Member Interest Group Leaders

Cardiology

To connect cardiologists and clinicians who are dedicated to using lifestyle medicine for primary and secondary prevention of coronary artery disease.

Chair
David Smith, MD, DipABLM

Co-Chair
Koushik Reddy, MD, DipABLM

Secretary

Tomasz W. Deptuch, MD, PhD, DipABLM

Clinical Practice Management

To support the American College of Lifestyle Medicine mission to educate, equip, and empower members with the application of emerging research and improve practice efficiency by disseminating clinical and operational tools that extend Lifestyle as Medicine practice.

Chair
Joe Raphael, DrPH, MBA, LMFT, MACLP, HAPM, CHES, FACLM

Co-Chair
Meagan Grega, MD, FACLM, DipABLM

Secretary
Cheryl True, MD, FACLM, DipABLM

Geriatric

To create a repository of information, research, and patient materials on a variety of subjects as they relate to our geriatric population. These resources can be utilized by clinicians, educators, and patients to produce better, more desired health outcomes.

Co-Chair
Molly Deaton, MBA, CLME

Co-Chair
Kempe Ames, MD, MPP

Secretary

Happiness Science and Positive Health

To promote the science behind the reinforcing nature of positive activities (positive psychology-based habits), healthy lifestyles, and well-being; and to advocate for positive activities as an additional pillar of lifestyle medicine.

Chair
Liana Lianov, MD, DipABLM

Co-Chair

Maggie Grueskin, E-RYT200®, YACEP®

Secretary

Health & Wellness Coaches

The mission of the ACLM Health & Wellness Coaches Member Interest Group is to promote the widespread integration of qualified health and wellness coaches within the lifestyle medicine team by increasing awareness among healthcare providers and their patients about the role and scope of practice of health and wellness coaches.

Chair
Jessica Matthews, DBH, NBC-HWC

Co-Chair

Bri Sercu, MS, NBC-HWC

Secretary

Health Equity Achieved Through Lifestyle Medicine (HEAL)

To build a community that educates, empowers and encourages its members to sustain health equity within the underprivileged communities they serve. 

Co-Chair
Marsha-Gail Davis, MD

Co-Chair
Theresa Stone, MD

Secretary

Erin Sinnaeve, NP 

Health Systems

To support and empower ACLM members to establish financially viable, evidence-based Lifestyle Medicine outpatient and inpatient clinics.

Chair
Sal Lacagnina, DO, DipABLM

Co-Chair
Bonnie Coyle, MD, MS 

Secretary

LM Fitness and Medicine

To connect medical professionals (and their patients) with qualified fitness professionals across the U.S., to increase awareness among medical professionals on the importance of resistance training for the prevention and management/reversal of medical maladies, to create educational content for both medical and fitness professionals as a primary way to bridge the gap, via breaking down the "language barrier" that exists between fitness and healthcare.

Chair
Jeff Young, Kinesiologist, CSCS, ACSM-EIM

Co-Chair
Jon Bonnet, MD, MPH, CAQSM, FAAFP

Secretary
TBD

LM for Cancer

To advance the study and use of evidence-based Lifestyle Medicine principles for both the treatment and prevention of cancer.  We believe evidence-based Lifestyle Medicine should be widely accessible to all cancer patients and the clinicians who take care of them, to optimize treatment-outcomes as well as improve prognosis and quality of life. 

Chair
Dianne Johnson, MD, DipABLLM

Co-Chair
Walter Tsang, MD, DipABLM

Secretary
Kara Mosesso, ANP-BC

LM in the Workplace

To build a community that: educates and promotes the value of lifestyle medicine in the workplace; inspires leaders to implement policies, programs, tools, services, and benefits that shape the physical environment and foster healthy behaviors; and continues to enhance and develop the lifestyle medicine in the workplace toolkit, templates, case studies, and resources to model and facilitate efficient implementation in the workplace.

Chair
Lori Lindbergh, PhD, RN, MBA, NBC-HWC 

Co-Chair
Sley Tanigawa Guimaraes, MD

Secretary

Kate Ayoub, PT, DPT, MPH

LM Pre-Professional Education

To convene those spearheading the development and integration of LM curriculum in undergraduate education, and those interested in doing so, for the purpose of sharing resources and best practices, establishing standards for LM undergraduate education, and supporting and amplifying one another's efforts.

Co-Chair
Michelle Tollefson, MD, FACOG, DipABLM

Co-Chair
Beth Frates, MD, FACLM, DipABLM

Secretary

Tiffani Harris-Nelson

Mental and Behavioral Health

To bring together behavioral health professionals from different backgrounds & specialties who are interested and/or trained in working with their patients from a Lifestyle Medicine framework, for an overall wholistic approach to well-being on an individual, community and society level.

Chair
Liliane Mavridara, MA, DipACLM

Co-Chair

Secretary
Alyssa Vela, PhD, LP, DipACLM

Pediatric - Adolescent 

To integrate lifestyle medicine in all aspects of pediatric and adolescent care to prevent and treat chronic disease and ensure the lifelong success of children and their families.

Chair
Michelle Dalal, MD, DipABLM

Co-Chair
Neeta Agarwal, MD

Secretary

Saurav Kayastha, MD

Pharmacist

To increase awareness of pharmacist role in Lifestyle Medicine, to stimulate pharmacist interest in Lifestyle Medicine and membership to American College of Lifestyle Medicine, advance pharmacy practice in Lifestyle Medicine.

Chair
Amanda Zelek, PharmD

Co-Chair
Denise Fields, PharmD, PhD

Secretary 
Sneha Srivastava, PharmD, BCACP, CDE, DipACLM

Physical/Occupational Therapy

The mission of the PT/OT Group is to promote evidence-based Lifestyle Medicine principles in physical/occupational therapy practice and curriculum with the vision and goal of increased utilization of PT’s/OT’s as integral members of the lifestyle medicine team in the prevention, treatment and reversal of chronic conditions.

Chair
Wendy Price, PT, DPT, MS, WCS, DipACLM, CHWC, NCPT

Co-Chair
Ginger Garner, PT, DPT, ATC/L

Co-Chair
Erin Phillips, OTD, MSOT, OTR/L, CLCP, CYT

Physician Assistant

To support ACLM’s team-based efforts, vision and goals while promoting increased utilization of PAs as part of the lifestyle medicine team. Additionally, the PA Work Group seeks to promote the incorporation of lifestyle medicine education in PA school curriculums.

Chair
Sheila Hautbois, PA-C, MPH, CHES®

Co-Chair
Tyler Sommer, MPAS, PA-C

Co-Chair
Miggy Scott, PA

Registered Dietitian Nutritionist

To use evidence-based nutritional methods to empower, educate and support the movement toward optimal health through Whole Foods Plant-Based nutrition with the collaboration of other healthcare practitioners in promoting behavior and lifestyle change toward the prevention, treatment, and reversal of chronic conditions.

Chair
Kayli Anderson, MS, RDN

Co-Chair
Denise Normandin, RDN

Secretary
Sherry Valente, MS, RDN, LD, CDCES, DipACLM

Registered Nurse / Advanced Practice Registered Nurse

To support RNs and APRNs in the use of evidence-based Lifestyle Medicine principles in nursing practice and to advance the cause of Lifestyle Medicine in the nursing profession through ACLM membership, networking, education, certification, publications, and presentations.

Chair
Kelly Freeman, MSN, AGPCNP-BC, DipACLM

Co-Chair
Deborah Chielli, MSN, RN, NP-C, DipACLM

Secretary
Loureen Downes, Ph.D., APRN, FNP-BC, FAANP

Reimbursement

To develop an evidence-based roadmap that highlights best practices for LM reimbursement.

Chair
John Gobble, DrPH, RDN, LD, FACLM

Co-Chair
Meagan Grega, MD, DipABLM

Secretary

Sleep

To educate ACLM members and those they serve on the importance of sleep health within Lifestyle Medicine and the impact that sleep has on overall health. 

Chair
Olusegun Apata, MD, FCCP, FAASM

Co-Chair

Mark G. Goetting, MD

Secretary

Ifeoma Monye, MD

Veterans Affairs/Dept of Defense

To unite DoD/VA thought leaders who are interested in building, bridging, and expanding Lifestyle Medicine efforts world wide through collaboration

Co-Chair
Michele Blair, DO, MPH, DipABLM

Co-Chair
Mary Anne Kiel, MD, DipABLM

Secretary 
Brenda Hoy, PA, DipACLM

Women's Health

To convene those spearheading the advancement of women’s health lifestyle medicine education and practices, for the purpose of sharing resources and best practices, supporting and amplifying one another's efforts, and advancing the health of women across their lifespan through evidence-based lifestyle medicine.

Co-Chair
Michelle Tollefson,  MD, FACOG, DipABLM

Co-Chair
Cindy Geyer, MD, ABIM, ABOIM, DipABLM

Co-Chair 
John McHugh, MD, FACOG, DipABLM

Cardiology Chair, David Smith, MD, DipABLM

Dr. Smith attended Medical School at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida before completing his Internship in Internal Medicine. Afterwards, he completed his Residency in Internal Medicine and Fellowship in Cardiology at Emory University Hospitals in Atlanta, Georgia.

His certifications include the American Board of Internal Medicine in Cardiovascular Disease, Internal Medicine, and Comprehensive Adult Echocardiography, as well as the Certification Board of Nuclear Cardiology. His special interests include Consultative Cardiology and Cardiac Catheterization, and he is licensed as an Authorized User of Nuclear Imaging. He currently practices at Southern Medical Group, P.A., and holds privileges at Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare.

The American Board of Lifestyle Medicine (ABLM) announced in November 2017 that Dr. David W. Smith was among the 204 physicians who became the first to be certified as Diplomates of the ABLM/American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM). 

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Cardiology Co-Chair, Koushik Reddy, MD, DipABLM

Dr. Reddy is the director of interventional cardiology at the James A. Haley VA Medical Center. He completed his cardiology and interventional cardiology training from Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, NY in 2007. He is board certified in general cardiology, interventional cardiology, and lifestyle medicine. For the past 12 years, Dr. Reddy has worked at the VA hospital in Tampa, FL and has been affiliated with the University of South Florida. He served as the assistant program director for general cardiology fellowship and has won many teaching awards. Five years ago, he changed his focus towards preventive cardiology and has been promoting lifestyle medicine and whole foods plant-based diets to prevent, treat and reverse chronic diseases. He is the founding Co-Chair of ACLM’s VHA and Armed Forces Working Group. In addition, he is a member of American College of Cardiology’s Working Group on Lifestyle and Nutrition.

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Cardiology Secretary, Tomasz W. Deptuch MD, PhD, DipIBLM

Dr. Deptuch has been working in an interventional cardiology field in Poland for 20+ years, initially in the National Institue of Cardiology in Warsaw-Anin, PL and currently, for the last 7 years, in the Center of Cardiology in Jozefow, PL. He also took additional training in cardiology in San Antonio Endovascular Heart Institute, TX and Solihull Hospital, Birmingham, UK. Apart form clinical and interventonal experience, he has been engaged in numerous research activities, as well as many clinical trials, including landmark ones, e.g. Taxus II, SYNTAX. He earned his PhD in cardiology in 2007. Earlier in his carrier he served as a Secretary and Treasurer of The Association of Cardiovascular Interventions in the Polish Cardiac Society. Within the last couple of years Dr. Deptuch turned to lifestyle medicine, gradually introducing it’s principles into his life and practice. He is a member ACLM and the Polish Society of Lifestyle Medicine and a Lifestyle Medicine Board Certified Physician.

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Clinical Practice Management Chair, Joe Raphael, DrPH, MBA, LMFT, MACLP, HAPM, CHES, FACLM

Joe Raphael, DrPH, FACLM, MBA, MA, LMFT, CHES, HAPM, is an Integrative Lifestyle Medicine specialist. He earned his BA and BS from St. Mary’s College, Moraga, his MA in Clinical Psychology from Pepperdine University, an MBA in Healthcare Administration from Loma Linda University, and a DrPH Preventive Care Specialty from Loma Linda University. He is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. He is an American College of Lifestyle Medicine Fellow, a Certified Health Education Specialist, and a board-certified Holistic Alternative Psychology Master.

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Clinical Practice Management Co-Chair, Meagan Grega, MD, FACLM, DipABLM

Meagan L. Grega, MD, is the Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Kellyn Foundation (www.kellyn.org), a 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to making the Healthy Choice the Easy Choice. Kellyn provides school-based healthy lifestyle education and “Garden as a Classroom” programs; supports access to nutrient-dense produce via the Eat Real Food Mobile Market and Lehigh Valley Corner Store Initiative; engages participants in hands-on, plant-based cooking classes in community settings and offers intensive therapeutic lifestyle change interventions for individuals and families. She is a summa cum laude graduate of Bucknell University with a B.S. in Biochemistry/Cell Biology and earned her MD degree from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School.

Dr. Grega spent several years as a medical officer in the United States Navy, attaining the rank of Lieutenant Commander before resigning from active duty service. She is currently the Managing Director of Llantrisant Retreat and Wellness Center (www.llantrisantretreat.com), the home of Kellyn Foundation. She regularly lectures on the topics of lifestyle medicine at universities, hospital Grand Rounds, medical residency programs and community forums. She is a member of the True Health Initiative Council of Directors, the ACLM Speaker’s Bureau and serves as a member of several national task force groups dedicated to the expansion of evidence-based lifestyle medicine services.

Dr. Grega is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and is board certified in both Family Medicine and Lifestyle Medicine. Child/Family health in general, and the obesity epidemic in particular, are issues in which Dr.Grega has had a long-standing interest. She believes the benefits of regular exercise, adequate sleep, supportive social connections, healthy food choices and the art of balance are the keys to improving our children’s future, as well as our own. Towards that end, she is committed to finding practical solutions that can be implemented by families and communities to strengthen each other physically, emotionally and spiritually.

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Clinical Practice Management Secretary, Cheryl True, MD, FACLM, DipABLM

Cheryl True, MD, is a board-certified Family Physician with a passion for Lifestyle Medicine. She is a graduate of Augustana College, the University of Iowa College of Medicine and did her residency in Family Medicine at the Genesis Family Medicine Residency Program. She was in private practice in a family medicine setting for 10 years before pursuing a Lifestyle Medicine focused practice.

In addition to medical training she is also a certified Wellcoaches-Health and Wellness Coach, a CHIP (Complete Health Improvement Program) Facilitator, and has completed the T. Collin Campbell Plant-Based Nutrition Certificate. She is a group leader for her Heartland Rooted PlantPure Pod group, and has an upcoming Walk With a Doc chapter in the works. She is a member of the AAFP, AMA, ACLM, IMS, and SCMS.

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Geriatric Chair, Molly Deaton, MBA, CLME

Molly is managing partner/program director for Profound Heath Solutions, LLC. Profound Health solutions seeks to improve quality of life for our aging population by educating and inspiring toward better movement, nutrition awareness (plant-based), sleep hygiene, clarity of mind, pain management or reduction, diminution of stress, and increased energy. They offer a nationally recognized diabetes prevention program, CHIP, and other custom programs which address chronic disease, fall, and frailty risks within the geriatric niche. Profound Health Solutions LLC has obtained national recognition from the Center of Disease Control and Prevention and is a Women Business Enterprise. Molly approaches helping clients rediscover their profound meaning and purpose in life with great fervor. She has been a guest on radio, has been invited for speaking engagements and she serves as a board member for the Indiana Geriatrics Society. She is founder and co-chair of the geriatric member interest group within ACLM.

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Geriatric Co-Chair, Kempe Ames, MD, MPP

I am a hospice and palliative care physician with an interest in lifestyle medicine. I have a passionate belief that people can make the right health choices for themselves if they are aware of their choices. My interests include care of those with chronic conditions and the community living elderly, as well as trauma-informed care. My continued education is directed towards understanding the causes of suffering, illness, and health in our society. Current board certifications include Family Medicine and Hospice and Palliative Care Medicine with a goal of board certification in Lifestyle Medicine Fall 2020.

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Happiness Science and Positive Health Chair, Liana Lianov, MD, DipABLM

Dr. Liana Lianov chairs the Happiness Science MIG, as well as the Happiness Science and Positive Health (HSPH) Committee of American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM). The committee members are actively involved in specific projects, such as planning conferences and writing papers. The interest group is a larger group that shares information and champions the cause of promoting positive activities as an element of a healthy lifestyle and positive psychology strategies into health care.

The committee convened the inaugural Summit on Happiness Science in Health Care in 2018 to address strategies for integrating positive psychology and well-being interventions into health care. Dr. Lianov is a leader in the international lifestyle medicine movement, including spearheading the development of lifestyle medicine core competencies for health providers by a national blue ribbon panel and serving as lead faculty for the first of its kind comprehensive lifestyle medicine curriculum. She is the vice-chair of the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine and a past president of ACLM and has served on the boards of both ACLM and the American College of Preventive Medicine. She continues to lead the expansion of lifestyle medicine, emphasizing the key role of positive psychology in the field. Previously, Dr. Lianov worked at the California Department of Health Services in a variety of public health and health care programs, including expansion of mental health services. She is board certified in internal medicine and preventive medicine and completed a psychiatry fellowship.

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Health & Wellness Coaches Chair, Jessica Matthews, DBH, NBC-HWC

Dr. Matthews is assistant professor and director of the Master of Kinesiology in Integrative Wellness program at Point Loma Nazarene University. An award-winning educator, she has developed and implemented graduate degree and professional certificate programs at several colleges in southern California, in addition to creating and teaching a variety of graduate courses in areas such as lifestyle medicine and integrative health. A national board-certified health and wellness coach (NBC-HWC), Dr. Matthews serves as director of integrative health coaching at UC San Diego in the Centers for Integrative Health. She is also the lead author and editor of the textbook, The Professional’s Guide to Health and Wellness Coaching.

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Health & Wellness Coaches Co-Chair, Bri Sercu, MS, NBC-HWC

Bri is a recent graduate of Point Loma Nazarene University’s M.S. Kinesiology- Integrative Wellness program—an approved health and wellness coach training and education program by the National Board for Health and Wellness Coaching (NBHWC). She is looking forward to sitting for the national board exam in February 2020. Bri has a background in physical fitness, sports medicine, and biomedical and biomechanical research. She is most passionate about combatting chronic stress in all populations. She is grateful to have found purpose in helping others in all areas of her work, and is excited to work alongside other professionals to advance the field of lifestyle medicine.

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Health Equity Achieved Through Lifestyle Medicine (HEAL) Chair, Marsha-Gail Davis, MD

Dr. Marsha-Gail Davis is a primary care internist and preventionist who desires only to see her patients and community living well. Her mission is simply to help her patients preserve their health and prevent the burden of chronic diseases that causes significant suffering and early death, especially in communities that are most ravaged by the impact of chronic disease. Her interest is in making prevention the priority and making prevention popular by creatively incorporating lifestyle medicine into primary care and community interventions. She hails originally from the beautiful island of Jamaica. She received her MD from the University of California, San Diego and completed her residency in the Yale Primary Care Residency Program. She is currently completing additional training in the UCSD Preventive Medicine Residency Program while serving in the role of Chief Resident.

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Health Equity Achieved Through Lifestyle Medicine (HEAL) Co-Chair, Theresa Stone, MD

As Co-founder and medical director of the Fresh & Savory Culinary and Lifestyle Medicine Shared Medical Appointment program at MedStar Health in Washington, D.C. Fresh & Savory is a MedStar Institute for Innovation (MI2) program designed to introduce patients, students, and associates to culinary and living skills that promote longevity and well-being. The work of the Fresh & Savory team has been featured on Fox 5 DC WTTG-TV. Dr. Stone enjoyed completing the Institute of Lifestyle Medicine CHEF coaching certification and advanced training in Mind Body Medicine at Harvard Benson Henry Institute. Her current work focuses on several lifestyle medicine initiatives including #MedStarWell, an associate resiliency and wellness program; Culinary Medicine workshops for Georgetown University physiology graduate students and students at Georgetown University School of Medicine (where she is also a Mind Body Medicine facilitator); and the expansion of Culinary and Lifestyle programs throughout the MedStar Health system.

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Health Equity Achieved Through Lifestyle Medicine (HEAL) Secretary, Erin Sinnaeve, NP

Erin Sinnaeve is a Family Nurse Practitioner at Advocate Medical Group in Aurora, IL specializing in Allergy/Immunology and Lifestyle Medicine. Erin received her BSN from University of Nebraska, her MS from Creighton University, and her DNP from Chamberlain University. She is an instructor at Chamberlain University teaching graduate Population Health and Epidemiology. She has a passion for health and disease prevention through practicing evidence-based lifestyle medicine. She works to support the development of new, and the expansion of existing initiatives and partnerships to address health inequities.

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Health Systems Chair, Sal Lacagnina, DO, DipABLM

Dr. Salvatore Lacagnina is the vice president of Health and Wellness for Lee Memorial Health System. In this role, his mission is to motivate, educate and empower people to improve their health and wellness. He currently is responsible for developing a comprehensive employee health and wellness program for more than 10,500 employees in the system. He is also medical director for Lee Memorial Health System Wellness Centers and medical director of Employee Health Services. Previously, he was in an internal medicine practice with Lee Physician Group and was the medical director for Lee Physician Group until 2010. His emphasis was on prevention and wellness, disease management, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and risk factor reduction. Dr. Lacagnina earned his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine, and he is board certified in internal medicine. Dr. Sal writes a weekly column about health and wellness in The News-Press and a monthly column for the Cape Coral Chamber of Commerce Trends publication.

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Health Systems Co-Chair, Bonnie Coyle, MD, MS

Bonnie S. Coyle, MD, MS is Board-Certified in both Preventive Medicine and Lifestyle Medicine.  She has worked in the field of public health for nearly 30 years.  She is the Chair of Community Health and Preventive Medicine for St. Luke’s University Health Network, where she has worked for over 20 years.  In her role at St. Luke’s she has successfully grown the community health department to serve eleven hospital campuses, securing more than $6 million/year from national, state and local agencies and donors to support initiatives. Along with staff she spearheads the completion of the ACA mandated Community Health Needs Assessments and community partnership development across all regions served by St. Luke’s. She is an Associate Professor at Temple St. Luke’s Medical School, serving on the medical school admissions committee and as the lead physician for HEARTS clinic, a medical student-run free care clinic.  She is also an Adjunct Professor at Lehigh University for the past eight years, teaching public health classes for undergraduate students, and serving as internship and volunteer preceptor for numerous Lehigh undergraduate and graduate students annually.  Most recently, she is leading efforts to implement a Lifestyle Medicine Service Line at St. Luke’s and implementation of the LMRC into the new Anderson Family Practice and Internal Medicine Residency Programs.  She graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a BS in Nutrition, received her MD degree from Thomas Jefferson University, earned an MS in Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine from University of Maryland, and completed a Health Services Research Fellowship at UMDNJ – Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. She is a member of several national public health/preventive medicine professional societies, including APTR, ACPM, ACLM and APHA, and has received numerous state and national awards for her community health work at SLUHN.  Her areas of interest and expertise are Chronic Disease Prevention, Lifestyle Medicine, Access to Care and Health Equity.

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LM Fitness and Medicine Chair, Jeff Young, Kinesiologist, CSCS, ACSM-EIM

Jeff is a Kinesiologist, Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS), American College of Sports Medicine Exercise is Medicine credentialed (ACSM-EIM), and previously held the USA Weightlifting Sports Performance Coach certification (USAW). A National Authority on Exercise Prescription for People With Chronic Disease and/or Musculoskeletal Issues

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LM Fitness and Medicine Co-Chair, Jon Bonnet, MD, MPH, CAQSM, FAAFP

Jonathan Bonnet is a board-certified Family, Sports, and Obesity medicine physician with a master’s degree in public health from Harvard.  He works as a Sports Medicine physician at Emory University and at the Atlanta VA Medical Center. Jonathan has a background in exercise physiology and is also a certified personal trainer.  He completed his undergraduate and medical school studies at Ohio State University before finishing his Family Medicine residency at Duke University, and his Sports Medicine Fellowship at the University of Florida.  Jonathan served on the board of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine from 2014-2016 and is currently on the editorial board of the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine.  He has published research in sleep medicine, nutrition, sports and exercise, obesity, and behavior change.  He has been a teaching assistant at the Harvard Extension School and helped teach Duke University’s Prevention Course Workshop for medical students.  He has received numerous awards, including teaching awards from Duke University’s Family Medicine Department and from the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine.  Jonathan has a passion for health promotion and disease prevention and literally “walks the walk” with his patients through his involvement with the nonprofit organization, Walk With A Doc.

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LM Fitness and Medicine Co-Chair, Wendy Price, PT, DPT, MS, WCS, DipACLM, CHWC, NCPT

Dr. Wendy Farnen Price is a physical therapist, board-certified Women’s Health Clinical Specialist and Lifestyle Medicine Professional. Over her 25- year career, she has come to recognize the critical importance a healthy lifestyle plays in improving or preventing chronic diseases, cancer or pain. As co-chair of the Fitness, Rehab & Medicine Lifestyle Medicine Group for ACLM, she aims to help bridge clinical gaps in care so patients can maximize function and progress towards optimal health and well-being. Dr. Price is working to include lifestyle medicine and health coaching into physical therapy practice. She believes the physical therapy profession is perfectly positioned to be community experts in lifestyle management delivery and is most qualified to provide exercise and movement activities. Dr. Price is pursuing her Health and Wellness Coaching Certification through Wellcoaches. She served on the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) Board of Directors, Oncology Section and continues to serve as an active member of the APTA’s Women’s Health, Oncology, and Private Practice Sections and the Council on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Wellness.

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LM for Cancer Chair, Dianne Johnson, MD, DipABLM

BIOHERE

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LM for Cancer Co-Chair, Walter Tsang, MD, DipABLM

Dr. Tsang is a board certified medical oncologist, hematologist and lifestyle medicine physician. He provides both conventional cancer care and integrative oncology consultation. He practices in Redlands, CA. 

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LM for Cancer Secretary,  Kara Mosesso, ANP-BC

I am a board certified adult health nurse practitioner with 10 years of clinical experience. I hold additional certifications as an advanced oncology certified nurse practitioner (AOCNP), as a diplomate of the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine and as a health coach. I am particularly interested in the applications of behavior science and lifestyle medicine for reversing and managing cardiometabolic disease and the long-term side effects of cancer treatment and in leveraging technology to shift the current paradigm of healthcare care to one that is more convenient, accessible, cost-effective, person-centered and prevention-focused. I currently hold active NP licenses in New York and California.

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LM in the Workplace Chair, Lori Lindbergh, PhD, RN, MBA, NBC-HWC

Lori Lindbergh, PhD, RN, MBA, NBC-HWC is a creative and innovative industrial/organizational psychologist, national board-certified health and wellness coach, Mayo Clinic certified wellness coach, and Lifestyle Medicine wellness professional. She is the owner of LORIUS Lifestyle, an organization committed to motivating and inspiring leaders to embark on their own health and lifestyle transitions, and then role-model and bring lifestyle medicine into their organizations. Her client-focused, wellness consulting and coaching approach aligns with her proprietary lifestyle practices behavior change maturity model and incorporates evidence-based assessments and transition activities to build new habits and sustain effective lifestyle behavioral changes.

Lori holds a PhD in Industrial/Organizational Psychology, a Master's degree in Business Administration and started her career as a Registered Nurse. She has held leadership positions in healthcare, performance consulting and learning development, and has coached leaders at all levels of the organization. She specializes in leadership wellness transition and organizational wellness culture transformation aligned with a whole food, plant-based lifestyle and the practices promoted by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM). Lori integrates evidence-based assessments and practices, adult-learning activities, and wellness coaching standards into her programs to ensure effective health behavior change, healthy habit formation and sustained motivation and home and at work.

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LM in the Workplace Co-Chair, Sley Tanigawa Guimaraes, MD

BIOHERE

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LM Pre-Professional Education Co-Chair, Michelle Tollefson, MD, FACOG, DipABLM

Dr. Michelle Tollefson is board certified in lifestyle medicine as well as obstetrics and gynecology with expertise encompassing lifestyle medicine across the female lifespan. For over a decade she has been involved with the lifestyle medicine and wellness coaching movements through the ACLM, the Harvard Institute of Lifestyle Medicine as guest faculty, and as a wellness coach. She currently co-chairs both the Women’s Health as well as the Pre-Professional Lifestyle Medicine Education Member Interest Groups for ACLM while also serving on the ACLM Education and Conference Planning Committees. Dr. Tollefson was previously the Medical Director of Women’s Wellness Education for a Colorado health system and in full time clinical practice and now volunteers at a non-profit clinic where she practices lifestyle medicine focused women’s health care. As an associate professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver, she developed and oversees the bachelor’s level Lifestyle Medicine major and minor as well as the Wellness Coaching curriculum. Dr. Tollefson lectures nationwide on a variety of topics related to lifestyle medicine and women’s health and is passionate about optimizing women’s health across the lifespan.

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LM Pre-Professional Education Co-Chair, Beth Frates, MD, FACLM, DipABLM

Beth Frates, MD, FACLM, DipABLM, is trained as a physiatrist and a health and wellness coach. Her expertise is in lifestyle medicine, and she works to empower patients to reach their optimal level of wellness by adopting healthy habits. Elected to the Board of Directors of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) in 2016, Dr. Frates is helping to shape the scope of this new specialty. She is an award-winning teacher at Harvard Medical School and developed and taught a college lifestyle medicine curriculum at the Harvard Extension School, which is one of the most popular courses offered at the school. As the Director of Wellness Programming at the Stroke Institute for Research and Recovery at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Dr. Frates has created and implemented a twelve-month wellness program for stroke survivors and their caregivers. She is co-author of the book, Life After Stroke: The Guide to Recovering Your Health and Preventing Another Stroke and co-author of three chapters on behavior change in different medical textbooks, and multiple journal articles on lifestyle medicine topics including exercise prescription, connection prescription, lifestyle medicine case series, and walking meeting for sustained weight loss. She shared a lifestyle medicine syllabus, which can be downloaded through the ACLM website, in hopes that her work can serve as a template for other instructors and professors hoping to teach a course in lifestyle medicine. Dr. Frates is the co-author of the Lifestyle Medicine Handbook: An Introduction to the Power of Healthy Habits. For the past 9 years, Dr. Frates has been the faculty advisor for the Lifestyle Medicine Interest Group at Harvard Medical School, and she works with the Professionals In Training (PiT) group at ACLM to help create more LMIGs in medical schools and other health care professional training schools. Dr. Frates is passionate about developing programs focused on lifestyle medicine and wellness.

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LM Pre-Professional Education Secretary, Gia Merlo MD, MBA, DipABLM

Gia Merlo is Clinical Professor of Nursing, and Senior Advisor on Wellness at New York University (NYU). She is also Clinical Professor of Psychiatry in the NYU Grossman School of Medicine and Adjunct Professor at Rice University. Merlo’s interests include medical professionalism, wellness, and lifestyle medicine. Dr. Merlo is active on multiple national professional organizations including secretary of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) Pre-professional Member Interest Group (LMPP), as well as chair of the LMPP Mentoring & Outreach and Curriculum subcommittees. In 2020, she was elected to the Board of Directors of Plant Powered Metro New York after serving on the Advisory Medical Board in 2019. Prior to joining NYU, Merlo was Associate Dean of Health Professions, Professor in the Practice, and Founding Director of the Medical Professionalism Program at Rice University since 2014. She also taught medical students, residents, and fellows at Baylor College of Medicine, where she was a 2017-19 Master Teacher Fellow. In addition, she provided clinical supervision of the child and adolescent psychiatry fellows at Texas Children’s Hospital medical home located at Corinthian Pointe in Houston. In the past, she served on the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. In 2018, Merlo was chosen as one of the Houston’s 50 Most Influential Women by Houston Woman Magazine.

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Mental and Behavioral Health Chair, Liliane Mavridara, MA

Liliane synthesizes an eclectic educational background with diverse industry experience and hands-on professional expertise in the areas of transpersonal psychology, personal development, mind-body health, conscious living, and women’s holistic well-being.  As an avid traveler, student of life and observer of human nature across life cycles and transitions, and within diverse communities in US and Europe, Liliane brings a down-to-earth approach and resourceful mindset in her roles as a writer, mentor, group facilitator and educator. In her current work focus, Liliane consults and collaborates on projects that educate on the impact of nature and climate change on our health and emotional/mental wellbeing, and the importance of green living and lifestyle choices that are good for us and our planet. Liliane is the author of Live Brightly, A Spiritual Guide For Women: How To Move From Dissatisfaction And Loneliness To Integrity, Joy And Right Relations (2010), and of “The Way We Love Now, A Poetic Trilogy Capturing The Heart’s Journey To Find True Love (2013).” She has also published numerous works on personal development and holistic living for print and online media. As an active member of ACLM, Liliane is Chair of the Mental & Behavioral Health MIG, Co-Chair of the Mentoring & Outreach Subcommittee-LMPP Education MIG, Co-Chair of the Menopause Subcommittee-Women’s Health MIG, and an Advisory member of the ACLM Physician and Health Professionals Well-Being Program.

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Mental and Behavioral Health Secretary, Alyssa Vela, PhD, LP

Dr. Vela is a clinical health psychologist working in cardiac behavioral medicine at Northwestern Medicine and an assistant professor of surgery and psychiatry and Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. Alyssa joined the leadership team of the Mental & Behavioral Health Member Interest Group (MIG) soon after the group was formed, and as the secretary, works closely with the co-chairs to develop and grow this burgeoning group. Our efforts include addressing the role of, and attention to, mental and behavioral health within the context of lifestyle medicine, as well as to advocating for the role of allied health providers in this work. We are currently focused on growing the MIG's membership, developing regularly-scheduled and openly-available meetings to support the mental wellbeing of lifestyle medicine providers, and considering ways to encourage further discussion and integration of mental and behavioral health within lifestyle medicine.

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Pediatric - Adolescent Chair, Michelle Dalal, MD, DipABLM

Michelle Dalal is a Pediatrician working at Reliant Medical Group in Milford, MA. She is also Board Certified in Pediatrics and Lifestyle Medicine. She is Associate Professor of Pediatrics at U Mass Memorial Medical School. She is also ACLM’s Chair of the Pediatric and Adolescent Lifestyle Medicine Working Group. Other roles include Massachusetts Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatric (MCAAP) Chapter ORal Health Advocate and MCAAP Delegate to the Massachusetts Medical Society. At Reliant Medical Group, she chairs the Pediatric Behavioral Health Workgroup. The most recent endeavours include educating medical residents and the community about plant- based eating.

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Pediatric - Adolescent Co-Chair, Neeta Agarwal, MD

BIOHERE

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Pediatric - Adolescent Secretary, Saurav Kayastha, MD

Saurav Kayastha, MD, born and raised in The Himalayan country called Nepal. He has always had a firm belief that lifestyle changes should always be the first prescriptions for any chronic diseases. After earning his MD degree from Lugansk State Medical University, Ukraine and currently, he has been practicing as an Assistant Physician in the state of Missouri for over 3 years.

Dr. Kayastha's primary focus has always been in serving the underserved and rural areas as they are the most vulnerable populations, the least paid attention for health care accessibility hence leading to poor health outcomes. During his practice, he has also struggled with the patient in terms of medication compliance, tired of treating the symptoms, not the root cause. He wants to implement lifestyle medicine and educate the patient about it as he believes it is cheap and the most effective way to manage diseases like HTN, Diabetes, HPL, Obesity, and often times mental illness.

His future plan is to open his own DPC (Direct Primary Care) practice with lifestyle medicine integrated. He also plans to take board certifications soon.

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Pharmacist Chair, Amanda Zelek, PharmD

Amanda Zelek, Pharm.D., is an inpatient pharmacist at Lee Health in Fort Myers, Florida. She received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Toledo, and completed her Pharmacy Practice Residency at Akron General Medical Center. She has obtained certification from the Society of Infectious Diseases for Antimicrobial Stewardship, from Nova Southeastern University College of Pharmacy for Integrative Nutrition (Practice Model Designed for Pharmacists), from the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies eCornell for Plant-Based Nutrition, and from the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) for Pharmacist and Patient-Centered Diabetes Care as well as for Medication Therapy Management Services. Dr. Zelek became a facilitator for the Complete Health Improvement Program through the Lifestyle Medicine Institute, currently serves as Chair for the American College of Lifestyle Medicine Pharmacist Interest Group, and is looking forward to the further development, integration, and incorporation of Lifestyle Medicine into pharmacy education, research, and practice

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Pharmacist Co-Chair, Denise Fields, PharmD, PhD

Denise Fields, Pharm.D., received her Bachelor of Science degree in Pharmacy from Butler University in 1992. She was a member of the second class at Butler to be offered the option to obtain a Doctor of Pharmacy degree. Dr. Fields did not choose to stay the extra year. She left hospital pharmacy about one year after graduation due to a move to southeastern Indiana. Once a hospital job opened up five years later, she decided to take Doctor of Pharmacy degree classes to refresh her pharmacokinetic and therapeutic knowledge and skills. Dr. Fields ended up completing the non-traditional Doctor of Pharmacy program, graduating in May 2003 from Purdue. Dr. Fields has many years of practical experience, and has continued to enhance her knowledge and skills through certification programs. Dr. Fields currently holds certifications in anticoagulation, diabetes care, immunization, medication therapy management (MTM), and pharmacogenomics. Dr. Fields is President for the ASHP state affiliate, the Indiana Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ISHP). She is also the Vice Chair for the SAG on Small and Rural Hospitals. Dr. Fields is a member of the advisory group for the ASHP Center on Pharmacy Practice Advancement. She was also a delegate to the ASHP House of Delegates this summer (2015) in Denver.

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Pharmacist Secretary, Sneha Srivastava, PharmD, BCACP, CDE, DipACLM

BIOHERE

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Physical/Occupational Therapy Chair, Wendy Price, PT, DPT, MS, WCS, DipACLM, CHWC, NCPT

Dr. Wendy Farnen Price is a physical therapist, board-certified Women’s Health Clinical Specialist and Lifestyle Medicine Professional. Over her 25- year career, she has come to recognize the critical importance a healthy lifestyle plays in improving or preventing chronic diseases, cancer or pain. As co-chair of the Fitness, Rehab & Medicine Lifestyle Medicine Group for ACLM, she aims to help bridge clinical gaps in care so patients can maximize function and progress towards optimal health and well-being. Dr. Price is working to include lifestyle medicine and health coaching into physical therapy practice. She believes the physical therapy profession is perfectly positioned to be community experts in lifestyle management delivery and is most qualified to provide exercise and movement activities. Dr. Price is pursuing her Health and Wellness Coaching Certification through Wellcoaches. She served on the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) Board of Directors, Oncology Section and continues to serve as an active member of the APTA’s Women’s Health, Oncology, and Private Practice Sections and the Council on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Wellness.

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Physical/Occupational Therapy Co-Chair, Ginger Garner, PT, DPT, ATC/L

Dr. Garner is a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill trained doctor of physical therapy (DPT), a licensed athletic trainer (LAT, ATC) professional yoga therapist (PYT), and board certified (DipACLM) in Lifestyle Medicine. She is an international educator who has spent 25 years writing and teaching best evidence Integrative and Lifestyle Medicine practices in healthcare and health promotion. She is the CEO & founder of Living Well Institute, and author of Medical Therapeutic Yoga, published in English and Italian and slated for translation in 3 more foreign languages. She owns and operates EudeMOMia Integrative PT & Lifestyle Medicine, in Greensboro, NC, where she focuses on women's health. Her mission for co-creating the PT/OT MIG is to advocate for policy, education, and interdisciplinary collaboration in order to raise awareness of the vital role of the PT and OT in Integrative & Lifestyle Medicine. Currently Dr. Garner serves as co-chair of the ACLM PT/OT MIG and as the Legislative Chair for the American Physical Therapy Association North Carolina chapter. Her latest projects include launching a CE program for PT and OT in Lifestyle Medicine and co-editing a new book on Lifestyle Medicine. As a mother of three Ginger is a passionate advocate for improving women’s health. She lives in Greensboro, NC with her husband, 3 sons, and rescue pup, Scout.

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Physical/Occupational Therapy Co-Chair, Erin Phillips, OTD, MSOT, OTR/L, CLCP, CYT 

Erin Casey Phillips, is an Associate Professor of Occupational Therapy and Founding Director of the developing Occupational Therapy Program at Carlow University in Pittsburgh, PA. She earned her AB in Biology and her Master of Science in Occupational Therapy from Washington University in St. Louis, and a post-professional Doctorate in Occupational Therapy from St. Catherine University. Her teaching and research are focused on the use of a lifestyle approach, coaching, and person-centered care to enhance interventions in OT education and practice. Her work with the PT_OT MIG is advocating for the promotion of a culture of health through daily lifestyle choices. She is a certified life coach and certified yoga instructor and is working with her MIG co-chairs to promote the role of OT and PT in lifestyle medicine programming. Dr. Phillips is inspired to help guide a new generation of occupational therapists who are committed to healthy occupational patterns for themselves, their clients, and their communities.

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Physician Assistant Chair, Sheila Hautbois, PA-C, MPH, CHES® 

Sheila Hautbois, PA-C, MPH is a Board-Certified Physician Assistant with a Masters in Public Health and many years experience providing screenings, seminars, and health coaching for chronic disease prevention and reversal. She has helped thousands of people improve blood pressure, cholesterol, weight, diabetes, heart disease, energy level, and other health issues. Her lifestyle medicine passions include nutrition, fitness, hydration, nature and fresh air, sunlight, rest and sleep, work-life balance, and mental/spiritual wellbeing. Sheila seeks to improve the health of patients and communities where she lives and works by participating in research and lifelong learning, providing excellent patient-centered care and education, being a positive role model, and offering inspiration and support for patients making healthy behavior changes.

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Physician Assistant Co-Chair, Tyler Sommer, MPAS, PA-C

Tyler Sommer is a Certified Physician Assistant (PA-C) with experience in neurosurgery, emergency medicine, family medicine, and lifestyle medicine. He received a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience before earning his Master of Physician Assistant Studies degree from AT Still University of Health Sciences in Mesa, Arizona. He practiced primarily with Mayo Clinic Health System in Minnesota before joining Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions in 2015 as one of the founding faculty members in the PA program. Tyler currently works full-time as the Academic Director and Associate Program Director of the PA program and thoroughly enjoys working in academia. He practices one day per week in lifestyle medicine. In addition to his work with the RMU PA program and seeing patients, he is also working towards completion of a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree in Health Science, with a concentration in Health Promotion and Wellness. His dissertation is focused on teaching therapeutic lifestyle interventions in medical education. 

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Physician Assistant Co-Chair, Miggy Scott, PA

BIOHERE

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Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Chair, Kayli Anderson, MS, RDN

Kayli Anderson has devoted her career to helping people find peace with food and approach nutrition in a way that maximizes their enjoyment, health, and wellbeing. As a culinary-trained dietitian and Intuitive Eating Counselor, Kayli guides people on their food journey through cooking instruction, mindfulness, and mental health practices. She works with women in all stages of life, athletes, disordered eating, and weight concerns at kaylianderson.com. Kayli is Lead Faculty for the ACLM's Food as Medicine course, the Lifestyle Medicine Residency Curriculum, the Lifestyle Medicine Core Competencies Program, and Subject Matter Expert for the ABLM Review course. Kayli co-authored the nutrition chapters of the Lifestyle Medicine Handbook and Improving Women's Health Across the Lifespan. She is the nutrition consultant for The Plantrician Project and lead author of their Plant-Based Nutrition Quick Start Guide. She earned her B.S. in Nutrition & Dietetics and her M.S. in Nutrition and Physical Performance from Saint Louis University, and now lives in Colorado.

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Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Co-Chair, Denise Normandin, RDN

A passionate advocate, leader and motivator of healthy eating, physical movement, and lifestyle medicine practices to make lives better and improve health. Honored to be named one of the Top 10 Health Promotion Professionals in 2016 by the Wellness Council of America (WELCOA) and Faculty contributor to the WELCOA Life On the Move Monthly curriculum. Would love the present at your next health and wellness event/program! Over 20 years of experience in the health and wellness industry with broad experience in public and organizational systems health improvement. Implemented programs that serve as National best-practice models. Registered and Licensed Dietitian with special interest in sustainable healthy lifestyles that inspires long-term behavior change and well-being.

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Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Secretary, Sherry Valente, MS, RDN, LD, CDCES, DipACLM 

A Certified Lifestyle Medicine Professional wrote a LinkedIn article on the benefits of becoming a lifestyle medicine board certified RD. Contributing author on the Cardiovascular Nutrition topic for the Lifestyle Medicine Residency Curriculum. Representative for Premise Health on the ACLM Corporate Round Table.   I am currently the Product Manager for Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine at Premise Health. In the past year we have worked to develop, plan and now implement the lifestyle medicine approach across our organization.  I have led our lifestyle medicine project and medical advisory board with creativity, knowledge, and dedication to lead the organization in the implementation of an approach that will touch over 4 million members, and over 3500 team members. We now have the most board certified lifestyle medicine professionals of any organization!

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Registered Nurse | Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Chair, Kelly Freeman, MSN, AGPCNP-BC, DipACLM 

Kelly Freeman is faculty at Indiana University School of Nursing and is a health policy PhD student through Indiana University School of Public Health. She founded the ACLM RN/APRN Member Interest Group in 2016. In 2017, she became certified in lifestyle medicine. She is the co-founder and director of clinical operations for Profound Health Solutions LLC, which works to transform lives through proven lifestyle medicine health education programs such as the Diabetes Prevention Program and the Comprehensive Health Improvement Program. Kelly is board certified in adult and geriatric primary care and has an extensive 30-year career working in multiple types of healthcare including acute care, hospice, long-term care, industry, academia, and the military. She was recently elected to an ACLM board of directors position.

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Registered Nurse | Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Co-Chair, Deborah Chielli, MSN, RN, NP-C, DipACLM 

Deborah Chielli is a primary care nurse practitioner at the VA Outpatient Clinic in Jamestown NY, where she is implementing the VA’s Whole Health for Life and empowering veterans with lifestyle medicine’s simple, profound tools.  Board certified in Lifestyle Medicine in 2018, she is honored to serve as co-chair of the RN/APRN MIG. Deborah is passionate about energizing nurses and the public on the healing power of food and lifestyle.   Inspired in high school by Adele Davis, Francis Moore Lappe, and later John Robbins and many others, she has held onto the dream of helping co-create a more humane, sustainable, just, and healthier world for human beings and all those who share it with us.

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Registered Nurse | Advanced Practice Registered Nurse Secretary, Loureen Downes, Ph.D., APRN, FNP-BC, FAANP 

Dr. Loureen Downes is an Associate Professor and the founding Program Director of the Doctor of Nursing Practice Program at Florida Gulf Coast University. She  is a board certified Family Nurse Practitioner with a passion for lifestyle behaviors and chronic disease prevention. She has developed an instrument Motivators and Barriers of Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors which has been used nationally and internationally.  In 2017, Dr. Downes became one of the first nurse practitioners to be certified in Lifestyle Medicine from the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. She has over 33 years of nursing experience in a variety of clinical settings, including primary health care, including  22 years of experience as a nursing eduecator. Dr. Downes is the author of several peer-reviewed articles and has presented regionally and nationally at professional conferences on topics related to lifestyle behaviors.

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Reimbursement Chair, John Gobble, DrPH, RDN, LD, FACLM

John E Gobble is founder and CEO of Lifestyle Medicine Group. Through his team of dietitians and health coaches he brings evidenced based nutrition and lifestyle medicine to primary care practices throughout the Portland, Oregon Metropolitan area. He also built technologies for nutrition professionals to manage and track change while researching the most effective population health improvement modalities. His goal? To improve patient access to effective and sustainable evidenced based lifestyle medicine. Since becoming a member of ACLM in 2005 his contribution to the College has been primarily in deciphering and simplifying the reimbursement process. He currently leads the ACLM Reimbursement Working Group. John earned a Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) in Preventive Care and a Master of Public Health (MPH) in both Public Health Nutrition and Health Education from Loma Linda University School of Public Health. He is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN), a Master Certified Health Education Specialist (MCHES), an American College of Sports Medicine Exercise Physiologist – Certified, and a Certified Intrinsic Coach ®. Most recently, Dr. Gobble became a Fellow and Diplomat of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. Learn more about his practice at LifestyleMedicineInc.com.

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Reimbursement Co-Chair, Meagan Grega, MD, DipABLM

Meagan L. Grega, MD, is the Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Kellyn Foundation (www.kellyn.org), a 501(c)3 non-profit dedicated to making the Healthy Choice the Easy Choice. Kellyn provides school-based healthy lifestyle education and “Garden as a Classroom”programs; supports access to nutrient-dense produce via the Eat Real Food Mobile Market and Lehigh Valley Corner Store Initiative; engages participants in hands-on, plant-based cooking classes in community settings and offers intensive therapeutic lifestyle change interventions for individuals and families. She is a summa cum laude graduate of Bucknell University with a B.S. in Biochemistry/Cell Biology and earned her MD degree from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School. Dr. Grega spent several years as a medical officer in the United States Navy, attaining the rank of Lieutenant Commander before resigning from active duty service. She is currently the Managing Director of Llantrisant Retreat and Wellness Center (www.llantrisantretreat.com), the home of Kellyn Foundation. She regularly lectures on the topics of lifestyle medicine at universities, hospital Grand Rounds, medical residency programs and community forums. She is a member of the True Health Initiative Council of Directors, the ACLM Speaker’s Bureau and serves as a member of several national task force groups dedicated to the expansion of evidence-based lifestyle medicine services. Dr. Grega is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and is board certified in both Family Medicine and Lifestyle Medicine. Child/Family health in general, and the obesity epidemic in particular, are issues in which Dr.Grega has had a long-standing interest. She believes the benefits of regular exercise, adequate sleep, supportive social connections, healthy food choices and the art of balance are the keys to improving our children’s future, as well as our own. Towards that end, she is committed to finding practical solutions that can be implemented by families and communities to strengthen each other physically, emotionally and spiritually.

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Sleep Chair, Olusegun Apata, MD, FCCP, FAASM

Olu is a quadruple board-certified Internist, Pulmonologist, Critical Care & Sleep Specialist. He has a bachelor’s degree in Health Sciences (1st Class Hons / Summa Cum Laude), and a medical degree with distinction in Pathology, from Obafemi Awolowo University, formerly University of Ife, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Dr. Apata is an assistant professor of Medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine and a staff pulmonologist, intensivist and sleep specialist at Methodist Hospitals, NW Indiana and Advocate Trinity, Chicago, where he was Chair of Critical Care Dept.  He has served in leadership positions at several institutions, including Assistant Chair of the Medical Education & Library Committee at Methodist Hospitals, NW Indiana. He is currently Pulmonary & Critical Care Director at several hospitals in Chicago & NW Indiana. Dr Apata is married with 4 adult children and 2 grandchildren. He is actively involved in Community Health, giving presentations, and health motivational speeches. He has written  several community-based articles on Sleep & Respiratory related topics in local publications. Dr. Apata’s motto as a Practitioner is “more restful nights & less breathless days.” He has a passion for helping his clients quit smoking (currently, the #1 preventable cause of death in the U.S,A). He plays an active role in mentoring young doctors and goes on medical missions. He has pledged to facilitate locally led solutions to one of America’s most difficult health problems (hospital re-admissions) and to help keep our roads safe through patient and community engagement in improved sleep health. On the international front, he is actively working with local health care providers in Nigeria in the Sleep Medicine sector. Dr Apata is a recipient of multiple awards and a fellow/member of several professional organizations, including American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP), American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM), American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM), & Association of Nigerian Physicians in the Americas (ANPA). His hobbies include playing the drums, music, racquetball, table tennis, reading and traveling among others.

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Veterans Affairs/Dept of Defense Co-Chair, Michele Blair, DO, MPH, DipABLM

Michele Blair is board certified in Lifestyle Medicine (2019) and Diagnostic Radiology (1994). She has a Master of Public Health in Management and Policy (2012), and she maintains her status as Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Radiology at Michigan State University. Dr. Blair is currently employed as a full-time radiologist at the Lee County campus of Bay Pines VA. She is looking forward to expanding the benefits of Lifestyle Medicine within the VA system, and has recently been appointed the Whole Health Clinical Education Champion for the Lee County campus. Over the past couple of years, Dr. Blair has given several plant-based nutrition presentations, including: employee lunch-and-learns, a PACT (Patient Aligned Care Team) presentation, and presentations to radiology department staff. In October 2019, Dr. Blair presented “Plant-Based Diet Improves Health Outcomes” at the Southwest Florida Osteopathic Medical Society meeting. She has also participated in the Lee County VA Employee Wellness Fair for the last two years, where she has showcased plant-based nutrition. Dr. Blair provides nutritional guidance to patients and employees whenever the opportunity arises. In her spare time, she enjoys the animals on her mini farm sanctuary.

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Veterans Affairs/Dept of Defense Co-Chair, Mary Anne Kiel, MD, DipABLM

My name is Col(s) Mary Anne Kiel. I am a Pediatrician by trade with 17 years in the US Air Force. I graduated medical school from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio in 2003. I graduated from Pediatric residency at the San Antonio Military Pediatric Center in 2006. From there I was stationed as a general pediatrician at F.E. Warren AFB in WY, then RAF Lakenheath in the UK, then Nellis AFB in NV. I am now completing my 2nd year as Chief of Medical staff at Whiteman AFB in MO where I have been leading outpatient healthcare at our military treatment facility. I will soon be moving to the Virginia area as I step into a new role as Chief of Air Force Medical Home (AFMH), working with Air Force leadership and Defense Health Agency to continue to develop and refine procedures for Patient Centered Medical Home across the Air Force and DoD.

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Veterans Affairs/Dept of Defense Secretary, Brenda Hoy, PA, DipACLM

My passion to work in the medical field developed early, and that passion continues to motivate me today. Aiming to become a physician assistant, I secured a place at Baylor College of Medicine, and graduated in 1989. Looking for opportunities to gain early experience of advancements in medical science, I moved to Los Angeles where I joined Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. I graduated with the first Cardiothoracic Physician Assistant Residency Program in the country in 1992. Since then, I have worked in Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery during my entire career, affording me 30 years experience. I began working for the Veterans Administration Hospital in 2007, joining the West Los Angeles VA in Cardiac Surgery. Here I realized that educating and sharing with colleagues and patients was equally as important as keeping pace with medical advances. After relocating to Florida, I have worked for the Tampa VA as a Cardiothoracic Physician Assistant since 2015. My proactive approach brought lifestyle medicine to my attention by a Tampa VA interventional cardiologist and I was introduced me to ACLM. I certified on October 31, 2019. I see great opportunities with the VA to both engage and teach evidence-based lifestyle modifications to veterans and staff with the knowledge and confidence to teach patients and coworkers. Our VA/DoD MIG is perfectly placed to enable this as part of its overall remit.

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Women's Health Co-Chair, Michelle Tollefson,  MD, FACOG, DipABLM

Dr. Michelle Tollefson is board certified in lifestyle medicine as well as obstetrics and gynecology with expertise encompassing lifestyle medicine across the female lifespan. For over a decade she has been involved with the lifestyle medicine and wellness coaching movements through the ACLM, the Harvard Institute of Lifestyle Medicine as guest faculty, and as a wellness coach. She currently co-chairs both the Women’s Health as well as the Pre-Professional Lifestyle Medicine Education Member Interest Groups for ACLM while also serving on the ACLM Education and Conference Planning Committees. Dr. Tollefson was previously the Medical Director of Women’s Wellness Education for a Colorado health system and in full time clinical practice and now volunteers at a non-profit clinic where she practices lifestyle medicine focused women’s health care. As an associate professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver, she developed and oversees the bachelor’s level Lifestyle Medicine major and minor as well as the Wellness Coaching curriculum. Dr. Tollefson lectures nationwide on a variety of topics related to lifestyle medicine and women’s health and is passionate about optimizing women’s health across the lifespan.

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Women's Health Co-Chair, Cindy Geyer, MD, ABIM, ABOIM, DipABLM

Dr. Cindy Geyer is board certified in internal medicine, integrative medicine and lifestyle medicine, and is the medical director at Canyon Ranch in Lenox where she has practiced for 21 years. She received her bachelor of science and her doctor of medicine degrees, with honors, from the Ohio State University. She completed residency in internal medicine at Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester, N.Y., which pioneered the biopsychosocial model of medicine. Dr. Geyer serves as a core faculty member for The Center for Mind-Body Medicine’s (CMBM) “Food as Medicine” conference, teaching physicians and other health care professionals how to use food and lifestyle to address health concerns in their own lives and those of their patients. She has served on the Board of Directors for the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and is the case series editor for the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine. A clinician, educator, and mother, she is passionate about collaborative approaches to health and wellness: from the integrative team model in working with individual patients, to community partnerships that together can effect healthy changes in the places people live and work. She loves walking and hiking, participating 5 times in the Massachusetts chapter of Cystic Fibrosis annual Xtreme Hike: traversing 25 miles in one day to raise funds and awareness for cystic fibrosis research. Her other passions include both designing and creating jewelry, honing her skills on the djembe, and listening to her sons play music.

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Women's Health Secretary, John McHugh, MD, FACOG, DipABLM 

Obstetrician/Gynecologist practicing in Southern California. After finishing his BA at Columbia University and his MD at the Harvard/MIT MD Program in Health Sciences and Technology, he completed his residency at the University of California, San Francisco. Since completing his training, he has lived in Southern California, focusing on community medicine while maintaining academic appointments at UCSD and UCI. His passion is communicating and adopting best practices in everyday health care both by engaging medical and nursing leadership and focusing quality assurance. He has served as the Department Chair at Scripps Mercy Hospital as well co-chair of the California Preconception Health Council and currently serves on the Executive Board of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists for the state of California. He enjoys roughwater swimming, mountain climbing and downhill skiing. He is fluent in Spanish and has done a number of media appearances on women’s health issues.

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