Lynda Carter, JD

Wise Carter

Presentation: Subpoenas & Reducing Risk Through Daily Documentation



Lynda Carter joined the firm in 1999 after practicing for seven years in a very litigious environment in South Texas. Lynda opened the Gulf Coast office of Wise Carter in 2002, where her areas of practice include general healthcare litigation, with an emphasis in representing hospitals, physicians and nursing homes in medical malpractice litigation and arbitration, as well as general insurance defense, including trade secret litigation and personal injury defense.

Lynda received her B.S. degree from the University of Southern Mississippi in 1989 and her J.D. degree, cum laude, from the University of Houston Law Center in 1992. Although Lynda’s practice is predominately in Mississippi, she continues to handle nursing home litigation in Texas and Alabama.

Justin Caudle, MB

Johnson & Johnson Innovations

Presentation: Advocacy Update

Vanessa de la Cruz, MD

Louisiana Department of Health

Presentation: Bridge Clinics; co-presenter with Melissa Stainback, PhD

Dr. de la Cruz’s career has been devoted to public healthcare systems for 20 years. She served as Medical Director for San Mateo County Behavioral Health Services, as Chief of Psychiatry for Santa Cruz County Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services, and as director of Addiction Treatment Services for the Palo Alto VA Health Care System. She became committed to working with medically underserved populations while working at Zaccheaus Free Clinic (now Bread for the City) in Washington, DC through Americorps. She now serves as Statewide Medical Director for the Office of Behavioral Health with the Louisiana Department of Health. Prior to her OBH position, she worked for a Louisiana Medicaid health plan, Louisiana Health Care Connections. She is a clinical assistant professor at LSU School of Medicine, New Orleans. 

Dr. de la Cruz earned her medical degree at Tulane Medical School and completed her Psychiatry residency training at UCSF and a Public Psychiatry Fellowship at Columbia University. She is board certified in Adult Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine. After living in California for many years, in 2021 Dr. de la Cruz returned to the New Orleans area where she grew up. She and her husband have three children and live in Metairie.

Daphne Glindmeyer, MD

Panel: PyschoTerapy/Trauma; co-presenter with Holly MacKenna, MD

Holly Mackenna, MD

Dara Wellness

Presentation: Traumatic Brain Injury; Panel: PsychoTherapy/Trauma with Daphne Glindmeyer, MD

As a double board certified physician, Dr. MacKenna specializes in Integrative Psychiatry. After studying biology and dance at Duke University, she entered Wake Forest Medical School. Upon graduation, she entered Tulane University Pediatrics residency for two years before completing her training in Psychiatry at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center. Since entering professional practice, Dr. MacKenna has returned to Duke to complete the Leadership Program in Integrative Medicine through Duke Integrative Medicine and Fuqua School of Business. She is a graduate of the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine Fellowship and is board-certified in both Psychiatry and Integrative Medicine. Dr. MacKenna holds additional certifications in Helms auricular acupuncture and non-touch and distance Reiki.

Holly Peek, MD

Presentation: Disorders of Gut-Brain Interaction & Psychiatry

Dr. Peek is a Harvard trained psychiatrist and is affiliated with Harvard Medical School. She is board certified in both adult and child and adolescent psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.

Dr. Peek received her medical degree from Tulane University School of Medicine in 2012. She also received a dual Master of Public Health degree at Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, with a concentration in global community health and behavioral sciences. Her adult psychiatry training was completed at Tulane University School of Medicine, followed by a fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, with training at both Massachusetts General Hospital and McLean Hospital.

Dr. Peek also has a special interest in animal assisted interventions and received a certificate in Animal and Human Health and a Canine Assisted Intervention Specialist certificate from the Institute of Human-Animal Connection at the University of Denver. She is currently completing a certificate in Horticultural Therapy through the Horticultural Therapy Institute. 

Arwen Podesta, MD

Podesta Wellness

Presentation: Is the convenience store clerk acting as an MD? Gas station heroin, Kratom and more; co-presenter with Jenna Jurecky, MD

Arwen Podesta, MD is a New Orleans based board-certified adult psychiatrist with sub-specializations in addiction medicine, forensic psychiatry, and integrative medicine. Dr. Podesta also offers treatment via telemedicine to patients in North Carolina and Louisiana. A graduate of the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, Dr. Podesta completed her psychiatry residency at Louisiana State University before pursuing fellowship in Forensic Psychiatry at Tulane University.

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Dr. Podesta became involved in actioning psychiatric care for underserved and disenfranchised populations and was awarded the Gambit’s 40 Under 40 in 2009. Since then she has been an enthusiastic participant in the public sector as Medical Director of multiple addiction treatment centers, and a consultant for the Orleans Criminal Court, Drug Court and Re-entry Services. Additionally, she maintains status as a consulting Addiction Medicine Specialist, and an expert witness. Across all contexts and venues, Dr. Podesta’s primary focus has been and continues to be access to integrative mental health and addiction treatment, and rational prescribing practices.

Mary Jo Ross

Presentation: Surviving a cult and sexual assault; Panel: PsychoTherapy/Trauma

Mary Jo is an accomplished professional who has owned multiple businesses with a history of national accolades and professional success. Her current work as a

sought-after speaker, author and advocate arose from her passion to help the most vulnerable avoid/escape from the severe abuse she survived in her

formative years. As a lived-experience survivor of familial sex trafficking as well as someone who broke away from a generational satanic cult, Mary Jo today speaks and teaches practical insights on childhood abuse to groups of medical and mental health professionals, law enforcement, and non-profit leaders.

Mary Jo turned her exploitation and abuse into not only living as a thriver but advocating for those who can’t speak for themselves. Initially, she funneled that

passion toward individuals struggling with cancer. As a communications professional, Mary Jo created a business that managed several non-profit

oncology associations. She advocated for and led initiatives to improve cancer coverage, passing seven state laws that continue to benefit cancer patients today.

Melissa Stainback, PhD

Louisiana Department of Public Health

Presentation: Bridge Clinics; co-presenter with Vanessa de la Cruz, MD

Melissa Stainback, PhD, serves as the Southwest Louisiana Opioid Coordinator for Imperial Calcasieu Human Services Authority (ImCal) in collaboration with Region V Office of Public Health. She coordinates Opioid Response in the five parish region. Melissa helps coordinate and implement the LA Bridge program in hospitals in Southwest Louisiana. She promotes community-wide awareness about the local opioid crisis; collects surveillance data from multiple sources to evaluate the local trends in fatal and non-fatal overdose and helps determine and coordinate best practices and interventions for combating the epidemic -including harm reduction, linkage to MAT, and the LA Bridge Program. Finally, Melissa connects partners across many sectors, with the goal of breaking down silos to facilitate low-barrier, seamless access to wrap-around services that save lives. She is especially passionate about making systemic changes that will increase access to care for hard to reach populations.

Melissa received her undergraduate degree in Sociology from Millsaps College, her PhD in Sociology from Louisiana State University, and she taught and completed her postdoc at Rice University. She lives in Lake Charles with her husband, three children, and sweet dachshund puppy.

Ashley Weiss, DO, MPH

Tulane University School of Medicine

Presentation: Early Psychosis

Dr. Weiss is a psychiatrist who has a wide range of clinical and academic interests. Clinically, she has focused on developing the only early psychosis intervention service for the New Orleans community, which includes a psychosis treatment arm as well as a community psychosis early detection campaign. Dr. Weiss developed and founded the Early Psychosis Intervention Clinic (EPIC-NOLA) in August 2015, which is focused on providing comprehensive care for adolescents and young adults experiencing their first episode of psychosis associated with emergence of severe mental illnesses, mainly the schizophrenia-spectrum illnesses. In parallel to the EPIC-NOLA clinic, she also launched CALM-Clear Answers to Louisiana Mental Health, in Spring 2016. CALM is a psychosis early detection campaign aimed at increasing community awareness of psychosis, debunking myths surrounding psychosis, and fundraising to enhance activities for those in treatment for first-episode psychosis. Dr. Weiss also provides acute inpatient psychiatric care at the University Medical Center, where she is involved in teaching psychiatry residents and medical students.