Please join us in congratulating the 2026 John Quinn HL7 Fellows and W. Edward Hammond Volunteer of the Year Award recipients, recognized during HL7’s 40th Annual Plenary and Working Group Meeting in Rockville, Maryland.
These honors celebrate members whose contributions extend beyond technical specifications. Through leadership, mentorship, and collaboration, they help build the standards, tools, and community that make healthcare interoperability possible.
“HL7’s strength has always come from the people who give their time, expertise, and energy to advancing our shared mission,” said Professor Rachel Dunscombe, CEO of HL7 International. “This year’s honorees represent the very best of our global community. Their sustained leadership, technical expertise, mentorship and commitment to collaboration have strengthened not only HL7 and its standards, but the broader healthcare ecosystem that depends on them. We are incredibly grateful for their contributions and proud to recognize their achievements.”
Meet the 2026 John Quinn HL7 Fellows
The John Quinn HL7 Fellowship recognizes members with at least 15 years of active membership who have demonstrated outstanding service, commitment, and contributions to HL7.
Established in 2010, the fellowship honors the memory of founding member John Quinn, who served as HL7’s second board chair, longtime Technical Steering Committee chair, and first chief technology officer.
Congratulations to this year’s 13 Fellows:
- Jeff Brown, Principal Healthcare Standards Advisor, Lantana Consulting Group
- Emma Jones, RN, MSN, Principal Product Manager, Veradigm Health
- John Carter, Chair, HL7 New Zealand; Independent Consultant
- Peter Jordan, Board Secretary, HL7 New Zealand; Digital Health Application Architect, Health NZ
- Todd Cooper, Technical Program Director, HL7 Caliper FHIR Accelerator
- José Costa Teixeira, MSc, Chair, HL7 Belgium; Independent Product Manager
- Francois Macary, Member, HL7 France; Consultant, Sopra Steria Consulting
- Richard Dixon Hughes, Member, HL7 Australia; Managing Director, DH4 Pty Limited
- James McClay, MD, Chief Research Informatics Officer, University of Missouri
- Yan Heras, PhD, Principal Informaticist, Optimum eHealth LLC
- Claude Nanjo, MPH, Research Associate, University of Utah Health Care
- Mark Janczewski, MD, MPH, President and Chief Executive Officer, Medical Networks, LLC
- Michael van der Zel, Member, HL7 The Netherlands; Health Informaticist, University Medical Center, Groningen, Netherlands
Recognizing Our 2026 Volunteers of the Year
The W. Edward Hammond, PhD Volunteer of the Year Award recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to HL7’s success. Established in 1997, the award honors Dr. Ed Hammond, an HL7 founding member, past board chair, and dedicated volunteer.
This year’s recipients are Jessica Bota, Benjamin Flessner, and Michelle Miller.
Jessica Bota: Strengthening HL7’s Terminology Foundation
Jessica Bota, Vice President at Apelon, Inc., has helped strengthen the terminology infrastructure that supports HL7 standards and interoperable health information exchange.
A Co-Chair and Contributor to the Terminology Infrastructure Work Group, Bota has served on the Terminology Services Management Group (TSMG) since its inception and as a TSMG Co-Chair for several years. She co-led the implementation and ongoing evolution of HL7 Terminology (THO) and the Unified Terminology Governance (UTG) process, supporting consistent terminology management across HL7 standards.
Bota also led development of the cross-paradigm Terminology Fundamentals universal realm guide through its initial ballot. Her leadership helps give standards developers and implementers a consistent terminology foundation.
Benjamin Flessner: Advancing CDA Through Modern Tools and Shared Expertise
Benjamin Flessner, Senior Software Engineer at Availity, has contributed to advancing Clinical Document Architecture (CDA) and Consolidated CDA (C-CDA), serving for nearly a decade as a co-chair of the Structured Documents Work Group.
Flessner has helped modernize CDA implementation guides through FHIR-based tooling, bringing updated publishing, development, testing, and maintenance capabilities to these specifications. His work on tooling and validation also helps implementers develop high-quality CDA and C-CDA implementations.
As an educator and mentor, he shares practical expertise through presentations, demonstrations, and hands-on guidance at C-CDA Connectathons, supporting both the standards and the people who implement them.
Michelle Miller: Connecting Clinical Needs, Technical Standards, and Governance
Michelle Miller, Senior Director of Product Management at Optum, has dedicated more than a decade to HL7 through leadership in the Patient Care Work Group and service on the Governance Operations Committee.
As a longstanding Patient Care Co-Chair, Miller helps translate complex clinical requirements into actionable technical specifications. Her contributions keep the clinician perspective central to work spanning care planning, clinical decision support, and FHIR resources.
Miller also brings clinical, technical, and organizational perspectives together through consensus-building. A dedicated mentor and dependable resource, she supports colleagues across the HL7 community while contributing to standards development and organizational governance.
Thank You to Our Honorees
HL7’s work depends on members who contribute their knowledge, time, and commitment to a shared purpose. Congratulations to all our 2026 honorees and thank you for your continued service to HL7 and the global interoperability community.
