CAMLS Leadership
Deborah Sutherland, PhD
Dr.Sutherland is the CEO for Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation (CAMLS), Associate Vice President, USF Health and Associate Dean, Morsani College of Medicine, Continuing Professional Development. She has strategic and administrative responsibility for the continuing professional development activities of the Colleges of Medicine, Nursing and Public Health. She is also the CEO for USF Health Professions Conferencing Corporation and President of USF Health’s International Foundation in Panama. Dr. Sutherland serves in a leadership role with national and state organizations that accredit CME programs. On the national level, she is an accreditation surveyor for the ACCME and served six years on the ACCME’s Accreditation Review Committee (ARC). On the state level, she works with the Florida Medical Association’s CME Committee to accredit intrastate providers of continuing medical education. Dr. Sutherland is also involved with SACME and has served as southeastern regional representative, chaired the Society’s membership committee, and presently serves as Treasurer of the Society.
Beverly Hughes
Beverly Hughes is the Chief Operating Officer for the Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation (CAMLS) and the Executive Director, Continuing Professional Development (CPD) at USF Health. She is a diploma graduate of the Cleveland Metropolitan General School of Nursing, Cleveland, Ohio in 1972 and completed her BSN from the University of Tampa in 1985. Her clinical experience includes staff nurse, head nurse, supervisor, and nurse educator positions over her career span. Her clinical experience includes Burn nursing, Surgical Intensive Care, Coronary Care, Women’s Health, and Critical Care. After attaining her BSN the focus of her career has been in the field of education in the health professions. Health education includes BCLS, BCLS Instructor, ACLS, ACLS Instructor, and CCRN.
She has over 20 years in CME, including most recently the submission of the ACCME self-study (received 6 year with commendation in 2009) and she currently serves as a volunteer surveyor for the ACCME. She is responsible for the operations of CAMLS and CPD, including simulation, surgical skills lab and robotics program. She is currently a member of SACME, the Alliance, MPI, and the Society for Simulation in Healthcare. She has held positions in the local chapter for the American Heart Association and miscellaneous workgroups for the above professional societies.
Stuart Hart, MD, FACOG, FACS
Stuart Hart, M.D. is currently an Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology in the Division of Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery at the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine. He completed medical school at the University of Maryland, completed residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Emory University and completed a Pelvic Surgery fellowship at Northside Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia.
Dr. Hart is board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology, and is a Fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the American College of Surgeons. He completed the 18 month Leadership Institute Program in the Center for Transformation and Innovation (CTI) at the University of South Florida College of Medicine, and is currently enrolled in the Master of Science Degree in Entrepreneurship in Applied Technologies at the University of South Florida College of Business. He also completed the Regulatory Affairs in Medical Devices Certificate Program through the Department of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering within the USF College of Engineering. He currently serves as the Medical Director of the Tampa Bay Research and Innovation Center (TBRIC) and Director of the University of South Florida Center for the Advancement of Minimally-Invasive Pelvic Surgery (CAMPS). He is a member of the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American College of Surgeons, American Urogynecologic Society, American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopists, International Urogynecologic Association and the American College of Physician Executives. In 2012, he won the Cade Museum Prize for Innovation (1st place out of 120 technologies throughout the State of Florida), and was awarded the Excellence in Innovation Award by the USF Office of Research and Innovation. In 2010, he was awarded the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology (CREOG) National Faculty Award for Excellence in Residency Education, and won First Place in the Innovative Technology Challenge in the USF Center for Entrepreneurship.
Dr. Hart’s main research interests include anatomic image-based research, medical simulation education and training, and development of innovative medical technologies and devices. He is currently the Co-Principle Investigator on a Binational Industrial Research and Development grant with Simbionix Corporation, to develop the world’s first computerized hysterectomy training simulator. He is also very involved in developing educational and surgical training courses for physicians, and has been the course director for over ten national CME programs.
Luis E. Llerena, MD, FACS
Dr. Luis E. Llerena is an Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of South Florida and medical director of the Surgery & Interventional Training Center. He received both his undergraduate and his medical degrees from the University of Maryland. He completed his surgical residency at the Medical College of Pennsylvania/Hahnemann University in Philadelphia, PA and UMDNJ - Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in Camden, NJ. He received his trauma/surgical critical care fellowship training at Orlando Regional Medical Center in Orlando, FL. He is a course director for the Fundamental Critical Care Support (FCCS) and Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS®) courses. Additionally, he is an instructor for Advanced Trauma Operative Management (ATOM®). Dr. Llerena is a master trainer for TeamSTEPPS®. His interests include simulation-based education, abdominal compartment syndrome, and advanced ventilator management.
Paul W. Ayres
Paul Ayres joined the Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation (CAMLS) team in September, 2011 as director of sales, marketing and business development. His responsibilities include the development of business relationships with various associations, industry partners and the healthcare community to encourage them to utilize CAMLS. Prior to joining CAMLS, Paul worked with the Tampa Downtown Partnership as director of marketing and business development. His responsibilities for the Partnership included the development and implementation of public relations and marketing strategies that position downtown Tampa as the premier location for people to enjoy, launch a project, or open a business. Paul has held positions with Hyatt Hotels & Resorts and The Florida Aquarium and aided in the creation and implementation of various marketing and sales efforts. Paul is a graduate of the University of South Florida with a degree in American Studies. Paul is a Certified Economic Development Finance Professional by the National Development Council. He is a graduate of the 2003 class of Leadership Tampa. Paul is a member of the University of South Florida’s President’s Council.
Nikki Campbell
Nikki Campbell earned a Master's Degree in Nursing from Drexel University in Philadelphia in 2009, with a focus in simulation education in healthcare. She earned a Certificate for Simulation in Healthcare through the BryanLGH College of Health Sciences in Lincoln, NE in 2011.
Campbell is the Assistant Director of the Virtual Patient Care Center (VPCC) at USF Health CAMLS, where she manages the day to day operations for simulation training among a variety of groups.
She serves as a committee member on the Technology and Standards Committee for the Society of Simulation in Healthcare (SSiH). She is also a member of the International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation and Learning, where she serves on the Research Committee, Vice-Chair and Webmaster for the Tampa Bay Simulation Network.
Her other memberships include Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society for Nursing, the American Nurses Association and the Florida Nurses Association where she serves on the Simulation Taskforce Committee.
She likes to run in races, read and spend time with her family in her spare time.
Leslie A. Sabo MSN, MBA, RN
Leslie A. Sabo, Director Nursing Continuing Education, joined the Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation (CAMLS) in March 2012, to advance the ANCC accredited innovative nursing continuing education curriculum supporting CAMLS and the USF Health College of Nursing vision to create the Nursing Leaders of Tomorrow and the Research that Improves Health. Prior to joining CAMLS, she was appointed and completed post-Masters certificate in 2011 at the Veterans Health Administration Pittsburgh, Pa., as an Interprofessional Patient Safety Fellow, with the National Patient Safety Center. Her specialty focused on improving healthcare delivery through innovative research, education and leadership integrating human factors engineering and simulation for interprofessional healthcare leaders and teams. Her specialty and consulting in Quality, Patient Safety and innovative models of healthcare service delivery have been highlighted in national presentations and publications of the Institute of Healthcare Improvement (IHI), AQP and Breakthrough Benchmarking Conferences with the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. Her prior positions included Assistant Dean Case School of Engineering, Executive Director, Chief Development Officer of JumpStart Inc., Director Service Relations, Risk Management, Health and Safety for community, tertiary care and global academic and health care organization systems. She received her MBA from Case Western Reserve University and MSN from Ursuline College with a specialty in Nursing Education. She is currently serving on the Board of AAOHN, State of Florida, RN current licensures in Florida, Ohio, ACLS Instructor and Emergency Medical Reserve Corp.
Jan Cannon-Bowers, PhD
Jan Cannon-Bowers, Ph.D. is Director of Research at the Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation (CAMLS) at the University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa, FL. She holds MA and Ph.D. degrees in Industrial/ Organizational Psychology from USF. She served as Assistant Director of Simulation-Based Surgical Education for the Department of Education at the American College of Surgeons from 2009 -2011. Previously, Dr. Cannon-Bowers served as the U.S. Navy’s Senior Scientist for Training Systems where she was involved in a number of large-scale R&D projects directed toward improving performance in complex environments. In this capacity she earned a reputation as an international leader in the area of simulation and game-based training, team training, training evaluation, human systems integration and applying the science of learning to real-world problems.
Since joining academia, Dr. Cannon-Bowers has continued her work in technology-enabled learning and synthetic learning environments by applying principles from the science of learning to the design of instructional systems in education, healthcare, the military, and other high performance environments. She has been an active researcher, with over 150 publications in scholarly journals, books and technical reports, and numerous professional presentations. She is also on the Editorial Boards of several scholarly journals including Human Performance and Simulation in Healthcare (until 2010), and is a member of the Advisory Council for the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO). She has received numerous awards for her work, was on the founding Board of Directors of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare, and is a Fellow of the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.