Ellen Taylor, PhD, AIA, MBA, EDAC
Vice President for Research, The Center for Health Design
Ellen Taylor brings more than 30 years of experience in architecture, research, and business to leading The Center’s research team. She is a registered architect and member of the AIA who was recognized by Healthcare Design as the HCD10 Researcher in 2017, an award recognizing significant contributions to the industry. A nationally and internationally recognized writer and speaker, she has led numerous grant-funded research programs and published numerous peer-reviewed papers. Ellen has a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Cornell University’s College of Architecture, Art and Planning, Global Executive MBA degrees from Columbia University and London Business School, and a PhD in design, patient safety and human factors from Loughborough University in England. She serves as the Vice Chair for the FGI Health Guidelines Revisions Committee, on the Editorial Advisory Boards of the Health Environments Research & Design (HERD) Journal and American Journal of Infection Control (AJIC), and she was the 2022 President of the AIA Academy of Architecture for Health.
Keith Novenski
Healing Spaces Specialist, Indigenous Pact PBC, Inc.
Keith Novenski is an expert in creating Healing Spaces – particularly those that provide access to care and services for anyone in need, without restrictions or expectations. In fact, creating accessible and intentional spaces is what drives Keith every day; he gleans joy by drawing on his background that incorporates project management, Human-Centered Design, and thinking through a Blue Ocean Strategy (the simultaneous pursuit of differentiation and low cost to open a new market space and create new demand).
Keith’s passion and enthusiasm for space design is contagious, and clients and team members alike often respond with excitement and hope about creating spaces that heal: “As the exchange of design continues, the momentum builds and fills me with joy as we empower our clients to bring beauty, health, and healing to their communities.”
Beginning his day walking in nature helps Keith connect himself to the space around him, which subsequently allows him to connect with Indigenous Pact team members, vendors, and clients more mindfully and effectively. Keith has spent 20 years within the healthcare system – leading new business development, working through obstacles, problem solving, and implementing innovative solutions.
Shary Adams, AIA, ACHA, EDAC
Mental Health Practice Co-Leader, CannonDesign
Access to adequate mental health care and resources is one of the most pressing crises facing the world. Shary has committed her career to helping organizations expand their mental health services as well as develop new strategies and innovations that improve treatment for those needing this complex medical mental care.
With more than 30 years’ experience in healthcare design and leading integrated teams, Shary excels in getting laser-focused on a problem and defining the best possible solutions. She has shared her expertise in media outlets and has spoken about mental healthcare at domestic and global conferences.
Kevin Turner, AIA
Principal Architect, Human eXperience
With over 29 years of experience, Kevin is a distinguished leader in the operationally informed design of Behavioral Healthcare facilities, having designed over 6 million SF of transformative spaces across the United States. As a renowned architect, Kevin’s mission is to create buildings that truly matter, with a particular focus on stakeholder engagement, planning, design leadership, technical detailing, and effective project management. His expertise and passion have led him to work with esteemed firms such as PFVS, RTKL, The Freelon Group, and Perkins+Will, where he has established himself as a recognized leader in the field. Kevin’s passion for designing spaces that prioritize the well-being, safety, and dignity of individuals in need of mental health treatment reflects his commitment to social responsibility and improving the quality of care in the field.
Sarah Rolfvondenbaumen
Behavioral Health Consultant and Architect, Human eXperience
Sarah is a dedicated Behavioral Health Consultant and Architect with a passion for designing spaces that enhance the human experience. At human eXperience, Sarah's mission is to shape the built environment in a way that maximizes the well-being of all people. By combining thoughtful design principles with functional outcomes, Sarah strives to create spaces that have a positive impact on both patients and staff. As a behavioral health consultant, Sarah collaborates closely with project teams to facilitate stakeholder engagement, develop therapeutic and code-compliant solutions, and optimize long-term flexibility and maintainability. Sarah firmly believes that every decision made in behavioral health design should prioritize the safety of patients and staff while fostering an uplifting and dignified atmosphere.
Yolanda Keys, PhD, DHA, RN, NEA-BC, EDAC
Research Associate, The Center for Health Design
Yolanda Keys is a registered nurse and brings over 25 years of nursing experience that has included roles as a clinician, leader and academician. With doctorates in healthcare administration and nursing, her research focuses on nurse leaders and healthy work environments – especially the built environment. She is an active member of the Nursing Institute for Health Design (NIHD), serving as president in 2017 and acting as an NIHD liaison for The Center’s Knowledge Repository for many years. She brings a clinical perspective to the research team, as well as a deep understanding of the important contribution nurses can have during planning and design.
Deb Lambert HFA, MS
President & CEO, Byron Wellness Community
Deb Lambert is blessed to serve the residents and staff of Byron Health Center. She has been a Health Facility Administrator in Indiana for over 25 years and she currently serves as the President and CEO of Byron Wellness Systems.
Sarah Starcher, HFA, MBA
Chief Operating Officer/Executive Director, Byron Wellness Community
Sarah Starcher is honored to serve the residents and staff of Byron Health Center. She has been a licensed Administrator since 2015 and currently serves as the Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director of Byron Health Center.
Michele Cohen, OAA, MRAIC, LEED AP, M.Arch
Principal, Health Sciences, Canada, NORR
Michele is an innovative and experienced licensed architect and medical planner with twenty-five years of experience developing healthcare, laboratories, commercial and public facility solutions throughout Canada and the United States. She has worked on multiple public private partnership projects. Michele has special expertise in quality assurance, risk mitigation and constructability, and has project management experience working with multi-disciplinary teams that have delivered millions of square feet of health science projects. Michele and her team have had great success using VR to help clients visualize her latest healthcare design projects. She is passionate about making positive changes in the built environment of behavioral health spaces to improve the experience for patients, their loved ones and staff.
Melissa Piatkowski, MS, EDAC
Research Associate, The Center for Health Design
For the past 20 years, Melissa has dedicated her career to exploring the connection between design and health. As a Research Associate with The Center for Health Design, she is a proud to work with her fellow “geeks” on developing tools and resources intended to support evidence-based design. She leads The Center’s Just Health Design group, a task force committed to moving the healthcare design field forward towards a more just, diverse, equitable, and inclusive future.
Prior to joining The Center for Health Design, Melissa led Evidence-Based Design efforts at Davis Partnership Architects and Huelat Davis Healing Design. Melissa has a bachelor’s degree in environmental design from the University of Colorado and a master’s degree in environmental psychology from Cornell University.
Terri Zborowsky, PhD, RN, EDAC, CPXP
Design Researcher, HGA
Terri Zborowsky is a nurse and design researcher at HGA, multidisciplinary design firm rooted in architecture and engineering. From where she sits, she believes post pandemic, we will never look at staff spaces the same again. On issues ranging from keeping staff safe from workplace injuries (and even death in the case of COVID-19 infection), to staff respite and break areas, the voice of frontline staff will now, and forever be, at the table, helping to make design decisions.
Suzanne Kiely
Project Manager, UCLA Health, Planning Design and Construction and Real Estate
With almost two decades of experience working for a leading academic medical center, she is the liaison between design and construction project team members and hospital stakeholders for the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Replacement Hospital project and new behavioral health campus in mid-city of Los Angeles.
She was a member of the UCLA Health transition team for the large and complex hospital construction project of the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, involved with fit-up, commissioning, licensing and re-location activities. She has also managed many off-campus real estate and tenant improvement projects for UCLA Health.
True to roots in transition planning, Suzanne’s skills and experience are at the nexus of creating new spaces and operational implementation. She works directly with hospital administration, facilities, IT, logistics, general services, safety, security, quality and, not least, the caregivers and clinicians across many modalities in both inpatient and outpatient settings who serve patients, families and community and educate the next generation of caregivers.
As a project manager she works to identify key stakeholders, address needs of a large and diverse organization, foster teamwork, leverage institutional knowledge toward better solutions, identify resources, balance priorities and support leadership in critical decision-making and change management.