Pictured in the featured image (L-R): Caitlin Hodges Blaukovitch, Dr. Whitney Stuard Sambhariya, Dr. Shilpen Patel, Dr. Ilse Levin, Dr. David Welsh, Racheal Kunesh, Amanda Block 

The American Medical Association Foundation is excited to announce the addition of seven new members to its board of directors. Their leadership and commitment to medicine will support the foundation’s efforts to build equity in health care, advance medical education and leadership, and support the physician community.

Meet the New Board Members

Amanda Block

Amanda Block serves the board as a medical student representative. She attends the Anne Burnett Marion School of Medicine at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth.

Originally from southern California and a graduate of Brown University, Block is interested in mental health and access to women’s and LGBTQ+ health care.

She has served the AMA House of Delegates as chair and psychiatry delegate of the Medical Student Section Region 3.

Caitlin Hodges Blaukovitch

Caitlin Hodges Blaukovitch is also a medical student representative on the board. She attends Liberty University of Osteopathic Medicine in Lynchburg, Virginia, and is applying to emergency medicine and pediatrics residencies for the 2025 match cycle.

Blaukovitch attended Ferrum College in Virginia for her undergraduate degree, where she majored in biology, chemistry and pre-professional health sciences with a pre-med concentration.

She is active in the AMA and has served in various Medical Student Section (MSS) roles, including co-chair of the standing committee on medical education, chair of the 2024 AMA Annual Meeting of the House of Delegates MSS Reference Committee, multiple task forces and regional involvement. Blaukovitch also holds positions with other organizations focused on state advocacy, rural health and osteopathic organizations.

Ilse Levin, DO, MPH & TM

Dr. Ilse Levin is a board-certified internist and epidemiologist in Silver Spring, Maryland. She is a hospital-based physician for the Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group.

Elected to the AMA Board of Trustees in 2020 and re-elected in 2024, she is a fellow of the American College of Physicians. Dr. Levin has held numerous leadership roles, serving the AMA House of Delegates for the California Medical Association and the Massachusetts Medical Society and as chair of the American Society of Addiction Medicine.

Dr. Levin earned her bachelor’s in marine science from Boston University, her master’s in public health and tropical medicine from James Cook University in Australia, and her medical degree from Western University of Health Sciences in California. She completed her residency in internal medicine at Baystate Medical Center (Tufts University).

Racheal Kunesh, MBA

Racheal Kunesh is the AMA Alliance representative on the board of directors.

An active AMA Alliance member since 1994, Kunesh has held multiple roles in the organization, including two years as communication council director and secretary, and was elected president for the 2023–24 term.

Kunesh has also served on various boards and committees of the Cabarrus Public Health Interest, North Carolina Physician Health Program, Community Free Clinic and CMC Northeast Hospital Foundation. She advocates for physician well-being as a Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation ambassador.

Professionally, she has worked in process and product development for 3M and Transcontinental and is currently a product development engineer with Celgard. She holds a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Iowa and an MBA from the University of St. Thomas.

Shilpen Patel, MD, FACRO, FASTRO

Dr. Shilpen Patel is a distinguished radiation oncologist who practices at Good Samaritan Hospital in the California Bay Area. He is also an associate professor at the University of Washington Department of Global Health and the Division of Public Health at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

He completed his Medical Justice Advocacy Fellowship at the Satcher Health Leadership Institute and the AMA, where he is actively involved. He serves on the AMA House of Delegates (HOD) Council on Long Range Planning and Development and the Specialty and Service Society Governing Council. He has chaired the AMA HOD Young Physician Section and the LGBTQ Advisory Committee.

Dr. Patel contributes to Radiating Hope, RAD-AID and the American College of Radiation Oncology. He holds leadership roles at the Horizons Foundation and Phi Chi Medical Foundation. In 2024, the AMA Foundation recognized him with the International Award in Medicine.

Whitney Stuard Sambhariya, MD, PhD

Dr. Whitney Stuard Sambhariya represents physician residents and fellows on the board. She graduated from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center’s medical scientist training program and is pursuing ophthalmology at Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute.

As a physician-scientist, she integrates medicine, research and advocacy. She has been awarded a National Institute of Health F30 and published in various journals, including the International Journal of Molecular Sciences and Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science.

Dr. Sambhariya has presented at conferences and served on the AMA House of Delegates (HOD) Governing Council, authoring over 30 resolutions. She founded a course on disability awareness in health care and received the AMA Medical Student Section Excellence in Promoting Diversity and Inclusion.

Dr. Sambhariya serves on the AMA HOD Resident Fellow Section and the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Advocacy and Outreach Committee.

David Welsh, MD, MBA

Dr. David Welsh is a board-certified general surgeon based in Southeast Indiana and was elected to the AMA Board of Trustees in June 2024.

He has a strong background in both clinical practice and organized medicine, having chaired the AMA House of Delegates Organized Medical Staff Section and the Council of Science and Public Health. Dr. Welsh has been a county health officer for over 25 years and has actively contributed to the Indiana State Department of Health Trauma Care Committee and the Trauma Care Commission.

Educated at the University of Notre Dame and the Indiana University School of Medicine, Dr. Welsh earned an MBA from Ball State University in 2018. He is a fellow of the American College of Surgeons, a former president of the Indiana State Medical Association, and an educator involved in training at multiple levels.

2024–25 AMA Foundation Board of Directors

Albert Ray, MD, FAAFP
President

Mary Beth Ellison
President-elect

Jerry D. Kennett, MD, MACC
Treasurer

Jeremy Lazarus, MD
Secretary

Nancy L. Mueller, MD, FAAN
Immediate Past President

Caitlin Hodges Blaukovitch
Medical Student Representative

Cedric M. Bright, MD, FACP
Member at Large

Amanda Block
Medical Student Representative

Lisa Boham Egbert, MD
Member at Large

John Ekdahl
Member at large

Rachelle M. Klammer, MD, FACEP
Member at Large

Racheal Kunesh
AMA Alliance Representative

Ilse Levin, DO, MPH & TM
AMA Board of Trustees Representative

Barbara L. McAneny, MD, FASCO, MACP
Member at Large

Jacqueline L. Nguyen, Esq.
Member at Large

Shilpen Patel MD, FACRO, FASTRO
Member at Large

Diana Ramos, MD, MPH, MBA, FACOG
Member at Large

Whitney Stuard Sambhariya, MD, PhD
Resident & Fellow Representative

David J. Welsh, MD, MBA
AMA Board of Trustees Representative

Siobhan Wescott, MD, MPH
Member at Large