board of trustees
Nirmal Joshi, MD President and Founder
Dr. Nirmal Joshi, an Internal Medicine physician with additional training in Infectious Diseases. He has over 30 years of health care experience, both taking care of patients as well as teaching, clinical research and health care leadership. He currently serves as Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for Mount Nittany Medical Center in State College, PA.
He has provided leadership for many health systems both in the United States and in international settings. He completed his medical school training in King George’s medical school in India and Infectious Diseases fellowship training in Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, in Hershey PA. He has lived in the greater Harrisburg area for over 30 years and has strongly contributed to the local community, both in his medical discipline as well as the arts such as music, drama and creative writing and film-making.
Dr. Joshi is the author of numerous publications in prestigious health care journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine and has also published in regional and national publications such as the New York Times and The Guardian. He has used his diverse skills for community benefit by way of fund-raising for numerous causes including charities such as the Central PA food bank and other organizations. He has written Five Drops of Estrogen, a book honoring women and produced digital films such as The Hippocratic Oath and published numerous Op-Eds in local and national publications. He ran a live radio show of popular Indian music in Harrisburg for over 7 years. He has given various lectures to the local community to raise awareness of South Asian culture. His various contributions to culture, diversity and medicine in the Harrisburg area led him to be recognized by the Harrisburg SusqueCentennial Commission as one of 150 Living Legacy contributors. He has served on the Board of the Pennsylvania State Board of Medicine.
Joan Silver, BSW, RN, MS, CPHQ,FAB,FACHE
Joan's healthcare career spans well over 40 years. Most recently, she served as President of UPMC Pinnacle Dauphin Market and Senior Vice President of Patient Experience. She is a certified professional in healthcare quality, received the Nightingale Award of Pennsylvania for excellence in nursing administration, a member of Sigma Theta Tau International Society of Nursing and has been recognized by Becker's as one of the top 50 experts in patient safety nationwide. Joan is a member of the United Way's Women's Leadership Network and has volunteered for numerous community charity organizations. Joan Silver is a summa cum Lauder graduate of Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She successfully completed the Case Management Academy of the Institute for Johns Hopkins Nursing, Baltimore, Maryland and graduated with academic distinction in the masters program from the University of St. Francis, Joliet, Illinois. She is a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives and the Advisory Board of Washington, DC.
Joyce Davis
Joyce M. Davis is Opinion Editor for PennLive and has a distinguished career working for some of the most respected media organizations in the United States.
Davis moved to the Harrisburg area in 2008 to accept the position of Vice President of Content for WITF, a multi-media news organization that is an affiliate of National Public Radio.
Davis spent five years as Director of Communications for the City of Harrisburg and supervisor of WHBG Channel 20, the region’s government and public affairs television station. She also is founder and president of the World Affairs Council of Harrisburg, an award-winning journalist and internationally acclaimed author who has lived and worked around the globe.
Before moving to Harrisburg, Davis was Associate Director of Broadcasting for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty in Prague, Czech Republic. In her senior role at the international broadcasting agency, Ms. Davis supervised reporters and editors assigned to radio and internet services to Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and the countries of Central Asia.
Davis also worked as Deputy Foreign Editor and Special Correspondent for Knight Ridder Newspapers, once the second-largest newspaper chain in the United States. Davis worked from Knight Ridder’s Washington bureau in the National Press Club building and served as chair of the National Press Club’s Speakers Bureau.
Before joining Knight Ridder, Davis worked with National Public Radio from 1990-1997, joining as Middle East Editor before being promoted to Deputy Foreign Editor. She also served NPR as Senior Foreign Editor and Director of News Staffing.
Davis is author of many articles, broadcasts and two books: Between Jihad and Salaam: Profiles in Islam,written in 1997 and published by St. Martin’s Press; and Martyrs: Innocence, Vengeance and Despair in the Middle East, written in 2002 and published by Palgrave Macmillan. She also has authored a chapter in The Trauma of Terrorism, a compendium of the writings of experts in the field edited by Yael Danieli, Danny Brom, Joe Sills and published by The Haworth Press in 2005.
Davis has appeared on many national and international news programs and was frequently called to speak as an international affairs expert, including at the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, the United Nations, the U.S. Department of State, the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Georgetown University and American University.
In 2002, the U.S. Secretary of State’s Open Forum awarded Davis a “Distinguished Service Award” and Women in International Security, based in Washington, D.C., also named Davis to its Hall of Fame.
In 2006, Kyrgyz International University awarded her an honorary doctorate degree for her work in advancing a free and independent press in the former Soviet Union, and for securing the free flow of information to Kyrgyzstan during the downfall of its dictatorial regime in the “Tulip Revolution” of 2005.
Davis has received three other honorary doctor degrees. In May 2018, Austin College in Texas awarded her an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters following her commencement address. In 2017, Lebanon Valley College awarded her an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters, and in May 2016 Central Penn College did the same.
Davis attended Loyola University in New Orleans and completed a Master’s level journalism program at the Center for the Formation and Perfection of Journalism in Paris as part of the Journalists in Europe program sponsored by the European Union and Columbia University. Davis was one of two American journalists selected to participate in the program.
Oralia Dominic, MS, Ph.D.
Dr. Oralia Garcia Dominic is a Medical Policy Research Analyst, Chief Medical Officer Organization at Highmark Inc., Pittsburgh, PA. In this role she spearhead the new technology pipeline; and provides content expertise, and conducts research and data analyses to help develop and maintain evidence-based coverage guidelines and monitor/assess the medical technology pipeline to anticipate and plan for the evolution of therapies to ensure appropriate benefit adjudication, patient safety and optimized therapy for our customers. Medical technology includes any intervention or service to treat any medical/surgical condition. These technologies may include drugs, devices, procedures and/or gene therapy. Her expertise includes community-based disease (e.g. COVID-19, diabetes, cancer etc) reduction strategies, health disparities, and social determinants of health research. She received PHS grant awards for her health disparities research; and she has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals. She currently is an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Public Health Sciences (PHS) at Penn State College of Medicine (COM), Hershey, PA.
Dominic received her B.S in Biology (UTSA), M.S. in Nutrition (UIW), M.S. in Multidisciplinary Studies (UIW), M.S. in Biobehavioral Health (PSU), and PhD in Biobehavioral Health (PSU), and completed two post-docs one in Epidemiology (PHS COM), and the second in Health Services Research (PHS COM).
Renu Joshi, MD
Dr Renu Joshi serves as the Chief of Endocrinology at UPMC Pinnacle as well as the Vice President of Chronic Disease and Population Health. She has been a physician expert in Diabetes care for over 25 years in the greater Harrisburg area, impacting countless lives. She her medical degree in India at King George’s medical college, India and fellow ship subspecialty training in Endocrinology at the Penn State Hershey medical center.
Since joining Pinnacle Health in 2002 Dr. Joshi became the Chair of the Diabetes Clinical Initiative to improve blood sugar control in the hospital setting across the system. Under her leadership, Pinnacle became the first system in the state to receive The Joint Commission (TJC) certification as a center of excellence in diabetes. Further, Pinnacle (now UPMC Pinnacle) has consistently ranked in the top quartile in glycemic control when compared to 105 hospital systems across the country.
She has authored numerous publications in lead scientific journals on her clinical quality work with diabetes treatment and outcomes. Dr. Joshi has also made significant improvements in outpatient diabetes control in community settings. She received recognition for her outstanding leadership qualities in 2010 by receiving the physician leadership award at Pinnacle. She has been featured in Harrisburg Magazine twice in recognition of her clinical skills and leadership as a healer of the year.