Our Team

Physician Lead and Founder of PPA

Dr. Jay Patel has over a decade experience in palliative care, pain management and hospice care. He completed his internal medicine training from The Brooklyn Hospital/Weil Cornell University and pursued hospice and palliative medicine fellowship from University of Nevada, Reno. Dr. Patel has led a transdisciplinary team of palliative care and also started a fellowship program and served as a program director for 5 years before transitioning to private practice.

Dr. Patel has served in multiple committees during his career including ethics committee, quality council, GME committee and credential committee. In his spare time, he enjoys time with his family including wife and three children as well as loves spending time with his friends. He also enjoys travelling, hiking and movies.

Brad was born and raised in Hutchinson, MN and graduated from the Arizona College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2016. He completed an Internship program at St. Anthony Hospital in Oklahoma City, OK before Family Medicine residency at Southern Regional AHEC in Fayetteville, NC.  Brad then completed the Hospice and Palliative Care Fellowship program sponsored by Creighton University at St. Joseph Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, AZ. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with family, following the Minnesota Vikings and Twins, camping, traveling, plane spotting and astronomy. He is an active member of St. Joseph Hospital and Medical Center Ethics Committee, member of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.

Dr. Gannon is originally from Cleveland, OH, and is a graduate of Saint Louis University. He obtained his medical degree from Creighton University in Omaha, NE. He then went on to complete his Internal Medicine training at the University of Iowa. During residency, he became particularly interested in caring for people with serious, complex, and terminal conditions. Therefore after finishing the residency he moved to Phoenix, AZ, to complete a fellowship in Hospice and Palliative Medicine. In his free time, he enjoys exercising, traveling, and reading. 

He is a senior healthcare administrator with a decade of successful experience in strategic revenue cycle management, complemented with a deep understanding of clinical operations. Clients find value in his ability to bridge complex concepts and facilitate change management to channel RC solutions as an extension to their back office. He has knowledge of and a continued interest in business processes improvement, and technology-directed process optimization.

He has BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington, and MS in Healthcare Leadership & Management from the University of Texas at Dallas.

Hyon is an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner specializing Pain Management holding a national certification with the American Association of Critical Care Nurses (AACN). Hyon completed Bachelor of Nursing at Grand Canyon University in Arizona and then earned Master of Science degree from Walden University in Minnesota. Prior to joining Pain and Palliative Associates of Arizona, her experience was primarily on interventional pain management. Her interests and hobbies include holistic medicine, quantum science, reading, caring for animals, and glamping (fancier version of camping). 

Cynthia is a certified Family Nurse Practitioner specializing in internal medicine and pain management for the past five years. She has been a registered nurse for over ten years and nurse educator for multiple nursing programs in the Phoenix area for over six years. In her free time, Cynthia likes cooking and gardening, hot yoga, and spending time in the cool pines of Northern Arizona.

Ivy Reyes is a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner. She received her bachelor’s and Master’s in Nursing from University of Phoenix, graduated with honors as a Nurse Practitioner. in 2020. Ivy has been in the medical field since 2005 and has worked in a variety of inpatient and outpatient settings.

Nilah Bryant is a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP). She earned a master’s in science and Family Nurse Practitioner degree from the United States University located in San Diego, CA in 2020. Prior to that she worked as a nurse for five years. She had an opportunity to take care of patients from all age groups and various cultures both as a Registered Nurse and FNP. She currently works as a primary care provider, covid testing performer as well as pain management consultant. she enjoys playing Valley ball, spending time with family, friends, and co-workers.

Dr. Saleem graduated from Al-Kindy College of Medicine / Baghdad University in Iraq, then moved to New York City, where he worked in medical research at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He then got accepted into an Internal Medicine residency at New York Medical College. His dedication to helping and feeling rewarded by being available for others made him passionate about Hospice and Palliative Medicine, for which he completed a fellowship in Hospice and Palliative Medicine at Creighton University. Dr. Saleem is an outdoorsman, loves traveling and exploring new places, different cultures, and food.

Sara Parks-Conyers is a Certified Family Nurse Practitioner working in Palliative Care with PPA. Her education journey was to obtaining Associates in Nursing at Gateway Community College, Bachelor of Science in Nursing at University of Phoenix and Master of Science in Nursing Family Nurse Practitioner at University of Phoenix. She fell in love with Palliative care and hospice with the personal experience of her grandmother. She loves to spend time with her mom, twin sister and try new restaurants. Her favorite thing to do is to travel and go on the Disney cruise with her family.

Amber Parks is a Certified Family Nurse Practitioner working in Pain Management with PPA. Her education journey was to obtain her Associates in Nursing at Gateway Community College, Bachelor of Science in Nursing at University of Phoenix and Master of Science in Nursing Family Nurse Practitioner at University of Phoenix. In her free time she likes to travel, go on cruises, and go to Disneyland. She also enjoys trying new restaurants in Arizona and hanging out with her twin and their puppies. 

Cristia Marzano, NP-C, FNP-BC is a fully accredited and experienced licensed and double board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner. Cristia began her professional career working in the critical care setting as a Registered Nurse for 16 years and received her master’s degree of Family Nurse Practitioner in 2019. Cristia began her Nurse Practitioner career specializing in gastroenterology and liver disease and eventually transitioned to her current specialty in palliative care and pain management. Cristia is passionate, goal-driven, and instills the core values of integrity, excellence, professionalism, service, and leadership into her profession. Cristia is fully committed in providing high quality, culturally competent care to patients while exhibiting cultural awareness for their beliefs, race, and values. Crista strives to meet and surpass patients’ expectations, to achieve a high level of patient satisfaction, and to deliver thorough and competent care by a provider you can trust.

Rebecca has been practicing in adult and geriatric medicine for over 20 years.  She received her initial Bachelor and Master of Science in Nursing degrees from The University of Virginia.  After teaching at the University of Virginia School of Nursing and working at the University of Virginia Health Sciences system in nursing education, she pursued her post master’s Nurse Practitioner Degree at the George Washington University.  



Rebecca practiced in the private health care setting in Internal Medicine for the first 10 years of her career.  At that 10-year mark, she moved to a solo House Call Primary Care Position serving homebound elders and those with advanced care needs. It is here, that she found her passion in Hospice and palliative care. She believes that it is a gift to serve others as life transitions from achievements to memories that endure. Rebecca enjoys being a part of the developing adult lives of two college children and two high schoolers.  Hiking, working out and being involved in church activities are what makes for a blessed and balanced life.  

Megan Bermudez FNP has worked in healthcare for over 20 years. Megan received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of New Mexico and is experienced in many areas including maternity, pulmonology, cardiology, and neurology including neurological disorders, brain tumors and spinal cord injuries. She went on to receive her Master of Business Administration and Master of Nursing from Grand Canyon University. Megan is a compassionate and enthusiastic palliative care provider who is deeply committed to providing high quality patient focused care with the primary goal of improving quality of life by adequately managing illness related symptoms. In her off time Megan enjoys creating memories with her family.

Chaplain Sedona Montelongo is a Board Certified Chaplain (2007) with an Advanced Practice Certification in Palliative Care and Hospice (2014). Sedona is a faculty member for Creighton University Medical School as the spiritual care educator for the palliative care physician fellows and sits on the committee with the Association of Professional Chaplains (APC) and the National Association for Catholic Chaplains (NACC) to educate, promote and certify future palliative care advanced practice chaplains. Sedona is also an affiliate instructor for the California State University Institute for Palliative Care. Sedona served as the Chair of the Certification Commission for NACC and was recently elected to the Board of Directors.

Seun graduated from Northern Arizona University (NAU) with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and completed his postgraduate as a nurse practitioner at Grand Canyon University in Phoenix, Arizona.

Seun started his career in medicine as an acute care nurse at several hospitals in the valley. Seun has lived in the valley for over 15 years and he is an aerospace enthusiast. He enjoys hunting and photography in his spare time.