Meet the INHALE Team!
The INHALE team has rich expertise in pediatric and adult asthma, COPD, allergy, quality improvement, and data analytics.
Clinical Leadership
Njira Lugogo, M.D.
Program Director, Asthma Expert
Dr Lugogo is a Professor of Internal Medicine. She specializes in pulmonary diseases with an area of practice in adult asthma care. She is committed to improving the quality and performance of care for everyone who have asthma and COPD, so everyone can have and achieve an optimal health and quality of life.
Michael Sjoding, M.D., MSc
Program Co-Director, COPD Expert
Dr. Sjoding is an Associate Professor of Internal Medicine specializing in pulmonary and critical care medicine. He is passionate about improving the outcomes of patients with asthma and COPD through health services research and inpatient hospital quality measures.
Coordinating Center Staff
April Proudlock
Program Manager
April joined INHALE as the Program Manager in September 2023. She has over 12 years of experience in various capacities within the CQIs. She most recently served as a Sr. Project Manager in the Quality Department at Michigan Medicine focusing on local site performance within the BCBSM CQIs. April has a nursing background and previously worked in Research and Development at Pfizer. In her spare time, she enjoys working on home DIY projects and spending time with her family.
Sean Lezak
Associate Program Manager
Sean joined INHALE in November 2023. He has 15 years of research experience as a study coordinator, project manager and manager at the University of Michigan and in a private practice setting. His research experience includes over 11 years in pharmaceutical clinical research, including 6 years as a clinical study coordinator and 5 years as a clinical research manager investigating medication for asthma, allergies, chronic urticaria, hereditary angioedema & Multiple Sclerosis.
Karla Stoermer Grossman
Clinical Site Coordinator
Karla is a nationally Certified Asthma Educator (AE-C) since 2003. She has more than 20 years of experience educating high-risk asthma patients in both the home and clinical settings. Karla has a BA from Kalamazoo College, a BSN from University of Michigan and a Masters in Healthcare Administration from Central Michigan University. In her free time she loves to figure skate, walk, and binge Netflix.
Brenna Dressler
Project Manager
Brenna is a dynamic public health professional who has been working in the field for a little over 4 years. She has a Masters in Public Health degree from University of Michigan and a Bachelor of Health Science from Saginaw Valley State University. Brenna enjoys traveling the world, spoiling her dog, exercising and spending time with family and friends in her free time.
Kelly Shelton
Administrative Specialist
Kelly has 18 years experience in administration. She has a degree in elementary education and is currently working towards her PACE certification. In her free time she loves to listen to podcasts, read and binge Netflix.
Meghan Spiroff
Engagement Coordinator
Meghan Spiroff has over 10 years of experience engaging patients and partners in research. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Public Health from Western Michigan University and a Master of Health Administration from Eastern Michigan University. Outside of work she enjoys spending time with her family and traveling.
Dawn Zinsser
Senior Data Analyst
Dawn is an analyst with over 25 years of healthcare data management and statistical programming experience. She processes EHR and claims data to support INHALE’s quality measure development and works closely with the CQI Population Health Registry on reporting measure results to INHALE’s participating POs and providers. Dawn has a BA in Mathematics with an Applied Statistics minor from the University of Michigan-Dearborn.
Raul Desiderio
Database Analyst/Programmer
Raul has a BSE Computer Science from the University of Michigan alongside 6 years of experience in asthma research as a research assistant. Raul manages the website and admin portal for INHALE as a programmer, and he also works as a database analyst for the Michigan Asthma Program. Raul enjoys tinkering with electronics, 3D printing, and competitive gaming in his free time.
