iPEX Faculty Bios

Discover more about each member of the iPEX Training Team.

Dr. Mark Pfeifer

Mark Pfeifer, MD, FACP served as the Principal Investigator for the NCI-funded iCOPE project which designed, implemented and tested interprofessional education in palliative oncology care. He serves as an active interprofessional educator and has spoken and written about interprofessional educational. He has served as both a permanent and ad hoc NCI Study Section member, focusing on cancer education. In addition he is an internist with a special interest in patients with advanced illness. He is a Professor of Medicine and holds an endowed chair at the University of Louisville.

Dr. Barbara Head (retired)

Barbara Head, PhD, CHPN, FPCN has led the development of two interprofessional curricula – one on palliative oncology care, the other on community-based geriatric care. She frequently facilitates interprofessional education sessions involving students from nursing, social work, medicine, chaplaincy, pharmacy and dentistry. She has presented nationally and is published in the field of interprofessional education. Dr. Head is a Professor at the University of Louisville School of Medicine and affiliated faculty at the Kent School of Social Work. Her research interests include telehealth in palliative care, palliative case management, financial concerns in serious illness, geriatric palliative care, and interprofessional palliative education. Her work has been funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, the National Cancer Institute, the Hospice and Palliative Nurse’s Association, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and the Human Resources Services Association.

Dr. Tara Schapmire

Tara Schapmire, PhD, MSSW, CSW, OSW-C, FNAP, served as Co-investigator for the NCI-funded iCOPE project which designed, implemented and tested interprofessional education in palliative oncology care. She is a co-investigator on several other federally and foundation funded projects aimed at improving interdisciplinary palliative care education, interdisciplinary geriatrics education, and a community based intervention aimed at reducing the burden of lung cancer in Kentucky. Dr. Schapmire is an Associate Professor in the University of Louisville’s School of Medicine and an Affiliated Associate Professor for the Kent School of Social Work. Prior to her academic work, she practiced for many years as an oncology and palliative care social worker. Dr. Schapmire was the 2018 President of the Association of Oncology Social Work.

Dr. Ann Shaw

Monica Ann Shaw, MD, MA, FACP is an experienced medical educator. She is a Professor of Medicine and Vice Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education at the University of Louisville School of Medicine where she is responsible for Admissions, Student Affairs, and the curriculum. In this capacity, Dr. Shaw leads the institution’s medical education programs, from design and development to implementation and evaluation to accreditation. She served as Principal Investigator on a Robert Wood Johnson grant where she led an interdisciplinary research team integrating palliative care content into existing first and second year courses, and created and implemented a required one-week clinical rotation for medical students. She served as co-investigator on the iCOPE Project.

Dr. Frank Woggon

Frank Woggon, PhD, BCC is an ACPE Certified Educator and Director of Chaplaincy Services for the UofL Health downtown medical campus. He directs the chaplain residency program at University Hospital and has led the overall chaplaincy integration in the iCOPE Project, from curricular design to implementation and evaluation. He is an active interprofessional teacher and has written and spoken about interprofessional education nationally.

Dr. Christian Furman

Christian Davis Furman, MD, MSPH, AGSF is the Medical Director for the Trager Institute/Optimal Aging Clinic at the University of Louisville.  She is a Professor of Geriatric and Palliative Medicine and holds the Margaret Dorward Smock Endowed Chair for Geriatric Medical Education.  She completed her residency in Internal Medicine at UofL in 1999 and a fellowship in Geriatric Medicine at UofL in 2000. She is an experienced and accomplished developer of interprofessional education in geriatrics and palliative care. She is board certified in both geriatric medicine and hospice and palliative medicine. She was awarded a Geriatric Academic Career Award to teach palliative medicine to interdisciplinary teams in 2004.

Carol Jones, MEd

Carol Jones, MEd served as program director on the iCOPE project, which included developing, implementing and testing interdisciplinary curriculum. She also filled a similar role on a Health Resources and Services Administration interdisciplinary grant in geriatric education. At the University of Louisville, she is the Program Coordinator for the Interdisciplinary Program for Palliative Care and Chronic Illness in the School of Medicine. Ms Jones has over 20 year of teaching experience. Her career has focused on educational innovation and the creation of curriculum at various educational levels.

Bonika Peters, MPH

Bonika Peters is a Senior Program Coordinator in the University of Louisville’s School of Medicine. She has over 10 years of experience coordinating the day-to-day activities of public health programs and studies in academic and clinic settings. Her experience includes program planning, management, and evaluation. Ms. Peters was previously a manager in the Maternal and Child Health Section of the Minnesota Department of Health. She also worked as an independent contractor providing consultative services to the Georgia Department of Public Health. Her research interests include health disparities in maternal and child health.

Karen Black

Karen P Black, DNP, APRN, PMHNP-BC has clinical background in “Critical Care” and more recently she has moved into “Psychiatric-Mental Health” as a nurse practitioner. As an Associate Professor at the School of Nursing, she teaches in the traditional undergraduate baccalaureate program and the RN-BSN completion program. Currently she has a part-time private practice as a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner. Her research is in adolescent suicide prevention.

Dr. Carla Hermann

Carla Hermann, PhD, RN is Professor and MSN Program Director at Indiana University Southeast School of Nursing. She previously held the position of Professor and PhD Program Director at the University of Louisville School of Nursing. Dr. Hermann has over 35 years of experience teaching nursing students at the baccalaureate, masters and doctoral levels. She has been a PI and co-PI on numerous grants focused on spirituality, quality of life and symptom management in patients near the end of life. Dr. Hermann has been involved in numerous interprofessional educational endeavors and was a co-investigator on the NCI-funded iCOPE project which designed, implemented and evaluated a comprehensive educational program for nursing, medical, social work and chaplaincy students.

Kim Pate

Kim Pate, MD is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Louisville and serves as the Program Director for the Palliative Medicine Fellowship. She is a palliative care physician on the inpatient palliative care consult service at the University of Louisville where she works with an interdisciplinary team. She has published in the field of interprofessional education.