. Brian joined PPP to advocate for physician-led healthcare teams and to address increasing title fraud, liability, unclear statutory language found in healthcare.
Linda A Lambert, FAAMSE
Executive Director
A graduate of SUNY Empire State College with a BS in Business and minor in Political Science, Linda served as Executive Director of the NY American College of Physicians from 1997 until 2019. During this time Linda oversaw the merger of NYACP and NYSSIM and restructuring to allow tremendous growth and expansion of programs and services, including multiple lines of grant activity. In the advocacy part of her work, Linda built a level of credibility with the New York State Legislature and governmental agencies that clearly reflected the Chapter’s mission and purpose. Prior to ACP, she served as Associate Director of Governmental Affairs for the Medical Society of the State of New York, and later as Administrator of MSSNY’s Committee for Physicians Health, and as Executive Director of the Orange and Ulster County Medical Societies in NY.
Linda A Lambert, FAAMSE
A graduate of SUNY Empire State College with a BS in Business and minor in Political Science, Linda served as Executive Director of the NY American College of Physicians from 1997 until 2019. During this time Linda oversaw the merger of NYACP and NYSSIM and restructuring to allow tremendous growth and expansion of programs and services, including multiple lines of grant activity. In the advocacy part of her work, Linda built a level of credibility with the New York State Legislature and governmental agencies that clearly reflected the Chapter’s mission and purpose. Prior to ACP, she served as Associate Director of Governmental Affairs for the Medical Society of the State of New York, and later as Administrator of MSSNY’s Committee for Physicians Health, and as Executive Director of the Orange and Ulster County Medical Societies in NY.
Linda has been frequently recognized for her role in the house of medicine. She received a Proclamation from the New York State Department of Health Board for Professional Medical Conduct citing “Service with Exceptional Distinction” as well as a Citation from the Executive Chamber under Governor George Pataki for Outstanding Contributions to Organized Medicine and New York State Government. She received the American Medical Association’s Medical Executive Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013 and the George C. Burton Memorial Award from ESSAE in 2012. Linda also served as a Member of the Board of Directors and eventually made her way to the Presidency of the American Association of Medical Society Executives spanning a 12 year period and was awarded Fellowship status in AAMSE. Most recently, in 2018, Linda was awarded the prestigious New York eHealth Collaborative Honoree Award for her dedication and accomplishments for the advancement of healthcare technology in New York State. Linda was the first Chapter staff person to serve as an official member of an ACP National Chapter Sub-Committee, and assisted in the development of new Chapter Excellence criteria to improve the services delivered by Chapters across the country. The ACP awarded Linda a Citation for Distinguished Service in 2020.
In April 2019 Linda was recognized with a formal Resolution by the New York State Senate and Assembly – a formal action by vote of the New York State Legislature recognizing her commitment and service to the health and welfare of the people of the State of New York.
Since full time retirement in May of 2019, Linda served as part time Executive Director of Physicians for Patient Protection, a physician/medical student national organization devoted to fostering physician-led care and truth and transparency in healthcare credentialling, and also serves as an Advisor to the national Federation of Physician Health Programs.