AKH is A Leading accredited provider of continuing education for Healthcare

Executive Leadership

Tony Perlak, General Manager of Healthcare

Tony brings over 20 years of executive management experience, with almost a decade in online learning, most recently as CEO of Continued, a leading provider of online continuing education for allied and behavioral health professionals. Prior to Continued, Tony held various executive management positions in marketing and finance with Vonage, Nutrisystem, Gategroup, and multiple wireless providers including AT&T Wireless. Tony began his career as a social worker in the Commonwealths of Massachusetts and Virginia serving as a victim/witness advocate and child support enforcement supervisor.

Dorothy Caputo, MA, BSN, RN - Vice President, Healthcare Continuing Education and Operations

Ms. Caputo is the former Director of Continuing and Outreach Education at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey where she was a Clinical Assistant Professor at the School of Health Related Professions. In this role, she was responsible for Continuing Nursing Education, interim CME Director and Project Director for a national multi-site research study – TRIAD (Translating Research Into Action for Diabetes). Her former clinical credentials include CDE and APRN, BC-ADM. Dorothy has been involved in continuing education for over 25 years and was a Senior Consultant for ANCC Credentialing Knowledge Center.

Deborah C. Clark, PhD - Senior Director, Professional Development

As senior director, Deborah leads the educational oversight of the grant development process; professional development support for joint providers and partners; and continuing medical education programming. She has more than 20 years of experience in adult education, curriculum design and development, medical content authoring, and educational outcomes measurement. She previously received the Outstanding Teacher Award and the Award for Innovative Excellence in Teaching, Learning, and Technology at Middle Tennessee State University while serving as an Assistant/Associate Professor in the Biology Department.

ADVISORY BOARD

Francis J. Caputo, MD, FACS – Vascular Surgeon, Program Director, Associate Professor – Cleveland Clinic

Dr. Caputo received his medical degree from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in 2010. He completed his Vascular Surgery Fellowship and Administrative Fellowship at Barnes- Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. Presently, he serves as Associate Professor at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University, Staff at the Department of Vascular Surgery at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation as well as the Program Director, Vascular Surgery Residency and Fellowship Program and the Co-Director of the Cleveland Clinic Vascular and Cardiac Center.Dr. Caputo has authored more than 30 articles and several textbook chapters, lectured nationally and internationally (including being the keynote speaker), and has an extensive list of poster presentations, inclusive of oral plenary sessions.

Bernadette Makar, MSN, APRN-BC, NP-C

Ms. Makar is a nurse practitioner at Saint Peter’s University Hospital where she manages a team of nurse practitioners who work with the emergency room physicians to admit acute care patients. In addition, she manages and supervises a 12 patient observation unit.
She currently holds the position of a Clinical Adjunct Professor for Rutgers University where she monitors and evaluates preceptors along with their students in various semesters of the Adult Nurse Practitioner program.
Bernadette has been involved in continuing nursing education for 8 years as a Lead Nurse Planner, Nurse Planner, Reviewer and Pilot Tester. She is the Associate Vice President of EduPro Resources LLC.

Dorothy Duffy, RPh, Pharmacist

Dorothy received a B.S. of Pharmacy from St. John’s University, College of Pharmacy and Allied Health, in 1993. Dorothy has over 25 years’ experience in independent retail pharmacy. She is also the Medication Therapy Management Coordinator and is happy to answer any of her customers’ questions regarding their medications. She has worked for Colonial and Van Houten Pharmacies from April 1996 to the present.

Lawrence J. Michalski, Student

Lawrence is presently a student at Misericordia University, Dallas, Pa obtaining his BSN in Nursing. (Graduating in May 2022).  Active in his high school and university years in several clubs and extracurricular activities, he also worked as a counselor and led young children in the outdoors from underprivileged areas in Pennsylvania. As a student, he has attended many interprofessional activities on a variety of topics throughout the academic year.

Karen Lazovic, Patient

Ms. Lazovic represents the patient target audience of many of our interprofessional activities providing insight into the patient perspective within the healthcare system.