Albany, New York – Jennifer Corcoran Conway, a partner at Tully Rinckey LLC, has been named Chair of the Capital Region Board of Directors of the American Heart Association. Alan Boulos, M.D., Chair of Neurosurgery, Co-Director of the Neurosciences Institute and Professor of Neurosurgery and Radiology at Albany Med, is its new president. Both will serve a two-year term.
Jennifer Corcoran Conway
Corcoran Conway has been involved with the American Heart Association since 2013, when her son Aedan, then 16 months old, was featured at the Capital Region Heart Ball. Corcoran Conway has lobbied for laws to improve cardiovascular health, and is the parent lead for the Cardiac Kids, a group of children born with congenital heart defects and their families. She has been on the Board of Directors for the American Heart Association since 2014 and is a regular spokesperson for the American Heart Association.
Dr. Alan Boulos
Dr. Boulos has served as a spokesman about stroke issues for the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association, in the media and at events, since 2009. He joined the local Board of Directors of the American Heart Association in n 2016. He chaired CycleNation in 2019 and is chairing it again this year.
“When Aedan was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect, I wanted to do everything I could to advocate for him and other children like him,” Corcoran Conway said of her son who is now 8 years old. “When Aedan’s surgeon, Dr. Neil Devejian, asked us to participate in the Heart Ball, and the AHA later invited me to lobby for the Pulse Ox Law, I knew I had found my place.”
The Pulse Ox Law passed in 2013; it calls for the oxygen level of all newborns to be checked before being discharged from the hospital. A low level could be a sign of a critical congenital heart defect.
“The American Heart Association does an excellent job of explaining problems that aren’t so obvious, and this helps in preserving our community’s health,” Dr. Boulos said. “It’s also an organization that has supported a lot of scientific research, and provides it in a way that is more accessible than many traditional avenues.”
“In the years that I’ve been involved with the AHA and the board, I have been witness firsthand to the amazing things this organization can do, and wanted to be as involved as much as I could,” Corcoran Conway said. “In the immediate future, the board’s goal will be to help guide the organization through the brave new world during and post-COVID, to find new and creative ways to continue to share the mission of the organization and get people involved.”
“This is a board that runs very well, and has had great leadership,” Dr. Boulos said. “Our immediate past leaders — Kathy Lanni, Theresa Petrone Butts, Dr. Mandeep Sidhu and Dr. Adanna Akujuo — have been great contributors. I hope to maintain the board’s level of excellence and provide the stroke perspective to our work.
“I’d like to continue educating the public about the COVID pandemic so we can continue to preserve our health in this unusual situation,” Dr. Boulos continued. “The American Heart Association has invested in research, set up a COVID registry and provided professional education to help with that. Also, a lot of the good health habits that the AHA encourages to prevent heart disease and stroke lend themselves to reducing the impact of the coronavirus on communities.”
Originally from Batavia, N.Y., Corcoran Conway has a bachelor’s degree from Wells College and her law degree from Albany Law School. She lives in Delmar with her husband, Tim Conway, their son Aedan, and their dogs, Vallie and Friday.
A Delaware native, Dr. Boulos attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy for two years and then studied at Albany Medical College for four years to complete his medical degree as part of a combined six-year program. He did his neurosurgery residency at Albany Med, then received the Sean Mullen Neuroendovascular Fellowship at Millard Fillmore Hospital in Buffalo. There, Dr. Boulos worked with Dr. Nick Hopkins, a pioneer in the use of catheters and coils to treat brain aneurysms.
“Before that, we did those surgeries with clamps and clips,” Dr. Boulos said. “But we quickly learned that catheters and coils were more effective.”
Dr. Boulos returned to Albany Med in 2002 and introduced these surgical techniques on brain aneurysms to patients at Albany Med.
Dr. Boulos lives in Glenmont with his wife, Maria, a pediatric radiologist with Community Care Physicians who also practices at the Bernard & Millie Duker Children’s Hospital at Albany Med. They have three sons, Mateo, Nicholas and Lucas.
Three members are leaving the Board of Directors: Kathy Lanni of SEFCU and Drs. Adanna Akujuo and Mandeep Sidhu of Albany Med. Theresa Petrone Butts of MVP is remaining on the board but has completed her term as chair.
“The American Heart Association is excited to have Jennifer Corcoran Conway and Dr. Alan Boulos lead the board,” said Amy Young, executive director of the American Heart Association in Albany and the Upper Hudson Valley. “Their dedication to and passion for the mission, as well as the insight they bring, will be beneficial to growing the Capital Region Board. I’d also like to thank Drs. Akujuo and Sidhu and Kathy Lanni for their fearless leadership, innovative thinking and constant professionalism in leading our board to the level that we are at today.”
Peter Connolly of The Mercedes Benz Center at Keeler Motor Car Company, and cardiologists Dr. Disha Mookherjee of Saratoga Hospital, Dr. Suzie Mookherjee of Albany Med and Dr. Neil Yager of Albany Med are joining the 2020-2021 board. Dr. Suzie Mookherjee is a past president of the board and a past member of the Eastern States Regional Board and Founders Affiliate Board of the American Heart Association.
They join fellow board members:
Kaweeda Adams, Albany City Schools
Jack Bevilacqua, EMT, Albany Airport Fire Department
Theresa Petrone Butts, MVP
Maria Decker, Maria’s Smoothies and Bowls
Kate Fruscione, CAP COM Federal Credit Union
Bill Galvin, Envera Health
Kristin Kirk Meehan, KeyBank
Michael Aron Poindexter, Albany City Schools
Frankie Rodriguez, Eastern Med
Glenn Rockwood, Optimum Fulfillment
Lisa Wolcott, Capital District YMCA