NATALIE RODDEN, MD
Palliative Medicine Physician, St. Anthony North Health Campus, Westminster, CO
Natalie Rodden, M.D. is a palliative medicine physician at St. Anthony North Health Campus in the Denver metro area. She is a member of the Catholic Medical Association and the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Dr. Rodden received her B.A. from the University of Notre Dame and her M.D. from Tulane University. She completed internal medicine residency at the University of Utah and palliative medicine fellowship at the Mayo Clinic Arizona. During medical school, she founded the Catholic Medical Association Student section, a national organization with the goal of preparing students to uphold the principles of the Catholic faith in the science and practice of medicine. She has been active in advancing efforts of support for Catholic healthcare workers in the Archdiocese of New Orleans, the Diocese of Salt Lake City, and now the Archdiocese of Denver. She writes and speaks nationally on practicing authentically Catholic end of life care and advocating against physician assisted suicide. Dr. Rodden is currently pursuing a masters degree in clinical bioethics. She leads an inpatient palliative care consultation service and serves as co-chair of her hospital's ethics committee.
ASHLEY K. FERNANDES, MD, PhD
Associate Professor of Pediatrics, and Associate Director, Center for Bioethics, The Ohio State University College of Medicine
Ashley K. Fernandes, MD, PhD, is the Associate Director of the Center for Bioethics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine, and an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. He received an MA in Philosophy from Johns Hopkins University; an MD from The Ohio State University; and a PhD in Philosophy (Bioethics) from Georgetown University. Dr. Fernandes is board certified in General Pediatrics. Focusing on bioethics and professionalism education scholarship, he also practices both hospital and ambulatory pediatrics.
Dr. Fernandes is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, an elected member of both the AAP’s Executive Committee on Bioethics and the Academy for Professionalism in Health Care’s Board of Directors, a member of the AOA Medical Honor Society, and a member of the Gold Humanism Honor Society, receiving the prestigious Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine award twice in the last 10 years. He has been the recipient of numerous teaching awards, most recently The Ohio State University College of Medicine’s Professor of the Year Award in 2020. Dr. Fernandes has been a member of the Catholic Medical Association since medical school, and is a member of their national speaker board, traveling across the country to speak on issues in Christian bioethics. He is also an advisor to the CMA Medical Student Section, which awarded him the national Mentor of the Year Award in 2015. He lives with his wife Shruti (a family physician) and two boys in Dublin, Ohio.
PAUL W. HRUZ, MD, PhD
Professor of Pediatrics, Washington University School of Medicine
Paul W. Hruz is Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Associate Professor of Cellular Biology and Physiology at Washington University in St. Louis. Hruz received his Bachelor's Degree in Chemistry from Marquette University in 1987. As a member of the Medical Scientist Training Program at the Medical College of Wisconsin, he received his Ph.D. Degree in Biochemistry in 1993 and M.D. Degree in 1994. He completed Residency training in Pediatrics at the University of Washington in Seattle and a Pediatric Endocrinology fellowship at Washington University. Hruz served at the Chief of the Division of Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes at Washington University from 2012-2017. He is a member of the University's Disorders of Sexual Development (DSD) Multidisciplinary Care Program. Hruz is board certified in Pediatrics and Pediatric Endocrinology. He has also received certification in Healthcare Ethics from the National Catholic Bioethics Center. He has authored over 60 peer-reviewed manuscripts, scientific reviews and book chapters.
SARAH E. HETUE HILL, PhD
Regional Vice President, Mission Integration, CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Health System & The Children’s Hospital of San Antonio
Sarah Hill, PhD is the Regional Vice President of Mission Integration for CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Health System and the Children's Hospital of San Antonio. She is an executive committee member of the Supportive Care Coalition, a coalition of 19 Catholic health systems committed to advancing palliative care. She is also a member of the University of Pennsylvania's Palliative and Advanced Illness Research Center's External Advisory board, the Catholic Health Association's Theology and Ethics Committee, and the Florida Catholic Conferencce of Bishop's End of Life Care Committee. Dr. Hill received her B.S. degree from Marquette University, her M.A. from the University of West Florida and her PhD in Health Care Ethics from St. Louis University. Dr. Hill has delivered presentations including keynote addresses on ethics and palliative care at various national and regional events including the Catholic Health Association Annual Assembly, the Center to Advance Palliative Care annual assembly, the American Society on Aging, and the Supportive Care Congress and has written articles and a book chapter on ethics and palliative care.
MOST REV. SAMUEL J. AQUILA
Archbishop of Denver
Samuel J. Aquila was born on September 24, 1950, in Burbank, California. He was ordained to the priesthood in Denver, Colorado, on June 5, 1976, and served in parish ministry for 11 years. In 1987, he began graduate studies at San Anselmo University in Rome, earning a Licentiate in Sacramental Theology in 1990.
He served as Director for the Office of Liturgy and Master of Ceremonies in the Archdiocese of Denver from 1990 until 1995. He served the archdiocese as Co-director for Continuing Education for Priests, as an advisor to the Bishop’s Committee on the Liturgy, and as Assistant Secretary for Catholic Education before being named Secretary for Catholic Education, a position he held from 1995 until 1999.
From 1999-2001, he served as the first Rector of St. John Vianney Theological Seminary in Denver and Chief Executive Officer of Our Lady of the New Advent Theological Institute. In 2000, he was named a Prelate of Honor by Pope John Paul II, receiving the honorary title of Monsignor.
He was appointed Coadjutor Bishop of Fargo on June 12, 2001, and his Episcopal Ordination Mass was celebrated at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Fargo on August 24, 2001. On March 18, 2002, he became Bishop of Fargo, and from 2005 to 2006 he also acted as Apostolic Administrator for the Diocese of Sioux Falls. On July 18, 2012 he was installed as the Archbishop of Denver, returning to lead the Archdiocese where he had originally served as a priest for 25 years.
Archbishop Aquila serves on numerous boards and committees, including the Papal Foundation, the Bishops’ Advisory Council for the Institute for Priestly Formation and the Board of Trustees for the Augustine Institute. He is a member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, in which he has served as a member of various committees. Archbishop Aquila’s episcopal motto comes from the Blessed Virgin Mary’s instructions at Cana: “Do whatever he tells you (Jn 2:5).”
REV. MICHAEL ROZIER, SJ, PhD
Assistant Professor, Saint Louis University
Michael Rozier, S.J. is an assistant professor of Health Management and Policy in the College for Public Health and Social Justice, with a secondary appointment in the Gnaegi Center for Health Care Ethics. Rozier received his B.A. in chemistry from Saint Louis University in 2003 and upon graduation, he entered the Jesuits. During his Jesuit formation, he has earned graduate degrees in philosophy from the University of Toronto, in international health from Johns Hopkins University, and in moral theology from Boston College. In 2008, Rozier served as an ethics fellow with the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. He was ordained in 2014 and in 2018, he earned his Ph.D. in Health Management and Policy from University of Michigan. His research focuses on the ethics of population health, the use of moral rhetoric in health policy, and geospatial location’s effect on health-related privacy. Rozier serves on the sponsor board and the board of directors of SSM Health Corporation and on the board of trustees of Marquette University.
DOMINIQUE J. MONLEZUN, MD, PhD, PhD, MPH
CEO and Chief Data Scientist, Global System Analytics & Structures
Dr. Monlezun is Professor of Bioethics at the Italian Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum and Mexican Universidad Anáhuac, Chief Data Scientist at Global System Analytics & Structures, Senior Data Scientist & Biostatistician for the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Cardiac Catherization Lab and UT-Houston Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Research Scholar for the United Nations/UNESCO Chair in Bioethics & Human Rights, and Principal Investigator for over 30 biomedical randomized and cohort trials. He is a member of the American College of Physicians and AΩA Honor Medical Society. Dr. Monlezun received his MD from Tulane University School of Medicine, his first PhD in Global Health Management & Policy and MPH in Global Health Systems & Development from Tulane University School of Public Health, and his second PhD in Bioethics from Regina Apostolorum. Dr. Monlezun has authored over 250 peer-reviewed manuscripts and conference presentations in addition to three books (including the first textbooks separately on AI global bioethics and Thomistic-Aristotelian personalist ethics and political philosophy) and teaches medicine, public health, data science, and bioethics for graduate students on 4 continents
