2026 CME Conference Speaker Bios

Randee L. Masciola, a nationally certified Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner, is an associate clinical professor at The Ohio State University (OSU) and the Director of DNP Education. With more than 28 years of clinical experience, Dr. Masciola is an alumnus of OSU where she received a BSN and MS prior to receiving her DNP from Case. She servers on the Board of Directors of The National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) and is past board member of the National Association of Women’s Health Nurse Practitioners.  Dr. Masciola received the 2024 Outstanding Service to NONPF award and was awarded the Ohio March of Dimes 2020 Nurse of the Year Award for Academic Education. She is a fellow in American Association of Nurse Practitioners and the National Academies of Practice (Nursing).

Her scholarship focuses on the role and scope of practice Nurse Practitioners and the DNP in healthcare, APRN education and evidence based sexual and reproductive healthcare. She has written manuscripts and textbook chapters and speaks nationally as a clinical expert on male sexual and reproductive health, global health and evidence based clinical management on multiple female sexual and reproductive health issues.

Dr. Masciola lives in Alpharetta, GA with her husband of 28 years. She is a die-hard Buckeye fan, and enjoys boating and reading, but her passion is traveling with her husband and young adult children.

Sarah E Schroeder is a board-certified Acute Care Nurse Practitioner with more than 20 years of cardiac experience as a nurse, and 15 years of cardiac experience as a NP. She finished her PhD in nursing with a focus of frailty assessment in advanced heart failure and left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) in December 2022, and continues her passion for improving quality of life in the LVAD population, at Bryan Heart in Lincoln, NE. She started as a Diploma graduate from Bryan School of Nursing in 2001, which then led to her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 2007 and Master of Science in Nursing in 2010, all from the University of Nebraska Medical Center, in Omaha, Nebraska.

Sarah has worked the last 11 years as a Mechanical Circulatory Support Nurse Practitioner and Program Manager and has served on multiple boards for societies in her field (ICCAC, ISHLT, ASAIO) and recently is the Past-president for the newly created VAD-C™ Certification exam. She is a leader in the nursing and allied health field of mechanical circulatory support and enjoys mentoring others to push themselves to be their best versions of themselves.

With a passion for research in the field of advanced heart failure and mechanical devices, she is the Principal Investigator for two multi-center studies, including the feasibility testing of a new tool to help LVAD patients anticipate expectations following the choice of LVAD therapy. She has contributed as a co-author to multiple critical care/cardiac chapters in the last few years and has a variety of peer-reviewed publications.

She enjoys traveling with her family, attending a college swimming meet for one of her two college-aged sons, or simply taking a jog outside to enjoy nature and the surrounding elements.

Vanessa Smith is a physician associate with over 16 years of experience in Orthopedic Hand Surgery. She started her journey in healthcare when she completed her bachelor’s degree in athletic training at Bethel University in St. Paul, MN. Following PA school at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science in North Chicago, IL she worked at a Level 1 Trauma Center in St. Paul, MN. For the past 14 years she has continued her work in Hand Surgery in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

In addition to working alongside surgeons and holding independent clinic managing non-operative hand and wrist injuries, Vanessa is involved with research, quality improvement initiatives, acting as a liaison between orthopedics and referring providers and teaching. She has given numerous lectures locally, at national conferences and webinars as well as regular in-services for primary care providers, residents and students with hands-on workshops for splinting, casting, cast saw safety and orthopedic pearls.

In 2022, Vanessa brought her creativity and passion for teaching to the internet, developing an online orthopedic resource aimed to educate and equip physicians and advanced practice providers to excel in providing orthopedic care before referring to the specialist – OrthoRefresh.com. In 2025 she self-published a comprehensive orthopedic splinting resource “The Splinting Guide eBook.”

Vanessa was honored to be the first Advanced Practice Provider on the American Association for Hand Surgery (AAHS) board of directors 2020-2023 and continues to be an active member of AAHS.

She is able to pursue all these endeavors because of her most awesome husband, Chuck. When not at work, she’s riding the rollercoaster of parenting three daughters!