Speaker and Participant Bios

Dr. Allan V. Abbott

Abbott is professor and vice chairman of family medicine and associate dean of medical curriculum at USC’s Keck School of Medicine. His areas of expertise and interest include exercise prescription and promotion, as well as how much physical activity is enough.

Jane E. Allen

Allen joined The Times’ Health section a year ago after five years as the L.A.-based science and medical writer for the Associated Press. At The Times, she has explored such subjects as osteoporosis, heart failure and caregiver stress in families of minority patients with Alzheimer’s.

Dr. Charles A. Anderson

Co-director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Pasadena’s Huntington Memorial Hospital, Anderson is a graduate of UC Santa Barbara and the USC Medical School. He is board-certified in internal medicine, pulmonary disease, critical care and sleep medicine.

Johanna Asarian-Anderson

Asarian-Anderson is manager of the Nutrition Program for the Public Health Programs and Services branch of the L.A. County Department of Health Services. She holds a master’s of public health nutrition and is a registered dietitian.

Carole Bartolotto

Bartolotto has a bachelor of science degree in dietetics and nutrition, and a master’s degree in exercise physiology from Cal State Northridge. She is a member of the health education and promotion department at Kaiser Permanente’s regional offices.

Dr. Jack M. Berger

Berger, an associate professor of clinical anesthesiology at USC, has worked in the area of pain management since 1982. Berger has served as director of the L.A. County-USC Medical Center’s Symptom Management and Palliative Care Program since 1998.

Daniel Bernhardt

Bernhardt, star of the syndicated series “Mortal Kombat: Conquest,” has been studying the martial arts since he was a teenager. His training led him to open his own martial arts academy at 17.

Sarah Bernhoit

Bernhoit works as a pharmacy specialist for B. Braun/McGaw. The president-elect of the Los Angeles district of the California Dietetic Assn., Bernhoit became a registered dietitian in 1994.

Sharon Bernstein

Bernstein covers health care for The Times’ Business section and specializes in bringing together questions of business, policy and patient care. Her coverage of health-care issues won first place for investigative reporting from the Greater Los Angeles Press Club for 1998.

Brigit Legere Binns

Binns is a food writer and restaurant consultant. She is the author of cookbooks, including her latest, “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Lowfat Cooking,” and has been involved with several others.

Mary Leigh Blek

Blek and her husband, Charles, co-founded Orange County Citizens for the Prevention of Gun Violence in 1995 in memory of their son Matthew, who was shot to death in New York City in 1994 by a would-be robber.

Dr. David S. Boyer

Boyer, a retina specialist, has performed thousands of eye surgeries in his 22 years in private practice. He is senior partner of Retina-Vitreous Associates Medical Group and heads the vitroretinal surgery department at Good Samaritan Hospital.

Rachelle Bross

Bross is a research associate and program manager at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine & Science in Los Angeles. She has conducted research into areas including protein and energy metabolism and obesity.

Sherry Brourman

Brourman has worked in the field of physical therapy for many years in rehabilitative and orthopedic medicine. Her book “Walk Yourself Well” describes primary movement balancing, a movement system Brourman developed.

Bonnie Burns

Burns is a consumer advocate with more than two decades of experience in long-term care insurance. The director of education for the California HICAP Assn., an association of senior insurance counseling programs, Burns helped the state Department of Aging rewrite its buyers guide for long-term care.

John K. Chen

Chen is a specialist in pharmacology and Chinese herbal medicine. President of Lotus Herbs Inc. of La Puente, Chen is an assistant professor at the USC School of Pharmacy, and a professor of Western pharmacology at Yo San University and Emperor’s College of Traditional Oriental Medicine, both in Santa Monica.

Jack Christy

Christy joined the California HealthCare Foundation in March as director of the California Medicare Project. He oversees the foundation’s Medicare-related grants, studies and outreach while working to enlarge the project’s capacity to gather and disseminate Medicare information for the public, media and policymakers.

Barbara J. Chuck

A journalist for more than 10 years, 6 1/2 with The Times, Chuck has been assistant editor of the Health section since September 1998. Before that, she was the primary health and fitness copy editor for the paper’s features section.

Peter Clarke

Clarke is a professor of preventive medicine and communication at USC. Author, with Susan H. Evans, of “Surviving Modern Medicine,” Clarke has directed many projects that apply advanced telecommunications to health care.

Cathy S. Cluff

Cluff is advertising and marketing director of the Oaks at Ojai and the Palms at Palm Springs, as well as president of Fitness Advertising. Cluff has taken over a large part of the family spa business that was established in 1977.

Ellen Coleman

Coleman, a registered dietitian and exercise physiologist, has written two books, “Eating for Endurance” and “The Ultimate Sports Nutrition Handbook,” and writes a nutrition column for Sports Medicine Digest.

Dr. Florence Comite

Comite has been involved in women’s health for many years. Her research and clinical work generated patents using fertility agents to build bone, as well as new therapies for endometriosis, fibroid disease and fertility. She researches such areas as osteoporosis, endometriosis, perimenopause and menopause.

Sherri Corey

Corey, a registered dietitian, is program coordinator of Healthy Dining Publications, which entails consulting with restaurants to help them meet recommended nutritional guidelines, and using special events, marketing and community relations to promote Healthy Dining.

Lance Robert Corralez

Corralez, executive chef of Les Freres Taix French restaurant, specializes in Japanese, Cuban, Southwest, California, French and Caribbean cuisines.

Marion Cunningham

Cunningham has written many cookbooks, including “Learning to Cook with Marion Cunningham.” She was also the author of both the 13th edition of “The Fannie Farmer Cookbook” and “The Fannie Farmer Baking Book.”

Dr. Dudley Seth Danoff

Danoff has been in practice for 20 years at the Tower Urology Medical Group at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. His specialty includes oncologic surgery, kidney transplantation and male erectile dysfunction. Danoff is the author of “Super Potency.”

Dr. Jonathan M. Davidorf

Davidorf, the first North American surgeon to perform bioptics vision-correction surgery, helped write the first textbook on the LASIK procedure (laser eye surgery). He is on the teaching faculty at UCLA’s Jules Stein Eye Institute and is a partner at Maloney Eye Institute.

Paul Davis

Davis is associate director of chiropractic services for American Specialty Health Plans. In private chiropractic practice since 1981, Davis is a former senior case manager for American Chiropractic Network.

Donna Deane

Deane, director of The Times’ Test Kitchen for five years, also writes stories on low-fat cooking for the Food section. She is author of the book “Low-Fat Kitchen.”

Dr. Ignacio de Artola Jr.

De Artola is assistant professor of clinical family medicine and vice chairman of clinical affairs for the department of family medicine at USC. After spending 13 years in a private practice in the San Fernando Valley, De Artola joined the USC faculty in January.

Joao De Sousa

De Sousa, executive chef of Mi Piace in Old Town Pasadena, was born in Portugal and studied under several chefs throughout Europe before immigrating to the U.S. De Sousa worked for Croziers in New Orleans and a number of other restaurants in the U.S.

Judith Delgado

Delgado is program director of the Macular Degeneration Partnership, a coalition of patients, families, researchers and leaders in the fields of vision and aging. Delgado was founding chairwoman of the Pathology Management Assembly.

Julie A. Dopheide

Dopheide, an assistant professor at USC, is an authority on general psychiatric pharmacy practice with an emphasis on mood disorders, psychotic disorders and psychotropic drug use in special populations such as children and the elderly.

Rose Dosti

Dosti, food writer and Culinary SOS columnist for The Times, has written several cookbooks on food and diet. Her most recent books are “Dear SOS: 30 Years of the Most Frequently Requested Recipes of the Los Angeles Times” and “Dear SOS Desserts.”

Kathryn M. Downing

Downing is publisher, president and chief executive of the Los Angeles Times and executive vice president of Times Mirror Corp. She joined Times Mirror in 1995 as president and chief executive of Matthew Bender. She is on the boards of the Newspaper Assn. of America and the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce.

Sharon Miles Eller

As a registered dietitian and nutrition media and marketing consultant, Eller educates families and communities about diet and health. She coordinates public relations for Los Angeles Project LEAN.

Jeremy Estrada

Estrada spent several years in the California Youth Authority and later was sent to an academic and athletic program for disadvantaged youth. While enrolled, he graduated from high school, now attends Pepperdine University and plans to go to medical school.

Kathy Feeny

As vice president of Secure Horizons, a Medicare health plan offered by PacifiCare, Feeny is accountable for the strategy and implementation of statewide membership growth. She joined PacifiCare of California in 1993.

Janice Frates

Frates is an associate professor of health policy, management and marketing at Cal State Long Beach, and has worked as a business analysis consultant for Kaiser Permanente Health Plan and as a health economist. She is a licensed clinical social worker.

Linda Garcia

Garcia is a clinical child development specialist with experience providing therapeutic interventions for traumatized, abused, chronically ill and burn-injured children. She currently serves as child-life specialist at the Grossman Burn Center.

Lawrence N. Gelb

Gelb founded CareCounsel in 1997 to help people navigate the health and managed-care environment. Before starting CareCounsel, he practiced as a licensed clinical psychologist in California and Massachusetts.

Ann Louise Gittleman

Gittleman, a certified nutrition specialist, has written several books, including “Super Nutrition for Women,” “Super Nutrition for Men” and “Before the Change.” She is on the medical advisory board of the American Menopause Foundation.

Dr. Thomas Finley Godfrey III

Godfrey is a clinical assistant professor of medicine at UCLA and is area medical director for Los Angeles Medical Center.

Dr. David S. Goldstein

Goldstein is co-founder and co-director of USC’s Pacific Center for Health Policy and Ethics. In addition, he is division chief and vice chairman for clinical affairs in the Department of Medicine. He is board-certified in internal medicine.

Joe and Teresa Graedon

Pharmacologist Joe Graedon and his wife, Teresa, a medical anthropologist, are co-authors of “The People’s Pharmacy” series of books. The couple also write a syndicated newspaper column, which appears in The Times’ Health section, and host a radio talk show, both of the same name.

Kurt Hegetschweiler

Hegetschweiler, vice president of chiropractic services at American Specialty Health Plans in San Diego, is a graduate of Los Angeles College of Chiropractic. He is past president of the California Chiropractic Assn.

Dr. Alan Heilpern

Heilpern is president of Horizon Health Services, a health care management company that provides emergency medical services at St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica. He is a past president of the Los Angeles County Medical Assn.

Sylvia Hernandez

Hernandez is a nutrition consultant and certified diabetes educator. Hernandez currently works as the nutrition consultant and diabetes program coordinator with Long Beach Memorial Medical Center’s outpatient diabetes program.

Dr. Ann Elizabeth Hickey

Hickey is assistant medical director of cardiac transplantation at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and is a partner in the Heart Center of Los Angeles, a private cardiology practice.

Dr. Howard N. Hodis

Hodis is an associate professor of medicine and preventive medicine and an assistant professor of molecular pharmacology and toxicology at USC. He specializes in the treatment of lipid disorders and the prevention and treatment of atherosclerosis at USC’s Lipid and Atherosclerosis Treatment Center.

Charles B. Inlander

Inlander is president of the People’s Medical Society, a consumer health advocacy organization founded in 1983 and among the largest such groups in the U.S. He is a health commentator on National Public Radio and has written numerous books on health, including “Men’s Health for Dummies.”

Vicki Iovine

Iovine, author and columnist, began her writing career with “The Girlfriends’ Guide to Pregnancy,” and went on to write three other “Girlfriends’ Guide” books. Iovine is working on her fifth book. Her column “Girlfriends’ Guide to Family” appears in The Times’ Southern California Living section.

Dr. John Irvine

Irvine is a professor of ophthalmology at USC and is medical director of the Doheny Eye Medical Group. Certified in multiple refractive surgery techniques, Irvine is a member of the USC Doheny Refractive Laser Medical Center and president of the Research Study Club of Los Angeles.

Carole Schor Isenberg

Isenberg is president of Just for Us Workshops Inc., an organization devoted to enhancing family communication. The company offers workshops to strengthen communication between mothers and pre-adolescent and adolescent daughters, and between fathers and daughters.

Roger Jahnke

Jahnke has practiced and taught qigong, Chinese exercises that aim to improve health, harmony and longevity, for more than 20 years. He holds a doctorate in Oriental medicine from the California Acupuncture College in Los Angeles, operates a practice and teaches in Santa Barbara.

Ada Janklowicz

Janklowicz, a former dancer with the British Royal Academy in Israel, offers her “Basic Training” and “Boot Camp” fitness classes in a variety of locations. She began her television exercise show, “Basic Training,” in 1988.

Dr. Carolle Jean-Murat

Jean-Murat is a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist who has operated a private practice in San Diego since 1982. Jean-Murat, an assistant clinical professor at UC San Diego’s School of Medicine, wrote “Menopause Made Easy” and “Staying Healthy: 10 Easy Steps for Women.”

Carol S. Jimenez

Jimenez is an expert on the legal aspects of health care. She is the legal counsel to California Health Advocates, a state network of nonprofit Health Insurance Counseling and Advocacy Programs that provide education, counseling and assistance to California Medicare patients.

Dr. Norman Kachuck

Kachuck is associate professor of neurology at USC and director of the university’s Multiple Sclerosis Center. In that role, he oversees clinical research activity as well as spearheads the disease management aspects of the center’s mission.

Dr. Ronald L. Katz

Chairman of the Department of Anesthesiology at USC’s School of Medicine, Katz has taught anesthesiology at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York and at UCLA, where he also served as department chair.

Dr. Tom Kennon

Kennon is a psychotherapist and management consultant with 22 years of clinical experience. An assistant clinical professor in UCLA’s department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, Kennon’s clients have included Kaiser Permanente, County-USC Medical Center and the American Cancer Society.

Jan Kidwell

Kidwell is chairwoman of the speakers bureau for the Sierra Club’s Angeles chapter, which serves L.A. and Orange counties. She seeks to promote the preservation of open space for species habitat and recreation and to encourage the education of young people about habitat protection.

Robert Landel

Landel, an associate professor at USC, has been teaching physical therapy for 10 years. From 1989 to 1996, he was the director of USC Physical Therapy Associates Inc., the outpatient faculty practice of USC’s department of biokinesiology and physical therapy. He is still in practice with the group.

David J. Lansky

Lansky is president of the Foundation for Accountability, a nonprofit group that helps consumers make better health care decisions. Before joining the foundation, Lansky was with a company composed of a group of hospitals, primary care groups and home health services.

Wendy Lazarus

Founder and director of the Children’s Partnership, a national policy center, Lazarus has worked in the area of children’s policy for 25 years. She began her career with the Children’s Defense Fund in Washington, D.C., and was founding vice president of Policy for Children Now, a California-based advocacy group.

David Solin Lee

Lee serves as chief executive of Emperor’s College of Traditional Oriental Medicine in Santa Monica. In his three years at the college, Lee has created partnerships with Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital in Marina del Rey and the Los Angeles Free Clinic.

Peter V. Lee

Lee is executive director of the Center for Health Care Rights, an organization that seeks to ensure consumer access to quality health care. He has worked at the center since 1995, and has written a number of studies on managed care issues.

Gwyneth E. Lewis

A former hospital staff nurse, outpatient-clinic staff nurse and health education program manager, Lewis serves as a diabetes educator and nurse coordinator at City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte. Lewis has also coordinated a weight-loss program for diabetics.

Shelly Lewis

Lewis, a registered dietitian, has been a nutritionist for more than a decade. She has worked as a nutritionist for Public Health Foundation Enterprises, Women with Infants and Children, since 1987. She is a member of the American Dietetic Assn. and of Dietitians in AIDS Care Practice Group.

Dr. Aliza A. Lifshitz

Lifshitz has been a board member for the National Confederation of Hispanic American Medical Assns. and vice chairwoman of the L.A. County Commission on AIDS. Since 1988, she has been the health reporter for Univision TV Network, and is the health columnist for La Opinion.

Dr. Loren Lipson

Lipson is associate professor and chief of the division of geriatric medicine, associate professor of gerontology and clinical pharmacology at USC. He is also the clinical director of the USC Senior Care Program and director of the USC/Norris Hospital Senior Cancer Care Program.

Chi-Jen Liu

Liu has studied feng shui for more than 50 years and practiced it in Los Angeles for more than 20 years. He holds a pharmacy degree from National Taiwan University.

Jenny T. Liu

A fourth-generation practitioner of feng shui, Liu, of New Feng Shui Concepts of Alhambra, holds a bachelor’s degree in environmental design from UC Berkeley and a master’s degree in architecture from UCLA.

Dr. Joanne Lynn

Lynn is a professor of health care sciences and medicine and director of the Center to Improve Care of the Dying at George Washington University Medical Center. She is also president of Americans for Better Care of the Dying, a non-profit organization that promotes improved end-of-life care.

Deborah Madison

The founding chef of Greens restaurant in San Francisco and of Cafe Escalera in Santa Fe, N.M., Madison is the author of such books as “The Greens Cookbook” and “The Vegetarian Table.” She is also a restaurant consultant on vegetarian cooking.

Dr. Robert K. Maloney

Specializing in refractive and laser vision-correction procedures, Maloney has performed more than 14,000 laser-refractive procedures and trained more than 700 U.S. eye surgeons. He is director of the Maloney Vision Institute and former director of the UCLA Laser Refractive Center at the Jules Stein Eye Institute.

Kim Marshall

Marshall is owner of the Marshall Plan, a communications company specializing in spas and resorts. Marshall writes about the spa experience and other areas, and is host of the Fox and Health Network newsmagazine show “The Spa Life.”

Ingrid Marsten

Marsten teaches traditional Oriental medicine and a wide range of massage techniques at UCLA’s Continuing Medical Education Program for medical doctors and at Emperor’s College of Traditional Oriental Medicine in Santa Monica.

William C. McMorran

In his career working with older people, McMorran has developed national tax and health programs for the Assn. for the Advancement of Retired People. McMorran works with retirement organizations in the design of group long-term care programs, and with individuals in financial planning. He is affiliated with Select Advisors Inc.

Kevin McNamee

McNamee, who studied biomedical engineering at UCLA, earning his bachelor’s degree, also attended the Los Angeles College of Chiropractic. A diplomate with the American Academy of Pain Management, McNamee has also studied at Emperor’s College of Traditional Oriental Medicine in Santa Monica and Dalian Medical College in the People’s Republic of China.

Mark S. Meskin

Meskin, a registered dietitian and certified nutrition specialist, is an associate professor in Cal Poly Pomona’s Department of Food, Nutrition and Consumer Sciences. He was director of nutrition education programs at the USC School of Medicine from 1992 to 1996.

Rosie Mestel

Mestel has been a staff writer for The Times’ Health section since November. During her career, she won the 1995 American Institute of Biological Sciences award for a cover article in Discover magazine and was contributing editor for Health magazine. Mestel holds a PhD in genetics from UC Davis.

Gary Metzker

Metzker writes the Gym Rat column for The Times’ Health section. A news editor/executive editor at The Times, Metzker has been an aerobics instructor for more than five years, teaching step aerobics, indoor cycling and box aerobics classes.

Elizabeth Miles

Miles, an ethnomusicologist, is the author of “Tune Your Brain: Using Music to Manage Your Mind, Body and Mood” (Berkley Books, Deutsche Grammophon), a book and CD series that shows how to influence mood through music. She holds a master’s degree in ethnomusicology from UCLA.

Helene Morgan

Morgan is a clinical social worker with 15 years of experience at UCLA Medical Center working with pediatric cardiology patients and their families. She counsels families during children’s diagnosis and hospitalization. She is a consultant at the Grossman Burn Center.

Francie Murphy

President of Francie Murphy Associates, Murphy has worked in journalism and public relations for 20 years, during which she has managed national and global public relations and marketing programs for medical centers, health care associations and insurance firms.

Mario Nugara

Nugara is artistic director of the City of Angels Ballet, which teaches dancing to inner-city youths. He also attended the School of American Ballet and has danced with the American Ballet Company, among others.

Stephanie Oakes

Oakes is a fitness and health correspondent for Discovery Health, specializing in fitness trends and the health benefits of exercise. Oakes is a regular health and fitness contributor to “Good Morning America” and “The Today Show.”

Dale Anne Ogar

The co-author of 12 scientific publications, Ogar is also managing editor of the UC Berkeley Wellness Letter. She co-writes a syndicated column on food and health, “Eating Smart,” which appears in The Times’ Health section.

David R. Olmos

Olmos has been the editor of The Times’ Health section since August 1998 . Since joining the paper in 1987, Olmos has worked as both a reporter and editor. He was a finalist for the 1996 Pulitzer Prize for a series he co-wrote about managed care in California.

Joya Parenteau

Parenteau is the manager of the nutrition services department of Project Angel Food, an organization that delivers 1,200 meals per day to people living with HIV/AIDS in the Los Angeles area.

Michael Parks

Parks is editor and executive vice president of the Los Angeles Times and vice president of the newspaper’s parent company, Times Mirror Corp. In 19 years with The Times, Parks has also been managing editor, deputy foreign editor and bureau chief. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for international reporting in 1987.

Russ Parsons

Parsons is editor of The Times’ Food section. He has won two James Beard Awards for food writing, and is this year’s recipient of the Bert Greene award for outstanding food journalism from the International Assn. of Culinary Professionals.

Mark Peel

Peel is executive chef and owner of Campanile restaurant. He and his wife, acclaimed pastry chef Nancy Silverton, have written three cookbooks.

Phyllis Pilgrim

Pilgrim, a yoga and meditation teacher, is responsible for managing fitness schedules and programs at Rancho La Puerta in Tecate, Mexico. She co-founded the Barbados School of Yoga in 1968.

Jane Pisano

Pisano is senior vice president for external relations at USC. She has served as the university’s C. Erwin and Ione L. Piper Dean of Public Administration. She has also headed the 2000 Partnership, a civic organization working to improve the quality of life in Southern California.

Ron Pollack

Before becoming executive director of Families USA, a national organization for health care consumers, Pollack represented consumers on the Presidential Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Health Care Industry.

Patricia E. Powers

Powers has been president and chief executive officer of the San Francisco-based Pacific Business Group on Health, a nonprofit coalition of public- and private-sector purchasers dedicated to improving the quality of health care while moderating costs, since 1990.

Dr. Joshua P. Prager

Prager, an expert in pain management, is director of UCLA’s interdisciplinary implantation program, and is a founding member of the American Neuromodulation Society and chairman of its ethics committee.

Liz Pulliam

Pulliam is a personal finance writer for The Times’ Business section and author of the paper’s Money Talk column. She won a 1997 Gerald Loeb business writing award for a series on the Comparator Systems penny stock fraud.

Dr. David B. Reuben

Reuben is director of the Multicampus Program in Geriatrics Medicine and Gerontology and professor at UCLA’s School of Medicine. He is also chief of the geriatrics division at the UCLA Center for Health Sciences and Medical Center.

Richard J. Riordan

Riordan has served as mayor of Los Angeles since July 1993, winning reelection to a second term in April 1997. During his six-plus years in office, Riordan has focused attention on such issues as crime prevention, education and international trade.

Keli Roberts

Roberts, personal trainer and author of “Fitness Hollywood,” has produced several exercise videos and offers workshops worldwide. She has been a trainer to several celebrities and offers classes on muscle conditioning, step choreography and others.

Robert Rosenblatt

As Washington correspondent for the Los Angeles Times since 1976, Rosenblatt covers health care and economic issues, with a special focus on managed care and the aging baby boomer generation. He is also author of the Health Dollars & Sense column in The Times’ Health section.

Dr. Steven L. Rosenblatt

Rosenblatt is the founder and past president of the California Acupuncture College. Board-certified in acupuncture and family practice, Rosenblatt was co-founder and clinical director of UCLA’s Acupuncture Clinic.

Lois Salisbury

Before becoming president of Children Now, Salisbury worked for 19 years as a public interest lawyer at Public Advocates, where she worked on civil rights and consumer litigation. Salisbury has also worked as a school administrator, a counselor and a schoolteacher.

Barbara Saltzman

Saltzman is the mother of David Saltzman, who wrote and illustrated “The Jester Has Lost His Jingle” before he died of Hodgkin’s disease at 22. In 1995, the family self-published the book, which has topped bestseller lists.

John Saslow

Saslow is executive chef at West Hollywood’s Organika. He has more than 20 years of culinary experience and in the last seven years has concentrated on natural foods, diet and lifestyle.

Selma R. Schimmel

Schimmel is an author and activist who established Vital Options in L.A., a nonprofit organization for young adults with cancer. She founded the group in 1983, after she was diagnosed with breast cancer. In 1996, Schimmel created “The Group Room,” a radio talk show for cancer patients and others.

Ellen Severoni

Severoni is president of California Health Decisions, a nonprofit organization focused on bringing a consumer perspective to the delivery of health care. She helped found CalOPTIMA, an Orange County managed-care program for Medi-Cal patients.

Susan Shearer

Shearer, a licensed clinical social worker, is associate director of Huntington Senior Care Network, a hospital-based community program in Pasadena. In 1994, she co-developed a statewide network of care-management services designed to serve clients with long-term care insurance.

Martha Rose Shulman

Shulman’s books include “Provencal Light” and “The Vegetarian Feast.” She developed the recipes for Dr. Dean Ornish’s “Stress, Diet and Your Heart” and “Reversing Heart Disease.”

Dr. Melvin J. Silverstein

Silverstein is a professor of surgery at the USC School of Medicine and director of the Harold E. and Henrietta C. Lee Breast Cancer Center at the USC/Norris Cancer Center. He founded the Breast Center in Van Nuys in 1979.

Nina Simonds

Simonds has written several cookbooks, including “Chinese Seasons.” Her latest book, “A Spoonful of Ginger: Irresistible, Health-Giving Recipes From Asian Kitchens,” was published in the spring.

Dr. Americo Antonio Simonini

Simonini specializes in clinical heart failure and atherosclerosis. He has served as the director of the Heart Failure Clinic at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Simonini, who is involved in research, is board-certified in internal medicine and cardiology.

Dr. Mark D. Smith

Smith heads the California HealthCare Foundation and is also a member of the clinical faculty at UC San Francisco. He has served as executive vice president of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and written about AIDS-related issues and the health-care marketplace.

M.J. Smith

Smith is the editor of The Times’ Southern California Living section. She previously was managing editor of the Honolulu (Hawaii) Advertiser and held several news positions at the Hartford (Conn.) Courant. She holds a master’s degree in journalism.

Mark Solnick

A health and education specialist with the Greater Los Angeles chapter of the American Red Cross, Solnick manages health education programming. He has been involved in health services as an instructor and administrator for 15 years.

Terri K. Somerville

Somerville, a registered nurse, is lead instructor for the American Red Cross. She teaches nurse-assistant, home-health-aid and hospital-setting courses. Somerville holds a teaching credential in vocational education.

Lana Spraker

Spraker has been a teacher of traditional yang-style tai chi chuan for nearly three decades. She teaches both the Alexander technique and tai chi in the West Los Angeles and Santa Monica areas.

Dr. Barbara Staggers

Staggers is director of Adolescent Medicine and Multicultural Affairs at Children’s Hospital, Oakland. She is considered an authority on high-risk youth, urban and minority youth, and violence and health care issues in multicultural societies.

Dr. Susan Stangl

Stangl, a UCLA assistant professor of family medicine, also serves as assistant dean for student affairs and as director of the Urgent Care Center and associate director for Predoctoral Education in Family Medicine. She is on the faculty of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition.

Susan Stohrer

Stohrer has been manager of the Daniel Freeman Fitness Center in Inglewood since 1989. She was previously an exercise physiologist at the National Institute of Cardiovascular Technology in Haywood, Calif.

Rod Stryker

Stryker, of Pure Yoga, has taught yoga and meditation for two decades. A writer, speaker and yogiraj (master of yoga), he teaches workshops and seminars throughout the U.S. and abroad.

Anna Thomas

Thomas wrote her first cookbook, “The Vegetarian Epicure,” while a graduate student in film at UCLA. A few years later, in 1979, “The Vegetarian Epicure: Book Two” was published. Her latest is “The New Vegetarian Epicure,” published in 1996.

Elizabeth Thompson

Thompson, with American Specialty Health Plans, is a registered dietitian who holds a master’s degree in public health education. She is a certified diabetes educator with more than 15 years of experience as a clinical dietitian and nutritionist.

Evelyn Tribole

Tribole writes a monthly column in Shape magazine called Recipe Makeovers and has written five books, including “Stealth Health,” her latest. Tribole has served as a national spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Assn. and was named Young Dietitian of the Year in 1985.

Henry F. Tyson

At the Health Care Financing Administration, Tyson is the manager of the Division of Beneficiary Services’ customer relations branch for Region IX. Tyson has served as the Medicaid state representative to Arizona, Hawaii and Nevada.

Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez

Valdes-Rodriguezis a certified aerobics instructor and pop music writer for The Times’ Calendar section. She has been teaching at health clubs since she was 15 and now teaches a class called “Latin Groove” for Spectrum Club and Sports Club L.A.

Arti Varma

Varma specializes in nutrition communication and preventive health care. A registered dietitian, she has provided counseling services to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Cigna Healthcare and the Hardiness Institute. She is currently working with overweight children and their families.

Karen Voight

In her two decades of exercise instruction, Voight has been named fitness instructor of the year by an organization for health and fitness professionals; produced 11 exercise videotapes; and written “Voight: Precision Training for Body & Mind.”

Petrula Vrontikis

Vrontikis is principal of Vrontikis Design Office, a full-service graphic communication design firm in Los Angeles. She teaches senior graphic design and yoga at Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.

Dr. Sara E. Watkin

Watkin specializes in combined psychotherapeutic and psychopharmacologic treatment of mood and anxiety disorders. Watkin is psychiatric consultant to Daybreak, a shelter for homeless mentally ill women, and is a member of the UCLA volunteer clinical faculty.

Dr. Glenn Harmon Weissman

Weissman is an authority on snoring who heads the otolaryngology departments at San Gabriel Valley Medical Center and Methodist Hospital in Arcadia. He is a diplomate of the American Board of Otolaryngology.

Dr. Jeffrey N. Weitzel

Weitzel works with the City of Hope’s Comprehensive Cancer Center as the director of the department of clinical cancer genetics and the Cancer Screening and Prevention Program. He is also a clinical associate professor of preventive medicine at USC.

Christiane Wert

Wert is a pediatric nutritionist and program director of KidShape, a family-based pediatric weight-management program. A registered dietitian, Wert counsels families of children with nutritional disorders such as obesity.

Monika White

White is president and chief executive officer of the Center for Healthy Aging in Santa Monica. She has been working with community and hospital-based programs for older adults and their families since the mid-’70s.

Dr. Charles Joseph Wibbelsman

Wibbelsman has been chief of the Teenage Clinic at San Francisco’s Kaiser Permanente Medical Group for two decades. Wibbelsman is associate professor of pediatrics at UC San Francisco and president of the Northern California chapter of the Society for Adolescent Medicine.

Ron Williams

Williams is group president of WellPoint Health Networks since 1987, when he joined the company, which he joined in 1987 as vice president. He holds a master of science degree in management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was appointed to the Governor’s Managed Health Care Improvement Task Force in 1997.

Kelly Wolschon

Wolschon is a registered dietitian and a board member of the L.A. District of the California Dietetic Assn. Wolschon earned a bachelor of science degree in dietetics at Michigan State University in 1992.

Clifford A. Wright

Wright is a cook, food writer and research scholar specializing in Mediterranean cuisines. The author of six cookbooks, including “A Mediterranean Feast,” Wright contributes frequently to magazines such as Bon Appetit and Food and Wine.

Dr. Antronette K. Yancey

Yancey directs chronic disease prevention and health promotion with the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services while continuing faculty research and teaching at UCLA. She contributed to “Body & Soul: The Black Woman’s Guide to Physical Health and Emotional Well-Being.”

Gary L. Yates

Yates is president and chief executive of The California Wellness Foundation, an assistant clinical professor of pediatrics at USC, and a licensed marriage and family therapist. Before joining the foundation, he was associate director of adolescent medicine at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles.

Dr. Ian Yip

Yip is an assistant professor of medicine and associate chief of UCLA School of Medicine’s division of clinical nutrition. He is also co-director of the UCLA Nutrition Medicine Center.

Walter A. Zelman

Before coming to the California Assn. of Health Plans, Zelman was a professor in Harvard’s School of Public Health. Zelman was senior health care advisor to President Clinton from 1993 to 1994. He also served as a special deputy in the state Department of Insurance.