Our Team
Our Team
Valerie Lang, MD, MHPE, is Professor of Medicine in the Hospital Medicine. She serves as Associate Chair for Medical Education Research and Scholarship, Senior Associate Division Chief, and Director of Faculty Development in Hospital Medicine. She is the Academic Director for Assessment of Clinical Decision Making at Aquifer, a nonprofit organization providing virtual medical education to most US medical schools. Her research interests focus on medical education, including faculty development, professional identity formation, and teaching and assessment of clinical reasoning.
Tara Serwetnyk, EdD, RN, FNAP, NPD-BC, is an associate professor of clinical nursing at University of Rochester School of Nursing (URSON). As the Director of Academic Innovation and Assessment, she oversees instructional design, the development of learning resources, educational technology, Quality Matters certification, curricular assessment, and accreditation. Dr. Serwetnyk has focused her research on innovative teaching strategies to improve outcomes. In addition to her work at URSON, she led two research studies at the University of Rochester Medical Center to evaluate training outcomes for online and hybrid American Heart Association Life Support courses, leading to the implementation of the Resuscitation Quality Improvement program across disciplines. She has presented nationally on education technology, instructional design, student engagement, and active learning strategies to foster student engagement and the development of critical thinking skills.
Jin Xiao, DDS, PhD, is a tenured Professor and the Founding Director of Perinatal Oral Health at the University of Rochester Medical Center Eastman Institute for Oral Health. She leads an innovative program that provides maternal and child oral health and educates the next generation of dental providers. Dr. Xiao also co-directs the KL2 Career Development Program at the Clinical Translational Science Institute at the University of Rochester. She holds multiple leadership roles in international scientific organizations, including the President of the International Association for Dental Oral Craniofacial Research e-Oral Health Network and the Scientific Councilor of the American Dental Association. Dr. Xiao directs multiple NIH- and NSF-funded projects, such as AICaries and SMARTeeth, which utilize artificial intelligence, data science, and community engagement strategies to promote remote oral disease detection.
Sarah E. Peyre, EdD, is the Chief Operating Officer and Vice Dean for Education at the University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry. A highly respected medical education scholar, Dr. Peyre is well-known for her work in the field of simulation and the development of educational innovations that support collaborative health-care models. She has worked on several educational research projects funded by the National Institutes of Health, Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation, Burroughs Welcome Foundation, and others to improve the areas of expertise, teaming, and educational effectiveness. Dr. Peyre served the University of Rochester as dean of the Warner School of Education and Human Development and, while serving as dean, was appointed interim provost in April 2021 serving until June 30, 2022. Prior to joining the Warner School, she was the associate dean for innovative education and professor of surgery, nursing, medical humanities and bioethics at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Peyre, who joined the University in 2011, also served as the executive director of the Institute for Innovative Education, where she led advances in health professions education through simulation, adaptive technology, team science, and novel approaches to information and education delivery. Peyre previously served as the director of education and research for the STRATUS Center for Medical Simulation at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, and as assistant professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Berkeley, and master’s and doctoral degrees from the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California.
Meghan Plate, MA, is Lead Business Administrator in the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry’s Office of the Dean. She previously served as the assistant director of Education in the UR Health Lab, an innovation incubator within the University of Rochester Medical Center. In recent years, Plate has contributed to NSF-funded grant programs, research related to the use of artificial intelligence in higher education, and curriculum on leadership and interprofessional learning through play. She also served on the board of community organization, TechRochester, where she started as Director of Higher Education Relations and moved into the role of Director of Operations. Plate earned her bachelor’s from Nazareth College, master’s degree from The George Washington University, and is currently enrolled in a doctoral program for higher education at the University of Rochester Warner School of Education and Human Development.