Dr. Abelson is a pediatric urologist at Phoenix Children’s, and Assistant Professor at University of Arizona College of Medicine Phoenix. A proud native Clevelander, he completed medical school at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University and urology residency at Cleveland Clinic. He completed a fellowship in pediatric urology at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt before joining Phoenix Children’s in 2022. His clinical work spans the breadth of pediatric urology including congenital genitourinary and kidney anomalies, kidney stones, recurrent urinary tract infections, neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction, incontinence and genitourinary trauma and reconstruction. Dr. Abelson’s past and current research interests includes testicular torsion, public health, quality and patient safety, and technological advances in electronic health records and artificial intelligence. He is board certified in urology, and a member of the American Urological Association, the Western Section of the AUA, and the Society for Pediatric Urology. In addition to his clinical practice, Dr. Abelson serves on the Young Pediatric Urologists committee of the Society for Pediatric Urology, the Cleveland Clinic Alumni Board of Directors, and several committees at Phoenix Children’s. He is the medical student urology rotation site director and runs the educational conferences for the division of pediatric urology. Dr. Abelson lives in Phoenix with his wife, a Phoenix native and their three kids. 

Christian Armstrong graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in Integrative Biology. During his undergrad he was an intercollegiate swimmer and helped the team win four conference championships. After undergrad, Christian worked in regulatory affairs and as a microbiologist in an over-the-counter drug manufacturer. It was there he developed his passion for microbiology and infectious diseases.

Ten years later he decided to go back to pharmacy school at the University of Utah and get his PharmD. In his spare time, he worked at Primary Children’s Hospital as an intern which sparked his interests in pediatrics. After earning his PharmD, he completed a resident at Primary Children’s in pediatrics. He then got the job at Phoenix Children’s as the Infectious Diseases/Antimicrobial Stewardship pharmacist and has been in that role for the past 8- years.

In his spare time Christian loves to spend time with his wife, Sarina, and their two sons, Beckett and Asher. He loves traveling the world and learning something new every day. 

My name is Carson Arnold. I’m a flight paramedic with Banner Air. I have been working here for 2 years. My focus has been on critical trauma patients. My skills in where I excel is pharmaceutical interventions and airway management. My Current goals to become a nurse. My passion are teaching and passing on knowledge to others so their patients can benefit from proper interventions. 

Dr. Berdeja studied at the University of Arizona College of Medicine and completed her fellowship training at Stanford University School of Medicine. She is HonorHealth’s Geriatric Medicine Medical Director and Geriatric Fellowship Director. She provides consultation to HonorHealth’s trauma geriatric patients and recently helped update the ACS TQP Best Practices Guidelines in Geriatric Trauma Management. 

Michael Bowe Pediatric Emergency Medicine Physician Assistant with Phoenix Children’s and Aeromedical Physician with the Arizona Army National Guard. Been a PA for 15 years withthelast10yearsworkingintheEDatPhoenixChildren’s. BeenintheArmyNational Guard for 23 years, currently at the rank of Major. Served 2 combat tours to Iraq, most recently returning just before the COVID pandemic. Currently serves in the role of a flight surgeon, training critical care flight paramedics. Spent 6 years with Infantry medics and 3 yearsinaforwardmedicalcompany. ManyofhismedicshavenicknamedhimCaptain Chaos, because of his love to create Chaos as a means of teaching and trying to prepare for the worst possible situation. Has been teaching, practicing and refining triage and disaster preparedness for 15 years at multiple levels and in numerous environments. Has been involved in 6 different live mass casualty events and has participated in one way or another in 10 different mass casualty scenarios. First APP in Arizona to be certified as an ATLS associate instructor. 

Dr. Sudhen Desai is section chief of Interventional Radiology and vice-chief of Strategy and Innovation (Radiology) at Phoenix Children’s. He is fellowship trained in both pediatric and adult vascular and interventional radiology.

At Phoenix Children’s, he is a member of the Surgery Committee, Laser Safety Committee and of the institutional research board (IRB). He is an Associate Professor at the University of Arizona and Creighton University Schools of Medicine. Dr. Desai is also a Fellow of the Society of Interventional

Radiology, conferred to less than 15% of the SIR members.

After completing a six-year BS/MD program in conjunction with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Dr. Desai earned his Doctor of Medicine degree with Distinction in Research and Alpha Omega Alpha honors from Albany Medical College. During his later years of medical school, he was selected as a scholar of the Clinical Research Training Program at the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health — a clinical fellowship geared toward the development of translational researchers.

He then went on to general surgery internship at Stanford University and a diagnostic radiology residency at the University of California, San Francisco. His residencies were followed by a fellowship in vascular and interventional radiology at Northwestern University.

Dr. Desai was a private practice adult interventional and diagnostic radiologist for 10 years. In July 2016, he followed his desire to serve the pediatric population and returned to fellowship for an advanced training year with a focus on pediatric interventional radiology at Boston Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School. Subsequently, he joined Baylor College of Medicine in Houston as an Assistant Professor at Texas Children’s Hospital.

His primary research interests focus on congenital vascular anomalies and vascular access, as well as leveraging data analytics to improve patient care. As vice-chief for Research and Innovation, he and his team focus on outcomes data for pediatric enteral tubes and development of novel interventional devices and techniques, as well as developing inter-institutional collaborations across the country.

In his time outside the clinic, he serves as a consultant to multiple established and start-up medical companies (TVA Medical, Exit BD/Bard 2018), scientific advisor to Santé Ventures (Austin, Texas) and has been a consultant for Philips Medical.

Previously he was an invited advisor to the Rice University Jones School of Business (Technology Entrepreneurship) and a member of the Advisory Council for the Master’s in Clinical Translation Management at the St. Thomas (Houston, Texas) University Cameron School of Business. He has been appointed to multiple committees for the Society of Interventional Radiology (SIR) and has lectured at numerous SIR annual meetings. He was the chief editor for IR Quarterly, a distribution of the SIR.

While not tending to his clinical practice, Dr. Desai spends time with his greatest accomplishments. He is married with three amazing children and is an avid fan of international soccer.

Megan is a Certified Pediatric Acute Care Nurse Practitioner and the Lead Advanced Practice Provider (APP) for the Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center, as well as the Radiology and Interventional Radiology programs at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. She earned her Master of Science in Nursing from Rush University in 2013 and completed her Doctor of Nursing Practice at Duke University in May 2022. Megan has been with Phoenix Children’s Hospital since 2007, serving as a trauma APP since 2013.

In addition to her clinical responsibilities, Megan is dedicated to education and holds a position as Associate Faculty for the Doctor of Nursing Practice Program at Arizona State University. She chairs the Southwest Trauma and Acute Care APP Symposium and actively participates in the PTS APP Steering Committee.

Megan is heavily involved in various community outreach events, hospital committees, and quality improvement initiatives, as well as pediatric trauma research. She has played a key role in developing numerous clinical pathways, such as those for screening blunt cerebrovascular injuries, managing dog bites, and establishing antibiotic guidelines for open fractures.

In her free time, Megan enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, and scuba diving. 

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Dr. Jacqueline Medland (“Jackie”) currently serves in both the academic and practice arenas— as an Associate Clinical Professor in the Doctor of Nursing Practice Program, Innovation Leadership at Arizona State University, and as Principal at MedValence Inc., an organization development firm for hospitals, health systems, and physician practices. Dr. Medland has enjoyed a strong and vibrant history as a critical care nurse, cardio-vascular Clinical Nurse Specialist, Nurse Educator, and Nursing Executive across university and community-based settings in urban and rural United States.

Dr. Medland’s interests include strategies for building environments of excellence through high- impact leadership, and professional health and wellness. The University of Illinois, College of Nursing, has honored her with the Power of Nursing Leadership SAGE Award, and she was recognized with the Distinguished Educator Award from Sigma Theta Tau, Alpha Omicron. Dr. Medland’s unique ability to inspire others comes from her love of teaching and her unwavering belief in each individual’s personal power. 

Dr. Molitor is a native of Arizona. He grew up in the West Valley, attended Brophy College Preparatory and attended The University of Arizona to complete his undergraduate degree in Biochemistry.

He graduated from the University of Arizona College of Medicine in 2002. Dr. Molitor completed his surgical residency at the University of Arizona. During residency, he took a two year leave of absence to complete a surgical research fellowship in tumor immunology at the University of Michigan. After completion of residency, he completed an additional fellowship in Surgical Critical Care and Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) at the University of Michigan.

Following completion of his critical care training, Dr. Molitor completed his fellowship in Pediatric Surgery at the University of Utah and Primary Children's Medical Center.

Dr. Molitor is a Fellow with the American College of Surgeons and is board certified in Pediatric Surgery, General Surgery, and Critical Care Surgery by the American Board of Surgery. He is the Director of the ECMO Program and the Comprehensive Care Center for Congenital Diaphragm Hernia at Phoenix Children's Hospital and his medical interests include ECMO and surgical critical care, childhood tumors, diaphragm hernias, chest wall disorders, thoracic lesions, and the full scope of pediatric surgery. He enjoys training other surgeons, physicians from other specialties, and medical students.

Dr Molitor and his wife have 4 children and live in the Phoenix Area. The family enjoys outdoor activities: hiking, and swimming, and participating in his kids’ extra-curricular activities. Dr Molitor particularly enjoys foreign travel, and cooking; especially Italian and Mexican food. 

Dr. Alexis Wood is an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner with Neurocritical Care and Stroke of Arizona at Honor Health Deer Valley Medical Center. She currently evaluates and manages patients with numerous neurological conditions including but not limited to acute traumatic brain injuries, stroke, acute encephalopathy of various etiologies, and seizures. She earned her Doctor of Nursing Practice specializing in Adult-Gerontology Acute Care and Graduate Certificate in Nursing Education from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Saginaw Valley State University in Saginaw, Michigan. Her Doctor of Nursing Practice project was focused on improving medication adherence to reduce recurrent strokes. She still aims to focus on modifiable risk factor reduction among an urban population in her current practice. She has over 10 years of clinical experience with her focus being neurocritical care. She also has over 2 years of experience teaching undergraduate nursing student clinical and skills laboratory courses. 

Tess Wright is a pediatric nurse practitioner at Phoenix Children’s Level 1 Center for Trauma Care. Her nursing career started in the pediatric cardiovascular ICU where she spent 6 years prior to returning to school. She graduated with her MSN specializing in pediatric primary and acute care from Drexel University in 2017 and began working in pediatric trauma as a new graduate. She has been a Trauma NP for over 7 years. She is passionate about the care of injured children in Arizona and especially loves doing outreach and education in the community.