Our advisory board of directors provide expert guidance and direction, ensuring our coursework and certifications empower individuals with life-saving skills to continuously improve awareness of public health safety within our communities.
Medical Director
Jehangir Gowani, MD, FAAP, FACP
Medical Director Dr. Jehangir Gowani, MD, ABIM, FAAP, ABSM, FACP, provides the company with the insight and expertise of a highly accomplished and successful medical professional. This ensures that all American Academy of CPR & First Aid courses and exams are free from errors, easy to understand, and full of useful and up-to-date information. With Dr. Gowani's keen oversight, American Academy of CPR & First Aid teaches people around the world essential life-saving skills.
Dr. Gowani did his residency program at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Texas, specializing in internal medicine, pediatrics, and sleep medicine. He is board-certified with the American Board of Internal Medicine, the American Board of Pediatrics, and the American Board of Sleep Medicine. He is also a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a fellow of the American College of Physicians, and was a Dean’s List scholar during medical school. Dr. Gowani has had a long and successful career helping both adults and children in emergency room, outpatient, and urgent care settings.
Dr. Gowani is an internal medicine, pediatrics, and sleep medicine specialist. He has been practicing for more than 15 years and has served as the Medical Director for the American Academy of CPR and First Aid for 14 years.
In his role as Medical Director of the American Academy of CPR and First Aid, Dr. Gowani has dedicated himself to creating coursework that is comprehensive and easy to understand for everyone.
As such, he has years of experience teaching CPR skills and first aid to healthcare workers as well as individuals with no previous medical training. He believes that everyone should learn the basic tenets of CPR and first aid to protect the health and safety of our loved ones, as well as within our communities.
Emergency Medicine Physician Reviewer
Daniel Sternberg, MD, Emergency Medicine PhysicianDr. Sternberg is an emergency physician with broad areas of expertise in multiple clinical fields with a specialization in the emergent management of critically ill patients. He helps to guide and train medical students and residents in various institutions and utilizes the skills in BLS and ACLS on a daily basis. His interests include the legal and administrative aspects of medicine, as well as in business start-ups with a medical focus.
ER Nurse Educator (MSN) Reviewer
Amanda Ernst, MSN, ER Nurse EducatorNurse Practitioner Reviewer
Laila Valliani, FNP-C, APRN, MSN, BSN, RNLaila Valliani is a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner with more than 14 years of demonstrated experience in direct care roles including Family Practice, Emergency Care, Urgent Care, ER Triage, Neuro, Pediatric and Traumatic Brain Injury Rehabilitation, Telephone Triage Nurse, Cardiac Interventionalist Clinic, Transitional care, Medical/Surgical, and Neurology Unit.
Valliani is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she earned a Master of Science in Nursing as well as her Post Master's Family Nurse Practitioner Certificate. She had also earned her Master of Science in Nursing Education at East Carolina University after receiving her Bachelors of Science in Nursing at the University of Texas at Arlington.
During her FNP clinical rotations she achieved 99% positive preceptor evaluation in family practice, OB-GYN, and Pediatrics and is a member of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners.
Valliani is a dedicated and passionate nurse practitioner with expert knowledge in CPR and First Aid, and extensive experience providing care and health education to her patients.
Nurse Practitioner and CPR Instructor
Brittany Heitkamp, Certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (CPNP-PC)She graduated magna cum laude from Saint Louis University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Nursing with certifications in family nursing and interprofessional education.
She then worked at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital in the pediatric intensive care unit, and then at St. Thomas Midtown Hospital in the neonatal intensive care unit. After a few years, she went back to school and graduated summa cum laude from Emory University with a Master’s of Science in Nursing. She specialized as a pediatric primary care nurse practitioner.
She most recently worked as a pediatric neurosurgery nurse practitioner at Children’s’ Healthcare of Atlanta and then relocated back to St. Louis and worked as a pediatric neurosurgery nurse practitioner through Washington University St. Louis at St. Louis Children’s Hospital.