Farhan Bhatti, MD

Board Member

Dr. Bhatti is a board-certified Family Physician and currently serves as CEO of Care Free Medical, a nonprofit clinic that provides medical, dental, and optometry care to underserved and uninsured individuals in the Metro Lansing area. He completed his residency training in Family Medicine at Sparrow Hospital. Prior to that, he graduated from the College of Human Medicine at Michigan State University (MSU). Dr. Bhatti also holds two undergraduate degrees with Honors from MSU, Political Science and Physiology, with a specialization in Bioethics, Humanities, and Society. He is actively involved politically and is especially passionate about health care policy.

Richard Bruno, MD

Board Member

Dr Richard Bruno is a family & preventive medicine physician at Chase Brexton Health Care in Baltimore, MD. He has been active in local, state, and national organizations, serving on the board of directors of the American Academy of Family Physicians, the National Physicians Alliance, the American Association of Public Health Physicians, MedChi (the Maryland state medical society), the Maryland Academy of Family Physicians, Sugar Free Kids Maryland, Friends of Hampden School #55, Hampden Family Center, Roland Park Civic League, Wyman Park Community Association, and Physicians for a National Health Program. He has been advocating for Medicare for All since his first year of medical school, organizing rallies and workshops for health justice. His main clinical focuses are the pair of pandemics: obesity and opioids, with involvement in community public health interventions and policies, including sugary drink interventions at local corner-stores and testimony on expansion of medication for opioid use disorder in the Maryland State House. He and his wife and their two children and love hiking, biking, and cooking together. He attained a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, doctorate of medicine from Oregon Health and Science University, and a master of public health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He graduated from the combined Family & Preventive Medicine residency program at Johns Hopkins and MedStar Health.

Amanda Stitt

Board Member

Amanda Stitt is a political professional with a track record of progressive victories spanning her 20 year career. As the CEO of Change Media Group, she has worked with candidates and causes across the country to harness the power of data, digital and design to win. Change Media Group was recently recognized by Inc Magazine as one of the 500 Fastest Growing Companies in America, and CMG received 10 2019 Pollie Awards – the most of any Democratic digital firm – for their 2018 campaign work. Amanda has played an integral role in many of the great successes in Michigan Democratic campaigns since 2000, including President Obama, Senator Stabenow, and Governor Granholm, where she served in various field, political, digital, GOTV, fundraising and strategy roles. A graduate of Kalamazoo College, Amanda lives in the Lansing area with her husband, Ryan, and their two children.

Vivek Palavali, MD

Board Member

Vivekanand (Vivek) Palavali, M.D. is an Indian-American neurosurgeon, author, and award-winning filmmaker. He specializes in cranial surgery, spinal surgery and neurosurgical trauma. He is board certified in neurosurgery. Dr. Palavali established his private practice in Flint, Michigan in 1995 after completing his residency in neurosurgery at the University of Chicago in July 1995. He received gold medals for standing first in his pre-med class as well as in his final year of medical school. He also received the Best Resident Teacher Award as the Chief Resident of Neurological Surgery at the University of Chicago Hospital.  Dr. Palavali has also pursued his interest in neurosurgery by participating in neuroscience research at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and is a member of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS), Congress of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) and the North American Spine Society (NASS), as well as many other national and state medical associations. ​Dr. Palavali is influenced by the philosophy of Epicurus which inspires his passions: writing and filmmaking. He is also a desired speaker at seminars and conferences in the skeptic, secular humanist and atheist communities. He conveys his message of how to find and keep real happiness in his book, A Mindful Life: A Brain Surgeon’s Personal Experiences and Philosophical Reflections on Living Life Fully, published in 2006. Also, in that same year he published, Loving Life While Accepting Death, in The Humanist Magazine. His first film, Creator of God: A Brain Surgeon’s Story, has won several awards. Following the success of his first documentary, Palavali went on to film the award-winning documentary, Bitter Pill: America and Healthcare in America, in 2012. He has also authored a companion book for that film with the same title. Currently he is finalizing a new documentary titled, Screwed, which is set to release late 2019.

Kali Cyrus, MD, MPH

Board Member

Dr. Kali Cyrus is a part-time psychiatrist at a community mental health center and Assistant Professor at Johns Medicine. She is a founding member of TimesUP Healthcare and former American Psychiatric Association Health Policy Fellow for Senator Chris Murphy. She provides consultation services around conflict stemming from difference and strategies to support inclusivity within organizations.

Matt Longjohn, MD, MPH

Board Member

Dr. Matt Longjohn is a nationally recognized leader in public health, health care innovation and health promotion. Throughout his career, he has consistently been an advocate for health equity and quality of life. Dr. Longjohn was the National Health Officer and the Vice President for Community Integrated Health at YMCA of the USA (Y-USA). His achievements at the Y earned Dr. Longjohn and his team recognition by the Obama Administration as one of the top innovators in health care in the U.S. Prior to his work at the Y, Dr. Longjohn was a Fellow at the Altarum Institute, conducting health systems and health policy research in 9 states. Additionally, Dr. Longjohn has organized coalitions and advocacy efforts to establish and change numerous health policies at the municipal and state levels. He has served as a consultant to government agencies, hospitals and health systems, foundations, and non-profit organizations. Longjohn has also served on numerous Boards and National Advisory Committees and was the national Co-Chair of the “Campaign for Action” to promote workforce development in nursing across the US. From 2001-2017, Dr. Longjohn was on faculty at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in the Departments of Preventive Medicine and Pediatrics, where he served as the founding executive director of the Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children (CLOCC). Longjohn received his bachelor’s degree in biology from Kalamazoo College and his M.D. and MPH from Tulane University. He lives in southwest Michigan with his wife and two boys.

Ean Bett, MD

Board Member

Ean Bett is a board-certified family medicine physician practicing in Columbus, Ohio. He has been a part of the struggle for universal healthcare in America, first as a patient, and now as a physician, which has driven his particular interest in achieving universal, affordable, and high-quality healthcare for all Americans. Ean advocates for his patients by championing appropriate drug pricing, the use and integration of technology in clinical practice to improve outcomes, and a shared vision of American values.

He has participated in advocacy and education around universal healthcare, Medicare for All, and single payer platforms though several organizations, including the Physicians Action Network, American Academy of Family Physicians, Physicians for a National Health Program, Making Health Care Fair, and National Physicians Alliance. He has been asked to speak on these topics at both local and national conferences to community members and physicians alike.

His clinical practice at Grant Family Medicine Residency, where he spent three years in training before joining the faculty in 2017, focuses on the underserved with a special interest in providing primary care to individuals who also suffer from behavioral health issues. He enjoys teaching students and residents the balance between the art and science of medicine and using shared-decision making to engage his patients in reaching their desired health outcomes.