Executives
- Richard J. Baron, MD, President and CEO of ABIM & ABIM Foundation
- Elizabeth E. Blaylock, Senior VP of Programs
- John K. Davis II, Senior VP of Operations and CIO
- Eric S. Holmboe, MD, Senior VP and CMO
- William F. Iobst, MD, VP of Academic Affairs
- Lynn O. Langdon, Senior VP and COO
- Rebecca S. Lipner, PhD, Senior VP of Evaluation, Research and Development
- Vincent J. Mandes, Senior VP of Finance and CFO
- Paul A. Poniatowski, VP of Knowledge Assessment and Product Development
- Lorie Slass, VP of Communications
- Leslie Tucker, VP of Policy
Richard J. Baron, MD, President and CEO of ABIM & ABIM Foundation
Dr. Baron, board certified in internal medicine and geriatrics, is President and CEO of the American Board of Internal Medicine and the ABIM Foundation. Dr. Baron was a former Chair of the American Board of Internal Medicine’s Board of Directors.
Previously, Dr. Baron served as Group Director of Seamless Care Models at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Center, where he led efforts related to Accountable Care Organizations and primary care. Prior to his CMS appointment, Dr. Baron practiced general internal medicine and geriatrics at Greenhouse Internists, P.C., located in Philadelphia. Greenhouse has been a pioneer in the comprehensive adoption of electronic health records in the small-practice environment. Until joining the federal government, Dr. Baron also served on the Board of the National Quality Forum and their Health Information Technology Advisory Committee, as well as the Standards Committee of the National Committee for Quality Assurance.
Dr. Baron served as Chief Medical Officer of Health Partners, a not-for-profit Medicaid HMO set up by four teaching hospitals in Philadelphia, from 1988 to 1996. He was the architect of the Best Clinical and Administrative Practices program, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Center for Health Care Strategies, working with medical leadership of Medicaid health plans around the country in learning collaboratives to improve the quality of care for their members. This program reached plans serving more than half of the Medicaid managed care population in the United States.
Dr. Baron received an English degree from Harvard College and his medical degree from Yale University. He completed house staff training at New York University-Bellevue Medical Center and served a three-year obligation in the National Health Service Corps in rural Tennessee.
TopElizabeth E. Blaylock, Senior VP of Programs
Ms. Blaylock is Senior Vice President for Programs at the American Board of Internal Medicine. In this capacity, she oversees ABIM’s Maintenance of Certification program as well as new program areas such as providing products and services to other Boards and internationally.
Before joining ABIM, Ms. Blaylock was a management consultant with more than 15 years of experience in diverse healthcare settings. She was senior manager at the Center for Applied Research, where she provided strategic planning and organizational design services to clients in the health care and professional services fields. Among her clients was ABIM, for which Ms. Blaylock helped to develop a strategic plan in 2006. Prior to her work with Center for Applied Research, she was engagement manager at McKinsey & Company, where she consulted on strategy setting and operational improvement to organizations in the health care, financial services and telecommunications industries. She also served as Coordinator of Affiliate Development for International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, and as Program Manager for Mutual Assistance Associations with The Massachusetts Office of Refugee Resettlement.
Ms. Blaylock earned master’s degrees in international relations and public/private management from Yale University, and a bachelor’s degree in social studies from Harvard University, where she graduated magna cum laude.
TopJohn K. Davis II, Senior VP of Operations and Chief Information Officer
Mr. Davis is Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer (CIO) at the American Board of Internal Medicine. He works closely with senior management and the ABIM Board of Directors to provide the vision, strategic direction and operational oversight for the development and implementation of information technology initiatives that support ABIM's mission. Mr. Davis is a key contributor to formulating ABIM's overall strategic business objectives and is responsible for aligning the IT strategic plan to facilitate achievement of these objectives.
Mr. Davis brings more than 35 years of experience in business operations and information technology and is an accomplished CIO. Prior to joining ABIM, he served as Executive Vice President and CIO at Omnicare Clinical Research. There, he helped to build and globalize the Clinical Research Organization, which operates in 30 countries, providing clinical trials and data analysis for pharmaceutical manufacturers and other biotechnology companies. Previous positions include Senior Vice President and CIO for Trans Financial Bankcorp, a financial services holding company in Kentucky. Additionally, Mr. Davis has worked in various IT positions for companies such as Smith Kline Beecham and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maryland.
Mr. Davis earned a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Towson University and an MBA in International Business from Drexel University.
TopEric S. Holmboe, MD, Senior VP and CMO
Dr. Holmboe, a board certified internist, is Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and Senior Vice President of the American Board of Internal Medicine and the ABIM Foundation. He is also Professor Adjunct of Medicine at Yale University, and Adjunct Professor at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.
Prior to joining the ABIM in 2004, he was the Associate Program Director, Yale Primary Care Internal Medicine Residency Program, and Director of Student Clinical Assessment, Yale School of Medicine. Before joining Yale in 2000, he served as Division Chief of General Internal Medicine at the National Naval Medical Center.
His research interests include interventions to improve quality of care and methods in the evaluation of clinical competence. He is the editor of a textbook on assessment and author of more than 140 peer-reviewed articles in professional journals, including: Annals of Internal Medicine, Journal of General Internal Medicine, American Journal of Medicine Health Affairs and Journal of the American Medical Association. Dr. Holmboe is currently a member of the board of the National Board of Medical Examiners and Medbiquitous, and serves as chair of the Committee on Research and Evaluation of Programs at the American Board of Medical Specialties. His professional memberships include the American College of Physicians, where he is a Fellow, Society of General Internal Medicine and Association of Medical Education in Europe and is an honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in London.
Dr. Holmboe is a graduate of Franklin and Marshall College and the University of Rochester School of Medicine. He completed his residency and chief residency at Yale-New Haven Hospital, and was a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar at Yale University.
TopWilliam F. Iobst, MD, VP of Academic Affairs
William F. Iobst, MD is Vice President of Academic Affairs for the American Board of Internal Medicine. In this capacity, Dr. Iobst develops outreach activities with residency and fellowship training programs as well as faculty development programs and oversees the credentialing of ABIM diplomats. He also works with ABIM’s research team to develop new and better assessment methodologies for competency evaluation. This work has most recently involved the development of the Internal Medicine Milestones. A practicing physician, Dr. Iobst continues to see rheumatology patients at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Allentown, Pennsylvania on a weekly basis.
Previously, Dr. Iobst served as Designated Institutional Official and Medical Director of Graduate Medical Education at Lehigh Valley Hospital Network in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He was also the Vice Chairman of Education for the Department of Medicine, Medical Director for Network Faculty Development and Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency and Transitional Year Residency Programs at Lehigh Valley. He is an Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine at The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine in Hershey, Pennsylvania.
Dr. Iobst is a graduate of Bucknell University and Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University. He completed his residency at Robert Packer Hospital, and his Rheumatology Fellowship at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center.
TopLynn O. Langdon, Senior VP of Operations and COO
Ms. Langdon is Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) at the American Board of Internal Medicine. She provides leadership in the development and implementation of the organization’s policies, initiatives, objectives and strategic plans.
Ms. Langdon is an ABIM Voting Representative to the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) and has been involved in various aspects of ABMS activities for more than 20 years. She was recently elected to serve on the ABMS Committee on Oversight and Monitoring of Maintenance of Certification.
Her prior work experience includes positions held at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia medical library and at the National Board of Medical Examiners.
Ms. Langdon earned her undergraduate degree from Dickinson College and has a master's degree in Measurement and Evaluation Techniques of Educational Research from the University of Pennsylvania.
TopRebecca S. Lipner, PhD, Senior VP of Evaluation, Research and Development
Dr. Lipner is Senior Vice President of Evaluation, Research and Development at the American Board of Internal Medicine, where she oversees a team of research design and analysis experts who employ both qualitative and quantitative methods to ensure and enhance the high quality of assessment programs across the ABIM enterprise while disseminating evidence-based research findings to the public. In this role she ensures that ABIM assessment products remain relevant to the practice of internal medicine and identifies new possibilities and innovations in assessment and technology that guide research and development initiatives.
Dr. Lipner was VP of Psychometrics and Research Analysis at the American Board of Internal Medicine, where she was responsible for the scoring, statistical analysis, standard-setting, equating, security and evaluation of measurement properties for ABIM assessment products including innovative items types such as procedural simulation. She also oversees quantitative research analysis ranging from internal medicine workforce trends to health outcomes research. In her previous role as Director of Psychometrics for ABIM, she was involved in the implementation of new programs in maintenance of certification and computer-based testing.
Prior to joining ABIM, Dr. Lipner held a variety of teaching and faculty positions at Drexel University, St. Joseph’s University and the University of Pittsburgh, where she taught undergraduate and graduate courses in statistics, tests and measurement, experimental design, systems analysis and design, and expert systems. Dr. Lipner received the Research in Medical Education T. Hale Ham Award for New Investigators in 2003.
Her research interests include computer-adaptive testing, Bayesian methodology, high-stakes testing and assessment, statistical modeling, experimental design and the use of simulators in testing. Dr. Lipner is a frequent speaker on these subjects and is widely published in professional journals, including the Journal of the American Medical Association, Annals of Internal Medicine, Academic Medicine, Applied Measurement in Education, and the Journal of Educational Measurement.
Dr. Lipner received a doctorate in Information Systems from Drexel University and a master’s degree in Quantitative Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh. She graduated summa cum laude from City College of New York, where she received a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Psychology. She is a member of the American Educational Research Association, the Association of American Medical Colleges, Generalists in Medical Education, National Council on Measurement in Education, AcademyHealth, and the Association of Test Publishing, where she served as Program Committee Chair and Vice-Chair from 2006-2008. She currently chairs the American Board of Medical Specialties’ Psychometric Advisory Group and serves as a consultant to the committee on research and evaluation procedures.
TopVincent J. Mandes, Senior VP and CFO
Mr. Mandes, a seasoned financial management professional with a strong background in strategic planning and business development, is Senior Vice President of Finance and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at the American Board of Internal Medicine and the ABIM Foundation. He directs activities associated with the security and investment of the assets and funds of both organizations and is responsible for providing overall direction for the accounting, tax, insurance, budget, credit and treasury functions. Additionally, he ensures that financial transactions, policies and procedures meet organization short- and long-term objectives, as well as regulatory requirements. He also supervises ABIM's Business Services department.
Previously, Mr. Mandes served as Vice President of Finance at Lincoln Investment Planning, Inc., where he managed all aspects of financial activities: treasury, cash management, taxes, forecasts, risk management, and coordination of independent third party professional services. Before that, he spent twelve years at Rose Management Services, a multi-million dollar restaurant management company which operates 60 casual dining restaurants, where he served first as Controller and later as Chief Financial Officer. Early in his career, he was Controller at Wallquest/Design Directions Inc., and a CPA at K.P.M.G. Peat Marwick.
Mr. Mandes, a certified public accountant, earned his bachelor's degree in accounting from Widener University and his MBA in finance from LaSalle University.
TopPaul A. Poniatowski, VP of Knowledge Assessment and Product Development
Mr. Poniatowski is Vice President for Knowledge Assessment and Product Development at the American Board of Internal Medicine, responsible for management of secure exam and knowledge self-assessment product operations and strategic planning for cognitive assessment methods and processes.
Mr. Poniatowski received a master’s degree in English from the University of Connecticut and a master’s degree in Measurement, Evaluation, and Techniques of Experimental Research from the University of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the American Educational Research Association.
TopLorie Slass, VP of Communications
Ms. Slass, Vice President for Communications at the American Board of Internal Medicine, has more than 20 years of experience in communications and public affairs. At ABIM, Ms. Slass oversees all communications operations and activities for ABIM and the ABIM Foundation.
Before joining ABIM in 2007, Ms. Slass was a senior officer at The Pew Charitable Trusts where she created, executed and managed communications and public affairs initiatives for Pew's state policy and health care-related efforts. From 2003 to 2005, she was Deputy Campaign Manager for Cover the Uninsured Week at The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, where she helped plan and implement a complex public education campaign – the nation's largest mobilization effort – on behalf of the millions of Americans who lack health care coverage. As Director of the Washington Office of the Annenberg Public Policy Center from 2000 to 2003, Ms. Slass directed research, media outreach and public affairs activities.
Ms. Slass served as Communications Director for Families USA, a non-partisan and non-profit organization working to improve health care quality and affordability. She worked in communications consulting in Washington DC for seven years directing public relations and public affairs strategies for a range of health, education and children's issue accounts first at Podesta Associates and then at Greer, Margolis Mitchell, Burns & Associates.
She started her career at the Advocacy Institute, helping to design a training program in media advocacy and coalition building for tobacco control coalitions in 17 states.
Ms. Slass earned a master’s degree in Communication from the Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor’s degree from Tulane University.
TopLeslie Tucker, VP of Policy
Ms. Tucker serves as Vice President of Policy at the American Board of Internal Medicine and the ABIM Foundation. She is responsible for raising the profile of ABIM and the ABIM Foundation in national policy and the broader quality and accountability arena. This includes integrating certifying specialty board assessment efforts with national quality and improvement initiatives and advancing the precepts of medical professionalism to improve performance.
Ms. Tucker has more than twenty years’ experience leading policy development, strategic advocacy and program implementation at the state and federal levels. Before joining the Foundation, she was a Senior Program Officer at The Pew Charitable Trusts, where she developed and managed a multi-million dollar grant-making portfolio focused on public health and emerging technologies, and oversaw the prestigious Pew Scholars and Fellows programs in the biomedical sciences. Prior to joining the Trusts, Ms. Tucker directed the Washington Office of the Pew-funded Center for Children’s Health and Environment at the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, and served concurrently as Director of Environmental Health for the American College of Preventive Medicine. She left Washington D.C. for three years to lead Strategic Planning, Policy and Outreach at the Rhode Island Department of Human Services implementing welfare reform and Medicaid expansions.
Ms. Tucker’s earlier policymaking experience includes government relations and rural practice support for the American Academy of Family Physicians; senior legislative health staff to U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson (R-WY); and health staff to the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee on Aging. Ms. Tucker graduated with honors from Yale.
