MMS Officer Biographies
May 17, 2010
Alice A. Tolbert Coombs, M.D.,
F.C.C.P.
President, 2010-2011
 Dr. Coombs is a critical care specialist at South Shore
Hospital and an anesthesiologist with South Shore Anesthesia Associates.
A member of the Massachusetts Medical Society since 1990, Dr. Coombs has
long been active in organized medicine. For the last three years, she
has served as President-Elect, Vice-President, and Secretary-Treasurer
of the Society, respectively, and has been a member of its Board of
Trustees and House of Delegates.
She is a member of the American Medical Association’s
Commission to Eliminate Healthcare Disparities. She is former Vice Chair
of the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine’s Patient
Care Assessment Committee, a former member of the Massachusetts State
Commission to Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Healthcare Disparities, and a
past chair of the Massachusetts Medical Society's Committee on Ethnic
Diversity. She was also a member of the Massachusetts Special Commission
on the Health Care Payment System, established to evaluate the health
care payment system and recommend reforms that will provide incentives
for cost-effective and patient-centered care.
She has served on the Medical Society's committees on Public Health,
Managed Care, Recognition Awards, and Leadership Development. She is a
past president of the Norfolk South District Medical Society, one of 20
district groups that comprise the statewide organization and a former
chair of the Ethics Committee at South Shore Hospital.
In 2005, she received the Society's Henry Ingersoll Bowditch Award of
Excellence in Public Health, an annual award given to a physician who
demonstrates creativity, commendable citizenship, initiative, innovation
and leadership in the public health and advocacy fields. One of her
major public health activities for several years has been her annual
anti-smoking program for South Shore youth, “Smoking-Don’t
Go There,” an adaptation of a program produced by the American
College of Chest Physicians. Dr. Coombs developed the program in
1999.
She is also a driving force behind the American Medical
Association’s Doctors Back to School Program, which brings
physicians into elementary, middle, and high schools across the country
to interest young men and women, particularly in minority communities,
in health care careers.
A native of Compton, California and a graduate of Compton High
School, Dr. Coombs received her medical degree from the UCLA School of
Medicine. She is board-certified in the medical specialties of internal
medicine, anesthesiology, and critical care. She is a diplomat of the
National Board of Medical Examiners and a Fellow of the American College
of Chest Physicians. She resides in Sharon.
Lynda Young, M.D.
President-Elect, 2010-2011
 Lynda Young, M.D., President-Elect of the Massachusetts
Medical Society, is a pediatrician with Chandler Pediatrics in Worcester
and Chief of the Division of Community Pediatrics at the University of
Massachusetts Memorial Children’s Medical Center.
Dr. Young has a long and distinguished record of activity in
organized medicine on the local, state, and national levels. A member of
the statewide organization since 1988, she has been a member and chair
of several committees and task forces, including those on membership,
long-range and strategic planning, and continuing medical education. She
is currently a member of the Board of Trustees and a member of the
Committee on Administration and Management.
She has served as president of the Massachusetts Chapter of the
American Academy of Pediatrics and has chaired its Committee on
Continuing Education. A past president of the Worcester District Medical
Society, she has held every office in the district and is currently a
member of the Executive Committee and the Committees on Finance,
Membership, and Personnel.
On the national level, Dr. Young is an alternate delegate to the
American Medical Association and a member of its Organized Medical Staff
Section. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and
served on its National Nominating Committee.
She is also active in a number of Worcester organizations, serving as
a member of the Board of Directors of the Health Foundation of Central
Massachusetts, the International Center of Worcester, Fallon Community
Health Plan, and UMass Memorial Health Care. And she has served on the
boards of Pernet Family Health Service, and the City of Worcester Board
of Health.
A graduate of the State University of New York with an M.D. and
board-certified in pediatrics, Dr. Young is a Clinical Professor of
Pediatrics at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. She also
serves as a host of two healthcare educational television programs:
Physician Focus, produced by the Massachusetts Medical Society, and
Health Matters, produced by the Worcester District Medical Society.
She has achieved numerous recognitions for her professional and civic
activities from several groups, including the American Academy of
Pediatrics, the Pernet Family Health Service, the YWCA of Central
Massachusetts, the Montachusett Girl Scout Council, Notre Dame Academy
in Worcester, and the City of Worcester’s Advisory Committee on
the Status of Women.
Dr. Young resides in Worcester.
Richard V. Aghababian,
M.D.
Vice President, 2010-2011
Richard V. Aghababian, M.D. is Associate Dean of Continuing Medical
Education at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and a
Professor of Emergency Medicine at UMass Memorial Medical Center. From
1992-2007, he was Chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at
the Medical Center.
A graduate of Harvard College and the University of Massachusetts
Medical School, Dr. Aghababian has a long record of service with the
Massachusetts Medical Society. For the last two years, he has served as
Secretary-Treasurer. He has also been a member of its District
Leadership Council and House of Delegates and has served on the
Committees on Finance, Nominations, Physician Preparedness, Global
Medicine, and Medical Education.
He has also held a number of other key leadership posts in organized
medical societies. He has served as president of the Worcester District
Medical Society, the Massachusetts College of Emergency Physicians, the
American College of Emergency Physicians, and the Society for Airway
Management. In 2007, he became a member of the International Board of
Medical Advisors for Yerevan State Medical University in Armenia.
Additionally, he has been president of the Central Massachusetts
Emergency Medical Systems and Chairman of the Executive Committee of the
Massachusetts State Advisory Board of Emergency Medical Services.
He is a Diplomat of the American Board of Emergency Medicine and a
Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians.
An editor of several textbooks and a widely-published author and
lecturer on topics in emergency medicine, disaster response, and
preparedness, Dr. Aghababian has received honors and awards for his
contributions to medicine and the community from the American Red Cross,
the Worcester District Medical Society, Massachusetts College of
Emergency Physicians, and the University of Massachusetts. In 2007, he
was a recipient of the Annual Health Care Heroes Award from the
Worcester Business Journal. He resides in Southborough.
Deanna P. Ricker, M.D.
Secretary-Treasurer, 2010-2011
Deanna P. Ricker, M.D., a board-certified ophthalmologist in
private practice in Needham, Mass., is serving her first term as
Secretary-Treasurer in 2010-2001. She had previously served
two terms as Assistant Secretary-Treasurer.
A graduate of Harvard Medical School, she served her medical
internship at New England Deaconess Hospital, her residency in
ophthalmology at Tufts New England Medical Center, and a Fellowship in
eye pathology at the Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary.
A member of the Medical Society since 1982, Dr. Ricker has served the
organization in a variety of capacities. She has been a member of the
Board of Trustees since 2004 and a member of the House of Delegates
since 1995. She has also been a member of many committees, including
Administration and Management, Finance, Nominations, Strategic Planning,
Professional Liability and Member Services and has twice been chair of a
reference committee for proceedings of the House of Delegates.
From 2001-2003, she was president of the Middlesex District Medical
Society and was a member of the Society's District Leadership Council.
She continues to serve the district society as a member of its Executive
Board. She is also a Trustee and member of the Executive Committee of
the Boston Medical Library.
In addition to her many contributions to the Massachusetts Medical
Society, Dr. Ricker is active in specialty and national medical
societies. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, a
member of the New England Ophthalmological Society, a member of the
Executive Board of the Massachusetts Society of Eye Physicians and
Surgeons, and a Delegate to the Organized Medical Staff Section of the
American Medical Association. She is also a member of the Board of
Directors of ProMutual Group.
Dr. Ricker lives in Cambridge.
Peter B. Kang, M.D.
Assistant Secretary-Treasurer, 2010-2011
Dr. Kang is a pediatric neurologist and physician-scientist in the
Department of Neurology at Children’s Hospital Boston. His
research focuses on the genetics of muscular dystrophy and other
neuromuscular disorders. He serves as Director of the EMG Laboratory and
Treasurer of the Medical Staff Organization at the hospital. Also
engaged in major teaching efforts, he is an Assistant Professor of
Neurology at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Neurology
Rotation of the Boston Combined Residency in Pediatrics.
A member of the Medical Society since 2001, Dr. Kang has served the
organization in a number of capacities. He has been a member of the
Committees on Finance, Strategic Planning, and Member Services and has
chaired the Committee on Young Physicians. He has also been a member of
the House of Delegates and the District Officers Council. For the last
two years he has been President of the Suffolk District Medical Society
and a member of the Board of Directors of the MMS and Alliance
Charitable Foundation.
Active in organized medicine on the national level as well, Dr. Kang
is a member of the Executive Committee, Section on Neurology of the
American Academy of Pediatrics, and a member of the Ethics, Law and
Humanities Committee of the American Academy of Neurology. Since 2009,
he has been a Delegate to the American Medical Association’s
Organized Medical Staff Section.
A cum laude graduate of Harvard College with an A.B. in philosophy,
he received his M.D. in 1996 from the University of Pennsylvania School
of Medicine. Dr. Kang is the recipient of a number of honors, including
the History of Medicine Prize from the University of Pennsylvania School
of Medicine, the Human Values in Neurology Award from the American
Academy of Neurology, and the American Medical Association Foundation
Leadership Award. In 2002, he was named a Fellow of the American Academy
of Pediatrics. He resides in Brookline.
Richard S. Pieters Jr., M.D.,
F.A.C.R.
Speaker of the House of Delegates, 2010-2011
Duxbury resident Richard S. Pieters Jr., M.D., F.A.C.R. is
serving his second consecutive term as Speaker of the House of
Delegates, the legislative and policy-making body of the organization of
the Society. Dr. Pieters previously served as Vice Speaker of the House
for three years.
Long active on the local, state, and national levels of
organized medicine, Dr. Pieters has been a member of the Medical Society
since 1983. Currently a member of the Board of Trustees and House of
Delegates, he is past Chair of the Committee on Membership and
previously served on the committees on Strategic Planning, Member
Services, Legislation, Quality of Medical Practice, and Administration
and Management. He is also a Delegate from Massachusetts to the American
Medical Association’s House of Delegates.
He is also past chair of the Society's District Leadership Council,
comprised of representatives from the state's 20 district medical
societies and a past president of the Plymouth District Medical Society.
He continues to serve the district as Treasurer and member of the
Executive Committee. In 2008, he was honored by his colleagues in the
Plymouth District as its Community Clinician of the Year, an award that
recognizes a district member for significant contributions to patients
and the community.
Dr. Pieters is a radiation oncologist at the University of Massachusetts
Medical Center in Worcester, appointed to that position in October 2004.
From 1994-2004, he was Director of Radiation Oncology at Jordan Hospital
in Plymouth and prior to that was an Assistant Professor of Clinical
Radiology at The Ohio State University College of Medicine from
1987-1994. He has been named a Fellow of the American College of
Radiology.
A graduate of Princeton University, Dr. Pieters earned a master's
degree from the Boston University School of Education, an M.D. from the
Brown University Program in Medicine, and completed residency and
fellowship training at Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston.
He is board-certified in radiation oncology and is a Clinical Associate
Professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. A native of
Andover, Massachusetts, he lives in Duxbury, with his wife, Edith M.
Jolin, M.D., who is also active in the Medical Society. They have
one daughter, Jennifer.
Jesse M. Ehrenfeld, M.D.,
M.P.H.
Vice-Speaker of the House of Delegates
Jesse M. Ehrenfeld, M.D., M.P.H. is serving his second term as Vice
Speaker of the House of Delegates, the legislative and policy-making
body of the organization.
Dr. Ehrenfeld is on the faculty at Harvard Medical School, as well as
an Assistant in Anesthesia in the Department of Anesthesia, Critical
Care and Pain Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. He splits his
time among clinical practice, teaching, and research in bioinformatics
and also serves as Director of the Anesthesia Informatics Fellowship and
Director of the Anesthesia Clinical Research Center. A co-author of five
textbooks and numerous peer-reviewed scientific articles, he has focused
on understanding how information technology can improve surgical safety,
since receiving his M.D. from the University of Chicago Pritzker School
of Medicine.
Active in professional associations on the state, local and national
levels, Dr. Ehrenfeld is a member of the Medical Society’s Board
of Trustees and its House of Delegates. He also serves as a member of
the Society’s Committee on Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender
Matters.
He is active with the American Medical Association, the American
Society of Anesthesiologists, the Massachusetts Society of
Anesthesiologists, and is a founding member of Doctors and Lawyers for
Healthcare Reform, a non-profit organization that brings together
physicians and attorneys to reform the health care liability system. He
is an Institutional Site Mentor for the Albert Schweitzer Fellowship
Program, and a Lieutenant Commander in the United States Navy
Reserve.
Among a number of honors, Dr. Ehrenfeld received the Partners in
Excellence Award from Partners Healthcare and the Foundation Leadership
Award from the American Medical Association. He is a three-time winner
of the Clinical Research Presentation Award from the Chicago Medical
Society and has also received a Research Symposium Award from the
Massachusetts Medical Society for his work in health care policy.
Corinne Broderick
Executive Vice President, Massachusetts Medical Society
Corinne Broderick is executive vice president of the Massachusetts
Medical Society (MMS), the nation’s oldest continuously operating
state medical society with a membership of 22,000 Massachusetts
physicians and medical students. Founded in 1781, the Society owns and
publishes the New England Journal of Medicine, the Journal Watch family
of professional newsletters, and AIDS Clinical Care.
As executive vice president, Ms. Broderick is directly responsible
for the operation and management of the Society and its operating
divisions, and provides oversight for its several subsidiaries. She has
been associated with the MMS since 1984, serving as director of
education and communications, vice president of operations, senior vice
president, and acting executive vice president. She has served in her
current role since 2002.
Ms. Broderick has spent her career in the health and safety field.
She is a past chair of the board of the National Fire Protection
Association (NFPA), the international nonprofit association that
produces fire safety codes and standards including the Life Safety Code
and the National Electrical Code. She currently serves on other
nonprofit boards including the Home Safety Council in Washington,
D.C., the Biomedical Science Careers Program, Inc., in Boston, and
the Board of Directors of Physician Health Services in Waltham.
She also serves on the Worcester Polytechnic Institute Fire Protection
Engineering Advisory Board, and is a member of the Parents Council at
James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Ms. Broderick is a
member of the American Association of Medical Society Executives, the
American Society of Association Executives, and the New England Society
of Association Executives.
Ms. Broderick earned her bachelor of arts from the University of
Massachusetts at Amherst and a master of science in curriculum and
instruction from the University of Southern California.
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