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2024 Spring Conference Speakers                                     

Tom Baribeault, DNP, CRNA

Thomas Baribeault is the founder of the Society for Opioid-Free Anesthesia (SOFA) and is currently serving as President. SOFA is a non-profit organization dedicated to education and research on opioid-free anesthesia and post-operative pain management. Thomas currently practices in Atlanta, Georgia, and is responsible for implementing opioid-free anesthesia and post-operative pain protocols. He received a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the Ohio State University, a master’s of science in nursing and anesthesia residency from Case Western Reserve University and a doctorate in nursing practice and pain management fellowship from the University of South Florida.  

Shawn Collins, PhD, DNP, CRNA

Over the last 15 years Dr. Collins has lectured nationally and internationally (Madrid, Spain; Buea, Cameroon; Bere, Chad; Freetown, Sierra Leone; Phnom Penh, Cambodia; Kathmandu, Nepal, and Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam) on continuing education of nurse anesthetists in developing countries, leadership, evidence-based practice, and emotional intelligence. His DNP is from Rush University in Chicago and his PhD is in Leadership from Andrews University.

Dr. Collins serves as chair of the nurse anesthesia steering committee for Health Volunteers Overseas, on the Editorial Committee of the AANA Journal, on the administrative committee for Adventist Health International, and has served on the NBCRNA CPC and NCE Committees. Dr. Collins has published over 30 peer-reviewed articles and is first author of a chapter in the 5^th edition of Nurse Anesthesia (Hepatobiliary anesthesia) and a chapter on Nurse Anesthesia Program Admissions in A Resource for Nurse Anesthesia Educators. He has led numerous service-learning mission trips in developing countries.

Dr. Collins served as the director of the WCU anesthesia program for many years, having fulfilled roles as faculty, assistant director and then director.
He currently serves as the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Graduate Programs in the School of Nursing at Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, California.

Dru Riddle, PhD, DNP, CRNA, FAAN

Dru is an Associate Professor and Director of Clinical Education at Texas Christian University School of Nurse Anesthesia and Associate Professor in the TCU School of Medicine.  He also serves as the Director of the Center for Translational Research: A JBI Center of Excellence and Co-Chair of the Cochrane US Network.  Dru is a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist and maintains an active clinical anesthesia practice.  He was inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing in 2018.

Dru’s research interests included evidence-based healthcare, pharmacogenomics, and genetic implications for anesthesia care.  Additionally, he is recognized nationally and internationally as an expert in evidence-based healthcare, systematic review strategies, and clinical anesthesia topics

Brian J. Thomas, JD

Brian joined PPM in 1999 and was promoted to Vice President-Risk Management in October 2015. With over twenty-eight years of insurance industry experience, Brian has focused the past twenty-two years exclusively on providing risk management services to anesthesia providers and defending high severity medical negligence litigation. Brian is also Editor of PPM’s risk management newsletter, Anesthesia & the Law. Brian was elected to the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation’s (APSF) Board of Directors in 2019 and serves on the APSF’s Editorial Board and Corporate Advisory Council. Brian has authored or co-authored in several prominent publications, including international, national, and state anesthesia journals such as Anesthesia & Analgesia, ASA Monitor, APSF Newsletter, Communique, and Scope. Brian has conducted over 250 on-site and virtual risk management seminars, and frequently lectures on anesthesia risk management topics for national, regional, and state medical society meetings and other health care organizations. Brian is a 1995 graduate of Washburn University School of Law. Before joining PPM, he served as in-house counsel to several national insurance companies where his duties included the management and supervision of claims and litigation.

Spring Conference Speaker Materials