Saint Gianna Medical Professionals Conference

A native of Escanaba, Michigan, Dr. Thomas McGovern completed his M.D. at Mayo Medical School and spent eight years in the U.S. Army that included infectious disease research at Fort Detrick, MD and a dermatology residency at Fitzsimons Army Medical Center, Denver. He trained in Mohs surgery and Cutaneous Oncology at the Yale University School of Medicine and has performed over 36,000 cases of Mohs surgery and facial reconstruction since 2000 at Fort Wayne Dermatology Consultants, where he is a partner-owner and current president.

Sister Michaela Serpa, FSE, MA, PharmD, BCPS is a Franciscan Sister of the Eucharist and an Associate Professor of Clinical Sciences at Fred Wilson School of Pharmacy at High Point University, High Point, North Carolina, where she teaches Pharmacy Law & Ethics. She is licensed to practice pharmacy in four states, is a board-certified pharmacotherapy specialist, a member of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP), and the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) where she serves on the Ethics in Pharmacy Committee. Sister Michaela was a member of the adult ethics committee at Yale-New Haven Hospital and the Hospital of St. Raphael, New Haven, CT for 12 years. She has presented on ethical issues for the GIVEN Catholic Young Women’s Leadership Forum and several Converging Roads conferences sponsored by the John Paul II Foundation.

Matt Misner is a board-certified Pediatrician and a long-standing member of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). He has worked as a hospice physician at the Center for Hospice Care, in Mishawaka, Indiana, since 2020. Dr. Misner serves as the Education Director at the Center and teaches hospice principles to Indiana University (IU) students and Family Medicine residents. He also participates in the training of IU Hospice and Palliative Medicine fellows at both participating medical facilities, as well as the University of Notre Dame pre-med students. Dr. Misner acts on behalf of several national committees, including the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO), Pediatric Advisory Council (PAC), and Palliative Care Association of Uganda (PCAU). He will be starting a Pediatric Hospice and Palliative Care Fellowship this fall with the Trillium Institute for Hospice Services in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with the intent to begin and expand Prenatal Hospice Services to the surrounding South Bend region after his fellowship is complete.

Dr. James Link is a licensed psychologist who has been in private practice for nearly 15 years. His professional area of interest has been in the integration of theology and psychology - both in theory and in his clinical practice. Dr. Link's practice has focused primarily on individual and marital therapy, along with performing a wide range of psychological assessments and evaluations for numerous referral agencies and Catholic Dioceses in the upper Midwest. He also serves as an expert witness on annulment cases for various Diocesan Tribunals. Dr. Link specializes in the integration of faith and spirituality within the domain of psychology and strives to treat the whole person from a Catholic-based anthropology.

Helen Alvaré is the Robert A. Levy Endowed Chair in Law and Liberty at Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University, where she teaches Family Law, Law and Religion, and Property Law. She publishes on matters concerning marriage, parenting, non-marital households, and the First Amendment religion clauses. She is a Holy See Delegate on Women to the Organization for American States, a Member of the Holy See’s Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life (Vatican City), a board member of Catholic Relief Services, and a member of the Executive Committee of the AALS’ Section on Law and Religion. She cooperates with the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations as a speaker and a delegate to various United Nations conferences concerning women and the family. Prior to her current position, Professor Alvaré taught at the Columbus School of Law at the Catholic University of America and represented the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops before legislative bodies, academic audiences and the media.