Jay Bhatt, DO

Chief Clinical Product Officer & Medical Director, Medical Home Network

Jay Bhatt is a public health physician who has worked at national and local levels to improve outcomes for vulnerable populations, including by strengthening the design and delivery of care and public health. Currently, Dr. Bhatt is a practicing physician, chief clinical product officer at Medical Home Network|MoreCare and has consulted on COVID-19 response for the Illinois Department of Public Health. Most recently, he served as SVP and Chief Medical Officer at the American Hospital Association as well as President of its subsidiary, the Health Research Educational Trust and interim President of the Institute for Diversity and Health Equity. He was focused on advancing health reform, health equity and the relationship between public health and health care delivery by translating on the ground experience to policy solutions, convening conversations on strategic issues among C-suite leadership, convening member hospitals across the country to improve quality and safety, scaling leading practices and deploying a new model of care for older adults - Age Friendly Health Systems with the John A. Hartford Foundation across all fifty states as well as helping our nations hospitals with diversity, inclusion, and health equity strategies. Prior to that role, Dr. Bhatt served in Chicago during the Emanuel administration as Managing Deputy Commissioner at the Department of Public Health where he led the implementation of Healthy Chicago, the city's public health agenda, designed nationally recognized scalable approaches to using innovation to save lives, reimagine public health functions for efficiency and impact, and helped clinical teams deploy strategies to address chronic disease and epidemics. He is an Aspen Health Innovator Fellow, serves on several community and national boards and an ABC News Medical Contributor. Dr. Bhatt is a National Health Service Corps Scholar, serving as an internist and geriatrician in underserved communities in Chicago. He has be recognized for his work extensively including with the Crains Chicago 40 under 40 award, the Harvard Kennedy School Alumni Public Service Award, the University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health Distinguished alumni award, and a Fierce Healthcare Minority Executive of the Year. He is known to his patients as the dancing doctor. 

Mark Ishaug

CEO, thresholds

Mark Ishaug has dedicated his career to advocating for the rights of stigmatized and vulnerable people. As the CEO of Thresholds, Mark has overseen expansive growth, but also a culture shift that embraces change, innovation, transparency, and yes – love. Thresholds has been recognized for seven consecutive years as a Chicago Tribune Top Workplace and a Chicago’s 101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For. Mark serves on the board of the National Council for Behavioral Health, Kennedy Forum Illinois, Illinois Association for Behavioral Health, and the Civic Federation of Chicago, as well as on the Membership Committee of the Economic Club of Chicago and the Leadership Fellows Association Board of Leadership Greater Chicago. Prior to Thresholds, Mark worked as a leader in the fight against HIV/AIDS as CEO of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. Mark holds a master’s degree in political science from Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree in government and international studies from the University of Notre Dame. 

Brian Marsella

Market President-Midwest, Cigna

Brian Marsella is President of Cigna's Midwest market, which includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. In this role, Brian serves as the senior leader for Cigna's operations, competitiveness, and growth in the region. His responsibilities include enhancing customer satisfaction through personalized service, helping to improve quality of care and cost by collaborating with local health care professionals, ensuring that Cigna's product and network offerings meet the evolving needs of the marketplace, assisting clients to improve the health and productivity of their workforces, and leading Cigna's efforts to serve the community.

Brian has nearly 30 years of experience in the health care industry, including senior leadership positions focused on business engagement and sales. He joined Cigna in his current role in 2019 after working for Mercer as a Partner in the Chicago Health & Benefits office, where he was responsible for identifying and addressing employer client health care needs. Prior to that, Brian served in a variety of leadership roles at Aetna, including a national role as general manager for the regional markets and market lead for the Midwest for their national account segment.  Brian initially started his career with Cigna out of college and served in underwriting, account management, sales leadership and marketing roles.  

Brian has his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and his BA from the College of the Holy Cross.  

Brian is the Chairman of the Board of Erie Family Health Centers, a Federally Qualified Health Center whose mission is to provide quality, community responsive, cost effective primary health care regardless of color, creed, gender, age, language, or ability to pay. Erie works with over 80,000 patients in the Chicagoland area.  Brian is also on the Board of Directors for the Illinois Chamber of Commerce.

Julie Morita, MD

Executive Vice President, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation 

Julie Morita, MD, is executive vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), where she oversees programming, policy, research and communications activities. As the nation’s largest private philanthropy dedicated solely to improving the nation’s health, RWJF is focused on advancing health equity where everyone in America has a fair and just opportunity to live the healthiest life possible. Recently, Dr. Morita has served on several federal, state and local COVID19 advisory committees including the Biden Transition COVID19 Advisory Board.

Previously, she helped lead the Chicago Department of Public Health for nearly two decades, first as the Immunization Program medical director, then as chief medical officer. In 2015, she was appointed commissioner, where she oversaw the public health needs of 2.7 million residents in the nation’s third largest city.

Dr. Morita began her medical career as a pediatrician in Tucson, Ariz., before moving into public health as an Epidemic Intelligence Service officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta (CDC).