Meet Our Leadership
Officers
Alanna Caffas
Chief Executive Officer
Administrative Team
Samantha Gray, MS, CCRP
Director, Sponsored Programs
Email: Samantha.Gray@veteranshealthfoundation.org
Justin Johnson
Controller
Email: justin.johnson@veteranshealthfoundation.org
Laura Soule
Grants & Financial Operations Analyst
Email: Laura.Soule@veteranshealthfoundation.org
Alyssa Kukonik
Program Support Specialist
Email: Alyssa.Kukonik@veteranshealthfoundation.org
Shannon Austermann Hula, PhD, CRA
Grants & Contracts Manager
Email: Shannon.Hula@veteranshealthfoundation.org
Board of Directors
Thandiwe Nelson-Brooks MPH, FACHE
Akshar B. Abbott, MD
U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
VISN 23 Clinical Resource Hub-Ophthalmologist, VHA Innovation Ecosystem-Entrepreneur in Residence
Sharon Coyle RN, MSN, MBA
Medical Center Director, VA Butler
Frank DeCarlo, Esq.
Major/U.S. Army
General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
Liberty Tire and Recycling
Walid Gellad, MD, PhD
Associate Chief of Staff for Research & Development, VA Pittsburgh
Marc Geraci, MD Vice Chancellor for Research, Health Sciences
Vice Dean for Medical Research and Professor of Medicine at University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Russell E. Lloyd
Medical Center Director, VA Wilkes-Barre
Phil Hahn, Divergent Industries, Inc.
United States Air Force
Jim McMahon, CPA
MBA Bronder & Company
Ronald Poropatich, MD
Colonel/Retired/U.S. Army
Professor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, Executive Director, Center for Military Medicine Research, Health Sciences, University of Pittsburgh
Lyndsay Tkach, MS, CBIS
Mental Health/Brain Health Services Director
Wounded Warrior Project
Christopher Schott, MD, MS
Associate Chief of Staff for Education and Innovation, VA Pittsburgh