Our People

Dr. Jody Thomas is a licensed clinical psychologist, and specialist in pediatric medical illness and trauma. A well-known expert in pediatric pain who teaches internationally on the subject, she is also a founder and the former Clinical Director of the Packard Pediatric Pain Rehabilitation Center at Stanford, and a former Assistant Professor at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Though she now lives in Denver, CO, she still serves as Adjunct Faculty for Stanford, providing supervision and teaching. As a consultant for the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford, she directs projects on the integration and innovation of pain management using tech-based intervention. Her passion for bringing together the power of medical science, technology and design to transform the way we think about kids and pain led her to her current focus but it’s her role as a mom of two that solidified her path in creating the Meg Foundation.

Zack Wasserman is an attorney with the Wendel Rosen firm in Oakland, CA. Zack combines his legal mind and passion for activism and service in many ways. In 2012, he was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown as Chair of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission. As General Counsel to the East Bay Economic Development Alliance, he played an integral role negotiating the Bay Plan Amendment to address rising sea levels. Zack serves as general counsel to the Alameda County Transportation Commission. He also serves as vice-chair of the San Francisco Regional Center, and general counsel to the Oakland Chamber of Commerce, the East Bay Economic Development Alliance, and several non-profit corporations and foundations.

Dr. Jennifer Dilts is a pediatrician and medical acupuncturist at Bloom Pediatrics in Kansas City, Kansas. Prior to moving to private practice in 2023, she was the director of Children’s Mercy Kansas City’s Comprehensive Headache Clinic and an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She is board-certified in pediatrics, headache medicine, and medical acupuncture. Her pediatric acupuncture research has won several grants and national awards. Additionally, she has designed a curriculum to teach optimal procedural pain and anxiety management to pediatric residents. As the mom of three daughters, she feels passionately about empowering kids before and during procedures. She also loves talking with kids and teens about headaches, ADHD, and mental health.

Born and raised in New York City, Neil eventually made his way to California, where he graduated from Stanford University with a bachelor’s degree in International Relations and a master’s degree in International Policy Studies. A lover of sport and a devoted alumnus, Neil is a season ticket holder for the San Jose Sharks and Stanford Football. He also supports his university through volunteer service: Neil served as a Board Member of Stanford’s New York City alumni group from 2003-2005; sat on the Stanford Alumni Association’s Board of Directors from 2004 – 2009; and earned an “Outstanding Achievement Award” for Volunteer Service from Stanford Associates in 2004.

Neil lives in San Ramon, CA with his son Owen. When not seeing to his wealth management practice, he can often be found attending concerts, traveling, on the golf course, or playing and watching sports with Owen, in whom he is instilling the same competitive spirit that Neil brings to every facet of his life.

Dr. Becker is a pediatrician and psychotherapist. He is a Medical Director of Integrative Pediatrics for the Stad Center for Pain, Palliative, and Integrative Medicine at UC San Francisco’s Osher Center for Integrative Medicine. He is also a Clinical Professor, teaching and lecturing nationally and internationally on integrative medicine, mental health, chronic pain management, and mind-body strategies. Dr. Becker’s medical consultation clinics offer integrative consultations for children and young adults with a range of chronic and complex medical issues including chronic pain, gastrointestinal disorders, autoimmune conditions, and others.  He also has a behavioral health counseling practice for children and young adults with anxiety, depression, and other behavior concerns. Dr. Becker has a background in global humanitarian aid work with several relief organizations, including Doctors Without Borders. 

Jamie Gentille received her BS in Biobehavioral Health from Penn State University and her Masters in Public Health from Walden University.  She completed her Child Life internship at Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth and became a Certified Child Life Specialist in 2002.  She is currently Director of Child Life Services at Inova Children’s Hospital, where she has worked since 2002.  Jamie is also an adjunct professor at George Mason University.  Jamie also serves as an Ambassador for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.  She has published a memoir, Surviving HIV: Growing Up a Secret and Being Positive, and is an accomplished speaker on the topic. Jamie lives in Northern Virginia with her husband and beloved dogs, Lucy and Pip.

Leslie Lipscomb is a healthcare strategist, practice optimization expert, motivational storyteller, and Founder CEO of Inspired Engagement, LLC, a healthcare solutions company. Leslie has more than 15 years industry experience building relationships, optimizing processes, transforming teams, and improving communications for providers, practices, and hospital systems. Leslie was born with a desire to help others, but it was her son’s cancer journey that redefined her purpose and commitment to improving the healthcare experience from the inside out.

Leslie has a love for science and systems but is a creative at heart. She leverages this rare combination of industry insight, business acumen, and creative aptitude to help clients run businesses that thrive while living lives they love. Leslie’s shared her storytelling talents with organizations such as Inova Children’s Hospital, Good Morning Washington, Nicklaus Children’s Healthcare Foundation, the Association of Child Life Professionals, CureFest for Childhood Cancer, Journey 4 A Cure, National Business Aviation Association, The Washington Redskins, and The Massachusetts General Hospital MGH Fund.

As a co-founder of Sliced Bread Design, Julie Stanford helps companies use design thinking to create and execute the vision for their services. Over the last 18 years, she has been particularly interested in techniques for validating ideas and gathering user feedback in more effective ways. Her clients include small Silicon Valley startups and large organizations such as Google, Gap, Adobe, and the US government. Julie is also a recognized educator at Stanford, where she is on the faculty of the d.School and the Computer Science department as a Science & Engineering Education Fellow. Her courses include Rapid Experimentation, Cross Cultural Design for China, and Interaction Design Studio.

Ines is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist working in private practice in Lafayette CA with individuals suffering with anxiety, trauma and depression. Ines is passionate about connecting with the people she works with and taking steps to help advance their journey towards recovery. Originally from Argentina, Ines is continually seeking training in new modalities to bring her patients wellbeing forward.

After her daughter’s Leukemia diagnosis, Ines and her family personally benefited from the pain management tools that the Meg Foundation endorse and has seen first hand the positive impact that they have. With this new found passion in pain management, Ines wants to make sure that these important tools are widely and readily available to the public, particularly parents of young children.

In her spare time, Ines can be found traveling with her family and enjoying nature.

Dr. Merrill is a board-certified anesthesiologist with expertise in acute pain management, ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia, peripheral nerve blocks and nerve catheters, and orthopedic surgery.  She has been a practicing anesthesiologist at Swedish Medical Center in Seattle for the past 14 years.  Past positions include Chief of Anesthesiology at the Swedish Orthopedic Institute, Chief of Anesthesiology at Swedish Medical Center Ballard, and Anesthesiology Medical Director of Swedish Medical Center, Ballard.  She is also experienced in the practice of anesthesia for general surgery, ENT, urology, OB/GYN, plastics, and other specialties.  Dr. Merrill was instrumental in developing her hospital’s Post-Operative Pain Service, which focuses on the multimodal management of acute post-surgical pain.  She is also a Faculty Member of the Avanos Medical Pain Management Franchise, specializing in hands-on teaching and lectures for other anesthesiologists, focused on improving their regional anesthesia skills and developing their acute pain services.  Outside of work, she loves spending time with her two daughters, and enjoys travelling, snow skiing, yoga, and her Peloton.

Jonathan Fischer is an executive with over 25 years of experience in the Entertainment, Media, and Telecommunications industries. He has held leadership roles at many entertainment companies including Nelix, Illumination Entertainment, New Regency, Disney, and NBCUniversal. Jonathan’s focus has been in a combination of strategy, finance and operational roles, serving as COO of Illumination and New Regency and VP of Content Strategy & Analysis for Netflix. A graduate of Stanford University with a degree in Economics, Jonathan resides in Pacific Palisades with his wife and three daughters. Jonathan previously served on the Board of Upward Bound House, a Los Angeles based non-profit organization focused on ending homelessness among families with children.

Dr. Anya Griffin is a pediatric psychologist and Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine. She serves as Director of the Pediatric Rehabilitation Program (PReP) at Stanford Children’s Health, an intensive interdisciplinary program supporting youth with chronic pain. Dr. Griffin brings over a decade of experience working with children and adolescents facing complex medical conditions, including chronic pain, cancer, and sickle cell disease.

A licensed clinical psychologist and board-certified dance/movement therapist, Dr. Griffin earned her master’s degree in Dance/Movement Therapy from UCLA and her PhD in Clinical Psychology with a specialization in Health Psychology from Fielding Graduate University. She completed her clinical training at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Her work focuses on integrating mind-body strategies into pediatric pain care, supporting smooth transitions from pediatric to adult healthcare, and using creative approaches like photographic storytelling to amplify patient voices.