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10th Annual Pediatric Puzzles CME Conference

Saturday, May 2, 2026

8:00 am - 2:00 pm

San Francisco Zoo & Gardens
Sloat Blvd at The Great Highway
San Francisco, CA 94132

Innovation and the Art of Caring for Kids in a Changing World

Register Here!

Conference Schedule

4.5 CME Credits! 

Meet Our Speakers

Elizabeth Grady, MD – Co-Chair Mental Health Committee, American Academy of Pediatrics, California Chapter 1

Beth Grady, MD FAAP is a pediatrician with 30 years of experience caring for low income children and teens in San Mateo County, California. She received her MD from the University of Washington and completed residency in Primary Care Pediatrics at UCSF.  Starting in 2015, Dr. Grady led the San Mateo Medical Center’s effort to implement Trauma Informed Care, including participating in the Center for Care Innovation’s Resilient Beginnings Collaborative. In 2025, she retired from full time clinical practice to focus on advocacy and education. She co-chairs the AAP California Chapter 1 Mental Health Committee and is a national AAP Trauma Informed Care champion and a chapter champion for Healthy Mental Development.  She is especially interested in the intersection between trauma and neurodiversity and has been a member of the Stanford Neurodiversity Project since 2022.

Maria Mba Wright, MD, FAAP – Physician Consultant, Golden Gate Regional Center

Dr. Maria Mba Wright attended medical school at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. She completed her residency in Pediatrics, at LA County-USC Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. As a pediatrician, she served families in central and northern California. As a physician, she has served communities, working in both private practice and large HMO settings. She demonstrates a deep commitment to equal access to care for all underserved communities. 

To welcome and inform Spanish-speaking visitors and patients to the medical facility, Dr. Wright advocated and served as voice talent for the first-ever overhead announcement in Spanish regarding COVID-19 safety precautions, a daily broadcast for the Kaiser South Sacramento facility. She created the Spanish-version of an educational outreach program, (Llamadas a Casa), for which she served as host and executive producer at Kaiser Permanente.

Her vision for improved care now encompasses the world of children with neurodiversity and other disabilities.

Eva Minkoff, MS, ACC – Founder, Bold Being

Eva Minkoff is a seasoned leadership transformation coach with over 15 years of experience at the intersection of healthcare, communication, and human connection. 

Known for her impactful TEDx talk, “Five Minutes to Fix Our Broken Healthcare System,” Eva has become a sought-after voice in the healthcare leadership space. She is the founder of Bold Being, where she guides healthcare professionals and visionaries through identity-level transformations, helping them reconnect with their core strengths and lead with clarity and conviction in times of rapid change.

Her background is as diverse as it is extensive, spanning clinical research, health technology innovation, patient advocacy, and executive coaching. This 360-degree view, coupled with her personal journey as both a chronic patient and as the spouse of a Pediatric Gastroenterologist, Dr. Nathan Zev Minkoff, gives her a uniquely empathetic lens on the human side of medicine.

Eva brings a blend of professional depth and personal empathy into every keynote, helping audiences see how true connection to self, others, and purpose is not just a leadership advantage but a necessity in the rapidly evolving landscape of healthcare, particularly in the age of AI.

Nathan Minkoff, MD – Pediatric Gastroenterologist, Valley Children’s Hospital

Dr. Nathan Zev Minkoff is a pediatric gastroenterologist and the Director of the Intestinal Rehabilitation Center at Valley Children’s Hospital in Madera California where he is also the vice-chair of the Department of Medicine. He has a variety of clinical and research interests including short bowel syndrome/Intestinal failure,  the human microbiome and health and disease, gastrointestinal and liver manifestations of cystic fibrosis, eosinophilic esophagitis, amongst other areas. He has published in Gastroenterology, the Cochrane database of systematic reviews, and JPGN Reports. He has a clinical interest in the treatment of pediatric obesity.

Renee Wachtel, MD, FAAP – Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, UCSF School of Medicine

Dr. Wachtel is a Developmental-Behavioral and Neurodevelopmental Disabilities Pediatrician. She is a Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at UCSF School of Medicine and is on the Medical Staff of UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland. Dr. Wachtel is one of the founding members of the Bay Area Autism Consortium (the BAAC). She is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Dr. Wachtel  is a Board Member and chairs the California Chapter 1 American Academy of Pediatrics Committees on Development and Behavior and School Health. She also chairs the Community Health Committee for the Alameda and Contra Costa Medical Association (ACCMA) and is a member of the ACCMA Council. She was a member of the State of California Autism Task Force, and has served as an autism expert consultant for the California Health Policy Center and the US Department of Defense autism grant review program.

Matt Willis, MD, MPH – Physician & Epidemiologist, Marin County

Matt Willis, MD MPH, is a physician and epidemiologist who served as Marin County’s Public Health Officer from 2013 to 2024. He has championed “radical collaboration” across sectors to tackle complex public health challenges. During the pandemic, local partnerships helped Marin achieve among the highest vaccination rates in the nation, by prioritizing access, science-driven policy, and open dialogue with impacted communities.
 
Operating on the principle that the highest attainable standard of health is a human right, he has served as a primary care provider at Marin Community Clinics, Director of Primary Care on the Navajo Nation in Arizona, and at the CDC, where he conducted outbreak investigations in the US and abroad.
 
He writes Your Local Epidemiologist in California, a weekly newsletter translating emerging science into health guidance for the public. A Marin native, he lives in San Anselmo with his family and two dogs. 

New Venue!

San Francisco Zoo & Gardens

Sloat Boulevard at The Great Highway, San Francisco, CA 94132

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Registration:

*Physicians-in-Training include residents and medical students. The 2026 Special Rate applies to all health professional students!

Register now and secure your spot today!

NOTE: While conference registration does not include entry to the San Francisco Zoo & Gardens, we’re pleased to offer discounted zoo tickets for attendees and their families. If you’d like to take advantage of this, please be sure to select the option during registration.

Refund policy: Refunds less a $15.00 cancellation fee are available until April 15. NO refunds after April 15.

Register Here!

Planning Committee

Chair: Mika Hiramatsu, MD, FAAP

Vice Chair: Javay Ross, MD, FAAP

• • Nelson Branco, MD, FAAP
  • Yasmin Carim, MD, FAAP
  • V. Sushma Chamarthi, MD, FAAP, DABOM
  • Yasuko Fukuda, MD, FAAP
  • Dane Gehringer, MD, FAAP
  • Kevin Hoang, MD, FAAP
  • Janice Kim, MD, MPH
  • Teresa Skelly, MD, FAAP

Accreditation Statement

• This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation and policies of the California Medical Association (CMA) through the joint providership of the American Academy of Pediatrics, California Chapter 4 and the California 1 Chapter of the AAP. The American Academy of Pediatrics, California Chapter 4 is accredited by the California Medical Association (CMA) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
• The American Academy of Pediatrics, California Chapter 4 designates this live activity for a maximum of 4.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)^TM. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.