Drew Contreras, DPT
Dr. Drew Contreras received his Master of Physical Therapy from Gannon University and his Doctor of Physical Therapy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Drew served in a number of clinical settings and operational units throughout his 20+ year military PT career before his retirement. Including the first ever full-time physical therapist at the White House for the Obama administration and returning for the Biden administration. Currently, he serves on the senior leadership team of the American Physical Therapy Association as the Vice President of Strategic Affairs. There he works to enhance the service and scope of practice of the physical therapy profession and establish alliances and partnerships to advance the profession.
Stephen Curley
Stephen Curley is the Executive Director for the Kentucky Board of Physical Therapy (KBPT). Stephen has been in this role for the last 4 years. Stephen’s background and education is in investigations, he has been an investigator in both the private and public sector for over 19 years. He has been an investigator for the KBPT as well as 11 other Board’s during his 15 years with the state. He has been a speaker at several national conferences on topics ranging from investigations, disciplinary actions, board processes, public protection, addiction, documentation and several other topics. Stephen also serves as the Secretary on the Board of Directors for the Federation of state Boards of Physical Therapy.
Nancy Kirsch, PT, DPT, PhD, FAPTA
Nancy R. Kirsch, PT, DPT, PhD, FAPTA, is a tenured professor of physical therapy and Chairperson of the Department of Rehabilitation and Movement Sciences at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. She currently serves on the Board of Physical Therapy Examiners in New Jersey. She previously served two terms as President of the FSBPT Board of Directors, and also previously served as President of the New Jersey Chapter of the APTA. She serves on the faculty of PROBE for ethics remediation. She served on the Ethics and Judicial Committee of the APTA and served on the committee to review and revise the Code of Ethics for the 2010 revision of the code and most recently served on the committee to revise the Code of Ethics for the 2026 revision. Her research interests are in professional development, remediation for practitioners with ethical practice concerns, and prevention of ethical and professional errors. Her presentations and publications focus on the development of moral reasoning for healthcare providers.
Senator Brach Myers
Senator Brach Myers serves the Louisiana Senate for District 23. His committee assignments include Environmental Quality, Insurance, Labor and Industrial Relations, and Retirement. In his role outside of public service, Brach serves as Senior Vice President of Corporate Development for LHC Group providing post-acute healthcare services in more than 40 states and employing more than 30,000 clinicians and healthcare professionals across the U.S. The Lafayette based company was founded by Brach’s parents nearly 30 years ago, and for the past two decades Brach has helped to grow it into the World’s largest home healthcare provider. Brach’s efforts played a frontline role in fostering partnerships between LHC Group and the organizations over 300 hospital and healthcare systems partners nationwide.
James R. Raines
James “Jim” R. Raines is a partner is the Baton Rouge office of Breazeale Sachse. His principal areas of practice include administrative law, municipal law, elder law litigation, and real estate. Jim represents state licensing boards, and state and local agencies as board general counsel, prosecutor, and hearing officer in administrative hearings. He earned his J.D. in 2004 from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center, Louisiana State University. Jim has served as an attorney for the Louisiana Physical Therapy Board since 2019.
Stefanie Simmons, MD
Foundation and a board- certified emergency medicine physician. She was the primary advisor to NIOSH for the Impact Wellbeing(TM) guide for healthcare leaders, leads multi-state programs to improve the operational environment of care and remove barriers to mental health care, and serves as a national thought leader in healthcare worker well-being. Stefanie served as the Vice President of Patient and Clinician Experience for Envision over 7 years, serving 26,000 physicians and advanced practice providers with a focus on professional well-being, including translational research and programs designed to bring well-being best practices to clinical environments. She served as lead clinical faculty for the Clinician Experience Project Wellbeing program.
Stefanie earned her Bachelor of Science and Medical Doctor degrees from University of Michigan and completed residency training at the University of Michigan/St. Joseph Mercy emergency medicine residency. She has completed additional training in medical education, research methods, coaching, and positive organizational psychology.
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