2025  SOAP PEAK Speakers - November 13, 2025

Holly Ende, MD
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Nashville, TN

Dr. Fedoruk, raised in rural Canada, completed her medical training at the University of Saskatchewan, followed by an Obstetrical Anesthesiology fellowship at Stanford. After working at the University of Toronto (2017-2020), she joined Stanford as a Clinical Assistant Professor in 2020 and became Quality Improvement Lead for Obstetric Anesthesiology in 2021. In addition to her work in QI, she is passionate about POCUS and simulation in obstetric anesthesiology.

She enjoys treating trainees to take-out on call and, when not at work, spending time outdoors with her husband and two young daughters and going home to Canada to ski.

Klaus Kjaer obtained his bachelor's at Stanford and his MD at UC San Francisco prior to completing his internship, residency and fellowship training at Harvard. He moved to New York to join the faculty at Weill Cornell in 2000, and in his 24 years here has held multiple leadership roles. He holds an MBA from Columbia and served as Weill Cornell's Chief Quality and Patient Safety Officer from 2015 to 2024. As of 2024, he stepped into the newly created role of Weill Cornell's Associate Dean for Policy and Professionalism. He also teaches in the Executive MBA Program at Cornell, where he has developed a course called "Influencing Behavior with Quality and Patient Safety Metrics." In 2014, he received Weill Cornell's Physician of the Year Award. For 2022-23, he served as the President of the Society of Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology.

Vesela Kovacheva, MD
Director of Translational and Clinical Research
Brigham & Women's Hospital
Boston, MA

Dr. Vesela Kovacheva is a physician-scientist, attending anesthesiologist at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology at the Harvard Medical School with a strong passion for clinical innovation and translational research. Dr. Kovacheva is a Faculty Affiliate at the Harvard Data Science Initiative and has a vision for transforming the practice of obstetric anesthesiology by using the latest advancements in artificial intelligence and populational genetics. She is interested in creating artificial intelligence (AI)-powered algorithms for risk stratification, personalized management of adverse patient outcomes, and closed-loop infusion control. Her work also focuses on investigating the genetic factors associated with major causes of maternal morbidity and mortality, like postpartum hemorrhage. Her work has been published in high-impact journals such as Nature, FASEB, Hypertension, IEEE, and Anesthesiology.

Optional: Dr. Vesela Kovacheva did her residency in anesthesiology and fellowship in obstetric anesthesiology at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She is double board-certified in Anesthesiology and Clinical Informatics and also holds a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Boston University.

C. LaToya Mason, MD, FASA is a Board-certified Professor of Anesthesiology at
University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) and one of the only obstetric
anesthesiology fellowship-trained anesthesiologists practicing in the state of Mississippi. She is Director of Obstetric Anesthesia Education and Course Director for the M4 Anesthesiology clerkship. As her state's representative to the Society of Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology (SOAP), she serves on both the Mississippi Maternal Mortality Review Committee and the MS Perinatal Quality Collaborative.

Dr. Mason completed medical school and Anesthesiology residency at Tulane
University. She completed an Obstetric Anesthesia fellowship at Baylor College of
Medicine where she remained on faculty for a decade and attained academic rank of
Associate Professor during the early stages of her career. She has earned Fellow of the
American Society of Anesthesiologists (FASA) designation, ASA's highest acknowledgment recognizing years of dedication to exceptional education and leadership. In 2016, she returned to her home state of Mississippi and joined the faculty of UMMC. Since being there, she has been a two-time recipient of UMMC's Trailblazer Teaching Award and finalist for SOAP Teacher of the Year.

Dr. Mason has authored abstracts, book chapters, and publications in peerreviewed
scientific journals. Quite notably, Dr. Mason is Associate Editor of Shnider and
Levinson's Anesthesia for Obstetrics Textbook, 5th Edition. She has been an invited
speaker and workshop instructor at numerous state and national meetings.

Dr. Mason is a classically trained pianist, violinist, and recording artist. She is
married and the mother of two young children. After the birth of her son, Dr. Mason
sustained a major complication, peripartum cardiomyopathy. Now recovered, she has
shared her story to increase awareness and improve maternal health as part of the CDC's Hear Her campaign. She has likewise partnered with industry leaders as an advocate for maternal health. In promoting this important cause, she has been featured on “Top Med Talk” , an international podcast as well as appeared in the audience of NBC’s Today Show on Rockefeller Plaza.

Jennifer Mikenas
Program Manager
Preeclampsia Foundation
Melbourne, FL

Danielle Babcock Sapienza serves as the Education and Support Manager for the Preeclampsia Foundation, responsible for creating, guiding, and implementing strategies for preeclampsia patient and provider education, community support, volunteer service, and overall engagement. She is also the primary liaison with our Patient Advisory Council (PAC).

Prior to joining the Preeclampsia Foundation she volunteered as the Space Coast Promise Walk for Preeclampsia Mission Mom, sharing her story to help raise awareness about hypertensive disorders of pregnancy. Danielle serves as a representative voice for women who have experienced new-onset postpartum eclampsia. Her daughter had Intrauterine Growth Restriction (IUGR) and labor was induced a little over two weeks early because her baby was small for gestational age (SGA). Danielle was not diagnosed with or provided any information on Preeclampsia. Two days after returning home from the hospital (5 days post delivery), Danielle suddenly experienced a headache that would not go away, swelling, blurry vision, and two seizures that sent her to the ER. It was then that she learned about preeclampsia and eclampsia. This experience fuels her desire for patient education and maternal health advocacy.

Danielle assists with research studies on patient education and engagement on the psychological impact of traumatic pregnancy experiences. She brings her love for reading and passion for writing to the Foundation by transforming medical content into easy-to-understand messaging for a variety of platforms and audiences.
Danielle earned her Bachelor of Science in Mass Communication, cum laude, from Towson University, where she specialized in Strategic Public Relations and Integrated Communications. She brings 20 years of marketing, communications, donor stewardship, and community relations experience to the team.

Danielle is a member of LEAD Brevard and serves on its marketing communications committee. She is a class of 2023 Leadership Brevard graduate. Danielle was a top 12 finalist for the prestigious 4 Under 40 Awards in 2023. In 2024 she earned a Hometown Hero Award from the Melbourne Florida Chamber of Commerce. Danielle sits on the committee and serves as volunteer communications coordinator for Young Life Space Coast. She is a volunteer leader at her church, responsible for onboarding new volunteers, social media, and outreach for single moms. Danielle enjoys hiking, paddleboarding, golfing, and spending time with her daughter Leah and their two cats in sunny Florida.

Kokila N Thenuwara MBBS MD MME MHCDS is a Clinical Professor in Obstetric Anesthesia and the Vice Chair for Faculty Affairs and development, Department of Anesthesia at the University of Iowa.

She obtained her medical education in Sri Lanka. She completed residency in Anesthesiology at the University of Iowa. She obtained her Master’s in Medical Education from the University of Iowa and Master’s in Health Care Delivery Science from Dartmouth College, and a Certification in Diversity, equity, Inclusion and belonging from the Harvard Extension school.

She is the chair of Subcommittee for Simulation based Education, supported by a HRSA grant, and an appointed member of the Iowa State Maternal Mortality Review Committee.

She is the taskforce Chair for DEI for the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA) and member of the DEI advisory board for the ABA, is also an applied examiner, question editor and OSCE developer for the ABA, specializing in ethics and DEI.

She is the 2024 recipient of the IDEAL ( Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Acceptance and Leadership ) award given by the Association for University Anesthesiologists.