Leadership

Sarah E. Scher, JD, RN is the chief executive officer of the Cooperative of American Physicians, Inc. (CAP) and the Mutual Protection Trust (MPT). In this role, she draws on her extensive leadership background in healthcare, law, patient safety, risk management, captive insurance, and medical professional liability to direct CAP’s core businesses – MPT and the Cooperative of American Physicians Insurance Company (CAPIC), which provide access to superior medical professional liability protection, patient safety education, and risk management services.

Prior to joining CAP, Ms. Scher was corporate vice president of risk management and insurance, president of the Advocate Physician Partners Risk Purchasing Group, and chair of Advocate Insurance SPC for Chicago-based Advocate Health Care, Illinois’ largest health system.

During her tenure at Advocate Health Care, Ms. Scher was responsible for developing, implementing, and directing the system-wide insurance, risk financing, risk management, and claims management programs to ensure a consistent and optimal approach to minimizing liability and risk exposure. Under her leadership and through her vigilant governance of litigation, utilization of risk financing alternatives, and fostering of strategic insurance partner relationships, the organization built a multi-million dollar reserve and significantly reduced expenses.

Early in her career, Ms. Scher worked as a trauma nurse at a level I emergency department and as a prosecutor in the criminal division of the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office.

She was also an adjunct associate professor at Valparaiso University in Indiana, an expert speaker on clinical-legal issues to physicians and nurses, and lobbyist on behalf of the insurance and healthcare industries before the U.S. Congress.

A Nursing graduate of Purdue University, Ms. Scher earned her Juris Doctor degree (Summa Cum Laude) from DePaul University College of Law with a Certificate in Health Law. Ms. Scher currently serves on the board of the California Hospital Medical Center Foundation, the U.S. Bank Advisory Board, the Los Angeles County Bar Association Healthcare Law Executive Committee, and the National Insurance Industry Council.

Aline Babaian is the Senior Vice President of Operations for Schmid & Voiles, a law firm dedicated to the defense of CAP members.

Mrs. Babaian is charged with ensuring that the law firm meets its strategic and financial goals, including the development of formal policy in areas of personnel and general administration. She also oversees the recruitment of attorneys, legal paraprofessionals, and non-legal support staff. 

A graduate of California State University, Los Angeles, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature, Mrs. Babaian is also an MCLE Provider and reports to the California State Bar all continuing legal education programs that she has produced to improve attorney skills/knowledge. She provides speakers and topics through the collaboration of Schmid & Voiles’ highly qualified attorney staff. 

Alyson Lewis is CAP's Senior Vice President and Chief Underwriting Officer.  She also serves as President and Chief Operating Officer of the Cooperative of American Physicians Insurance Company (CAPIC), an Arizona-domiciled excess and surplus lines insurance company and subsidiary of CAP.  She oversees the underwriting functions of the entire CAP enterprise and has executive responsibility for CAPIC business development.

Ms. Lewis joined CAP in 2016. She has more than 30 years of industry experience and has held leadership and senior underwriting positions in the healthcare practices of large global insurance companies. Ms. Lewis earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Southern California and her Juris Doctor degree from Concord Law School.

Jeffrey Stoner is senior vice president of Claims for the Cooperative of American Physicians, Inc. (CAP).

With a professional background that includes almost a decade as a trial attorney, Mr. Stoner joined CAP in 1995. As senior vice president of Claims, Mr. Stoner oversees all claims provided to CAP’s Mutual Protection Trust, as well as all third-party administrative activities. In this capacity, he advises claims review committees in their decisions of which cases should go to trial and which are settled out of court. He was also instrumental in the development and oversight of the CAP Cares program, which provides resources and emotional support for member physicians in crisis who are facing adverse outcomes with their patients.

Mr. Stoner is also a committee member for the Medical Professional Liability Association (MPLA), a leading trade association representing domestic and international medical professional liability companies owned and/or operated by physicians, hospitals, dentists, and other health care providers.

A native of Pennsylvania, Mr. Stoner earned a law degree from the University of Georgia and a bachelor’s degree in World Literature from Pennsylvania State University. As a trial lawyer, he practiced in both Georgia and Pennsylvania.

John Kowalczyk, DO, FACOS, is a Los Angeles-based urologist and founder of the Urology Group of Southern California. Dr. Kowalczyk became a Fellow of the American College of Osteopathic Surgeons in 1999 and served as president of the Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons of California in 2016. He is a clinical professor of surgery at Touro University and Western University, as well as clerkship director for the Surgery Department of St. George’s University School of Medicine. He received his Doctor of Osteopathy from Midwestern University, completed his internship and residencies at Chicago Osteopathic Hospital and Olympia Fields Osteopathic Medical & Trauma Center, and received his fellowship training in uroprosthetics at Indiana University. Dr. Kowalczyk has been a CAP member since 2005, has served on the CAP and MPT Audit and Finance committees since 2020, and was elected to the CAP and MPT boards in 2021.

Gracie-Ann E. Dinkins, MD, is a trauma and acute care surgeon based in Lynwood, California. She completed her undergraduate degree at Cal State University Dominguez Hills with a B.A. in Chemistry and earned her medical degree in 1991 from UC Irvine. She received an honors research fellowship from Charles Drew University in Los Angeles, California, where she completed her internship and residency in General and Trauma Surgery in 1999. During the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, competing as a track and field athlete for Liberia, Dr. Dinkins set a national Olympic record for 400 meters which still holds today. Dr. Dinkins is the founder of the Kutoa Afrika Foundation, a non-profit created to respond to communities in crisis. She joined CAP in 2000 and has served on the Member Engagement and Education Committee and is the current chair of the CAP and MPT Audit Committee.

Steve E. Kasper, MD, was born and raised in Alhambra, California, and has an active solo practice in Glendale, California. He earned a B.S. from the University of Southern California in Psychobiology and received his medical degree from the Keck School of Medicine of USC in 1988. Dr. Kasper completed his residency in family practice at Glendale Adventist Medical Center and served as chief resident in his final year before graduating in 1991. From 2010 to 2011, he was appointed by the United States State Department as the Regional Medical Officer at the United States Embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. In 2021, Dr. Kasper was selected to serve as chair of MPT’s Family Medicine Peer Review Committee and Physician Closed Claims Review Committee. In 2023, Dr. Kasper was elected to the CAP Board of Directors and MPT Board of Trustees.

Lisa Thomsen, MD, FAAFP, is a Glendora-based board-certified family practitioner. In 1987, Dr. Thomsen graduated from the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine and completed her residency training at the University of Southern California-PIH Family Medicine Residency Program. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians and was recognized as Physician of the Year in 2010 by the Citrus Valley Health Partners (CVHP). Dr. Thomsen was chair of the Cooperative of American Physicians Insurance Company (CAPIC) until 2023. She has participated on the MPT Risk Assessment Peer Review Committee and served on the CAP Member Engagement and Education Committee and the CAP and MPT Litigation Advisory Committee. She is a current member of the CAP and MPT Nominating and Governance Committee. Dr. Thomsen was elected to the CAP Board of Directors in 2011 and has served on the MPT Board of Trustees since 2019.