Federation of State Medical Boards Elects New Board Members and Officers
WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 14, 2026) – The Federation of State Medical Boards’ (FSMB) House of Delegates elected new board members and officers during its recent Annual Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland.
The following individuals were elected to serve on FSMB’s Board of Directors:
Christy L. Valentine Theard, MD, MBA (Louisiana) assumed the role of Chair of FSMB for a one-year term. Dr. Valentine Theard serves as the President and CEO of Anthem BCBS Medicaid in New York. After Hurricane Katrina, she opened private primary care medical practices in the New Orleans metro area, serving as a vital healthcare provider in a time of recovery. She served 15 years as a Commissioner for New Orleans East Hospital and eight years on the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners (LSBME), where she also served as President. Additionally, she has served as Louisiana Statewide Medical Director for Reproductive Health and as a Medical Consultant for the Louisiana Bureau of Community Preparedness. She is a Past President of both the New Orleans Medical Association and the Louisiana Managed Medical Association Board.
Learn more about Dr. Valentine Theard and preview her year ahead as Chair.
Mark B. Woodland, MS, MD (Pennsylvania Medical) was elected to serve as Chair-elect. Dr. Woodland is a prominent member and former chair of the Pennsylvania State Medical Board. He is the Inaugural Associate Dean of Policy/Advocacy and Clinical Professor of OBGYN at Drexel University College of Medicine (DUCOM). Additionally, he serves as a Clinical Associate for Penn Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania and is actively involved in the Department of OBGYN at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia. Previously, he was the Chair of OBGYN at Reading Hospital/Tower Health and Academic Chair of the OBGYN Department at DUCOM. Dr. Woodland has also held positions as the OB/GYN residency program director and vice dean for graduate medical education at DUCOM. He is Past Chair of the Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology (CREOG) for the American College of OBGYN (ACOG).
Alexios G. Carayannopoulos, DO, MPH (Rhode Island) was reelected to serve a one-year term on the Board of Directors. He is chief of the departments of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Rhode Island Hospital and Newport Hospital, as well as medical director of outpatient physical medicine and rehabilitation at Rhode Island Hospital, The Miriam Hospital, and Newport Hospitals. He is chief of the department of physical medicine and rehabilitation of Brown Health Medical Group, and an attending physician at the Norman Prince Spine Institute. Dr. Carayannopoulos is a full professor of neurosurgery and neurology, clinician educator, at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.
Erin L. Cramer, PA-C (Oregon) was elected to serve a three-year term on the Board of Directors. Mr. Cramer is full-time clinical faculty in graduate PA education at Pacific University School of Physician Assistant Studies in Forest Grove, Oregon.
Mr. Cramer has served more than six years on the Oregon Medical Board, serving as both Chair of the Board and Secretary. During his tenure on the board, Mr. Cramer helped guide the board through the COVID-19 pandemic, enhance the board’s response to sexual misconduct allegations against licensees, and instituted changes that helped Oregon become recognized as a WellBeing First Champion by the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation. He has served on FSMB’s Ethics and Professionalism Committee, the Workgroup on Reentry to Practice, and the Education Committee.
Danny M. Takanishi Jr., MD (Hawaii) was elected to serve a three-year term on the Board of Directors. Dr. Takanishi is a tenured Professor of Surgery and the Director of the Office of Student Affairs at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) and an attending surgeon at The Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu. Dr. Takanishi has over fifteen years of service to the Hawaii Medical Board, where he currently serves as Chair. Outside of his more than two decades of experience serving on FSMB committees and workgroups, Dr. Takanishi has held numerous other leadership roles with organizations central to medical education and regulation. These include the USMLE, NBME, ACGME, and LCME, among others.
Sherif Z. Zaafran, MD (Texas) was reelected to serve a three-year term on the Board of Directors. Dr. Zaafran is the President of the Texas Medical Board. He is a Board-Certified Anesthesiologist and is the Vice-Chair of the Clinical Governance Board for US Anesthesia Partners for the Gulf Coast region as well as a member of the Clinical Governance Board for US Anesthesia Partners Texas. He is also a member of the FDA Analgesia and Anesthesia Drug Product Advisory Committee. He has served as subcommittee chair on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Pain Management Taskforce. In addition, he is a delegate for the Texas Medical Association (TMA), Texas Society of Anesthesiologists, delegate and Fellow for the American Society of Anesthesiologists, and a member of the TMA delegation to the American Medical Association.
Additionally, the following individuals were elected to serve two-year terms on FSMB’s Nominating Committee:
Lois E. Krahn, MD – Arizona Medical Board
Jonathan A. Olsen, DO – Utah Medical Licensing Board
Jill Shaw, DO – Oregon Medical Board
Learn more about FSMB Leadership and view the full list of 2026-2027 Board of Directors.
About the Federation of State Medical Boards:
The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) is a national non-profit organization representing the medical boards within the United States and its territories that license and discipline allopathic and osteopathic physicians and, in some jurisdictions, other health care professionals. The FSMB serves as the voice for state medical boards, supporting them through education, assessment, research and advocacy while providing services and initiatives that promote patient safety, quality health care and regulatory best practices. The FSMB serves the public through Docinfo.org, a free physician search tool which provides background information on the more than 1 million doctors in the United States. Learn more about the FSMB.