Christopher Widmer Email & Phone Number

Greater Chicago Area

Brookline, Massachusetts, United States / Chicago, Illinois

The International Society for Infectious Diseases (ISID) is a non-profit organization with an unwavering commitment to infectious disease practitioners, scientists, and public health professionals working in resource-limited settings around the world. To support its many members, ISID organizes leading international congresses, offers open access infection control resources, and distributes grants to young investigators beginning their careers in the field of infectious diseases. Additionally, ISID operates the International Journal of Infectious Diseases and has organized infectious disease innovation marathons sparking novel solutions that address disease control challenges. The flagship program under ISID’s umbrella is the Program for Emerging Diseases (ProMED), an emerging diseases surveillance network that operates around the world. From this program, many projects have developed relying on the ProMED daily post data across a wide range of pathogens, countries, and species.

Glenview, Il

Oversee Office of Contract & Project Management.

Glenview, Il

Created the Office of Project and Contract Management for the The American College of Chest Physicians. CHEST is the global leader in advancing best patient outcomes through innovative chest medicine education, clinical research, and team-based care. With more than 18,700 members representing 100+ countries around the world, our mission is to champion the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of chest diseases through education, communication, and research.

Glenview, Il

Project Manager for the The American College of Chest Physicians, Business Development Division. CHEST is the global leader in advancing best patient outcomes through innovative chest medicine education, clinical research, and team-based care. With more than 18,700 members representing 100+ countries around the world, our mission is to champion the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of chest diseases through education, communication, and research. This includes connecting health-care professionals to the latest clinical research and a wide array of evidence-based guidelines through the CHEST Journal, while also serving as a total education resource for clinicians through year-round meetings, books, mobile apps, and live courses in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine. The first medical association with a clinical simulation program accredited by the Society for Simulation in Healthcare, the American College of Chest Physicians also provides hands-on training through innovative simulation education. The CHEST Foundation, our philanthropic arm, provides members with grants, patient education tools, and other resources to help their patients live and breathe easier.

Chicago, Il

Manage all aspects of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, which is a Federal program that provides HIV-related health services to over 16,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in the Chicago Eligible Metropolitan Area (EMA) with a budget in excess of $27M. The program works with cities, states, and local community-based organization to provide services to more than half a million people each year. The Chicago EMA consists of nine counties which is approximately two-thirds of the State of Illinois. These counties include Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Will, Grundy, McHenry, Lake, Kane, and Kendall. CDPH’s contracts with agencies located throughout the EMA to provide core medical and support services. Develops program objectives, policies and procedures and supervises the work of professional, paraprofessional and healthcare providers who are involved in program activities. Oversees the development of grant and program budgets and reviews same for completeness and accuracy. Evaluates the quality and effectiveness of the program and implements programmatic modifications where appropriate.

Managed all aspects of the School of Applied Technology's Office of Professional Development, including the development of short courses and programs customized for corporate groups; domestic and international delegations. Responsible for the program development, administration, and supervision of faculty and staff involved in the delivery of education programs and the management of the online learning management system. Wrote responses to RFPs resulting in multi-year contracts to deliver corporate training in engineering, IT, law, business and management. Worked with professors on grant proposals for K-12 teachers programs in IT and collaborated with lIT Mathematics and Science Education Department to deliver professional development courses to K-12 math and science teachers. Responsible for processes to maintain approved provider status with Illinois Workforce Development keeping approved programs current and managed department operations required to support these students. Worked effectively with Workforce Development office counselors in all counties served to provide necessary services to the program participants. Managed all aspects of the Professional Engineer I Engineer Intern Review course, which helps to prepare engineers to sit for the state examination. Worked with Chicago Career Tech to provideeducation and work experience for job re-training initiative that strives to close the workforce skills gap. To date, 950 unemployed Chicagoans and more than 225 businesses and nonprofit organizations have participated in the program.

Directed the administrative and operational functions of a national certifying body. Primary responsibilities included overseeing operations associated with the certification of 90,000 certificants including customer service, accounting, IT services, human resources, test development, standards & compliance and data entry. Monitored all operational developments and trends and served as management liaison to all departments, committees, consultants and members of the Board of Directors. Effectively reduced expenses within 6 months to reflect a stronger bottom line and identified new product lines to increase revenues.

Plan and direct the administrative infrastructure that supports and facilitates collaborative research activities between the University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory, recognizing different cultures, reward structures, and funding sources. Restructured the University of Chicago office at Argonne National Laboratory, seamlessly integrating contractual management functions with the ability to provide efficient and effective corporate office support. Managed the grant process to fund joint research projects between the University of Chicago and Laboratory researchers. Managed the joint appointment process between the University of Chicago and the Laboratory which allowed research opportunities to be federally funded for Laboratory-based projects. Redirected the science and technology peer review process for the Laboratory to emphasize the quality and outcomes of science and technology, the effectiveness and efficiency of management, and the long-term strategy for achieving and maintaining global excellence. Responsible for development of scope and recruitment of national/international leaders to serve as panel members for 8 - 12 peer reviews annually. Developed a strategic operations model to enhance the stewardship of the Laboratory and better align business and management functions to more effectively serve the science andtechnology missions of the Laboratory. Initiated business operation reviews to assess current activity, benchmark other institutions, and identify opportunities to incorporate best practices, including improvements in the technology transfer program, communications infrastructure, plant and facilities services, IT desktop support services.

Directed the administrative functions of the Office of Emergency Management with budgetary responsibility in excess of $52M. Created and monitored policies, processes and procedures. Fiscal responsibilities included the preparation of department and program-specific budgets for federal, state and local funding sources. Monitored and ensured compliance with nine union contracts. Supervised the preparation, processing, negotiation and monitoring of contract and intergovernmental agreements, including the receipt and distribution of homeland security funding for the region in excess of $40M annually.

Directed the administrative functions of Chicago Department on Aging with budgetary responsibility in excess of $30M. Created and monitored policies, processes and procedures. Fiscal responsibilities included the preparation of department and program-specific budgets for federal, state and local funding sources. Monitored and ensured compliance with five union contracts. Supervised the preparation, processing, negotiation and monitoring of contract and intergovernmental agreement.

Directed the administrative functions of the Chicago Police Department. Created and monitored policies, processes and procedures. Fiscal responsibilities included the preparation of department and program-specific budgets for local funding sources. Monitored and ensured compliance with three union contracts. Supervised the preparation, processing, negotiation and monitoring of contract and intergovernmental agreements. Liaison to local businesses and residents of the district on community policing issues.

Developed and implemented international healthcare consulting projects in cooperation with US federal agencies, European, Saudi Arabian and Asian healthcare agencies, ministries and providers. Prepared proposal and contracts to conduct international needs assessments, consultations and evaluations, including the development of work plans, budgets and criteria for review.

Planned, organized, staffed and directed quality assurance evaluations of managed care providers. Responsible for the preparation and adherence to an annual budget for quality assurance evaluations in excess of $12M. Analyzed results of field surveys of healthcare providers and determined compliance to national standards.

Hired, trained and supervised professional and support staff, including the development of a coordinated education program for accreditation decision analysts and a system for monitoring productivity.

Analyzed results of field surveys of healthcare providers and determined compliance to national standards. Assisted provider staff in achieving compliance with standards.

Developed and executed the conversion of the organization’s stand-alone word processing system to an integrated system utilizing common resources and database files.

Master'S Degree, Public Administration

Activities and Societies: Graduate level studies in public administration

Bachelor Of Science (B.S.), Political Science / Public Administration