Composed of world-class experts in complementary and integrative medicine, the Healthnotes Medical Advisory Board is a working group advising and informing our editorial and development processes. With their university affiliations and teaching experience, Advisory Board members’ valuable input assists us in creating the finest information products possible.
Bruce Barrett, MD, PhD
Dr. Barrett is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Department of Family Medicine at the
University of Wisconsin Medical School in Madison. He graduated from the University of
Wisconsin Medical School in 1992 and completed a family practice residency in Eau Claire,
Wisconsin, in 1997. Dr. Barrett returned to the University of Wisconsin to complete a research
fellowship in family medicine and receive a Master’s degree in population
health—epidemiology. He has conducted research in alternative medicine, including a
double-blind community trial to test the effectiveness of echinacea extract for early
treatment of respiratory infections. Recently, he received the K-23 Patient-Oriented Career
Development Research Award from the National Centre for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
and the National Institutes of Health. He has written numerous articles on medicinal plants
that have been published in The Journal of Community Health, Social Science and
Medicine, and Family Medicine.
Sarah L. Berga, MD
Dr. Berga is an Associate Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences with
a joint appointment in Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. She is
the Medical Director of the Magee-Women’s Clinical Research Centre and Associate
Director of the General Clinical Research Centre (GCRC) for the University of Pittsburgh. Dr.
Berga serves as a member of the study section for the National Centre for Research Resources,
which reviews applications for GCRC funding, and she also directs the fellowship in
Reproductive Endocrinology at the University of Pittsburgh. She completed medical school at
the University of Virginia and then conducted her internship and residency in Obstetrics and
Gynecology at Harvard Medical School at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Berga is
currently an examiner for the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She has served on
the editorial board of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism and is
now on the editorial board of Fertility and Sterility.
Richard N. Podell, MD, FACP
Dr. Podell is the Medical Director and Principal Investigator for East Coast Clinical
Research, where he supervises ongoing clinical research in a network of 16 physicians. In
addition to his private practice in family and internal medicine, he is the Principal
Investigator of the FDA studies on Ampligen for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome for Hemispherx
Biopharma, Inc. Dr. Podell is also a Clinical Professor at the University of Medicine and
Dentistry of New Jersey—Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Department of Family
Medicine. He completed medical school and a research fellowship in health care organization at
Harvard Medical School. Dr. Podell went on to receive a Master’s degree from the Harvard
School of Public Health and later complete a fellowship in allergy and environmental health at
Lutheran Medical Systems and Hospitals in Carrollton, Texas.
Barry H. Rumack, MD
Dr. Rumack is Chairman Emeritus and founder of Micromedex, Inc., a provider of computerized
and printed information for professionals and consumers on toxicology, pharmacology, acute
care, patient education, occupational medicine, alternative medicine, chemical safety, and
regulatory compliance. In addition, Dr. Rumack is Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the
University of Colorado Health Sciences Centre and a Special Government Employee for the Food
and Drug Administration. He completed medical school at the University of Wisconsin and
residency at the University of Colorado. He went on to do a fellowship in clinical
pharmacology and toxicology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and was a
clinical associate at the Regional Poisoning Treatment Centre, Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh.
He sits on the editorial boards of several journals, including Clinical Toxicology, Topics
in Emergency Medicine, and Pediatric Pharmacology.
Victor S. Sierpina, MD
Dr. Sierpina is Clinical Medical Director at the Department of Family Medicine at the
University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, Texas. He is also a member-at-large of
the Medical Executive Committee at UTMB. Dr. Sierpina reviews papers about procedures training
and alternative or complementary medicine for several journals, including Alternative
Therapies in Health and Medicine, Journal of the American Medical
Association, and Journal of Family Practice. He attended medical school at the
University of Illinois, Abraham Lincoln School of Medicine in Chicago. Dr. Sierpina then went
on to complete advanced studies in Ayurvedic medicine at International University in
Fairfield, Iowa, and in medical acupuncture for physicians at the University of California,
Los Angeles, School of Medicine.
Eileen M. Stuart-Shor, RN, C, MS
Ms. Stuart-Shor is a nurse practitioner in private practice, a cardiovascular nurse
specialist, and a Fellow in the Council on Cardiovascular Nursing. She is a principal at
WellCare Associates, a consulting group for integrative health in Boston. Ms. Stuart-Shor is
on the adjunct faculty of the Graduate School of Health Sciences at Simmons College in Boston
and is a consultant on several grants. She was the founder and director of the innovative
cardiovascular programmes in the Division of Behavioural Medicine at the New England Deaconess
Hospital, a Senior Scientist in the Mind/Body Medical Institute, and an Associate in Medicine,
Harvard Medical School.
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