Information About the SPAD Speakers

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Leonard A. Wisneski, MD, FACP
Clinical Professor of Medicine, George Washington University Medical Center
Dean and President, University of Sint Eustatius School of Medicine

Leonard A. Wisneski, MD, FACP is Clinical Professor of Medicine at George Washington University Medical Center and Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at Georgetown University where he is a founding member of the Complementary and Alternative Medicine Curriculum Planning Committee. He was Vice Chairman of the NIH Consensus Panel on Acupuncture and is Chairman of the NIH Advisory Board on Frontier Sciences at the University of Connecticut. He holds fellowship positions in The American College of Physicians, The American College of Nutrition, and The American Institute of Stress. He served on the board of the American Holistic Medical Association and was President of the International Society for the Study of Subtle Energies and Energy Medicine. He has published over 30 scientific articles and a textbook, “The Scientific Basis of Integrative Medicine”. He has been in the clinical practice of endocrinology and integrative medicine for over 25 years.

Combining his knowledge with an intense passion for innovation in health care delivery and the quest to develop pathways toward the attainment of optimal vitality, Dr. Wisneski is a leader in the field of health and healing. In 1999, Dr. Wisneski co-founded and served as the Medical Director of LifePath Health Center, an integrative, multi-practitioner center devoted to fostering individuals in the achievement of health and life goals. His practice embodies the true meaning of integral medicine – the optimal synthesis of conventional and alternative medicine (integrative) practiced with a whole person (holistic) approach and delivered with reverence and humanism.

Dr. Wisneski graduated from Thomas Jefferson Medical College and performed his postgraduate training in the field of Internal Medicine and Endocrinology in the George Washington University healthcare system, where he served as Chief Medical Resident in Internal Medicine. From 1977 until 1997, Dr. Wisneski was the Corporate Medical Director of Marriott International, Inc., and Director of Medical Education at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, Maryland, an affiliate of George Washington University Medical School and Children’s National Medical Center where he devoted his efforts to the clinical practice of internal medicine and endocrinology.

Dr. Wisneski is currently the Dean and President of the University of Sint Eustatius School of Medicine. He, along with a prestigious Board of Governors, have created a medical school devoted to medical education research and innovation.

Neil D. Theise, MD
Professor of Pathology and Medicine
Beth Israel Medical Center of Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Neil D. Theise, MD is a diagnostic liver pathologist and adult stem cell researcher in New York City, where he is a Professor of Pathology and of Medicine at the Beth Israel Medical Center of Albert Einstein College of Medicine. His research revised understandings of human liver microanatomy which, in turn, led directly to identification of possible liver stem cell niches and the marrow-to-liver regeneration pathway. He is considered a pioneer of multi-organ adult stem cell plasticity and has published on that topic in Science, Nature, and Cell.

Subsequently, while continuing laboratory and clinical research, he has extended his work to areas of theoretical biology and complexity theory, defining a “post-modern biology.” These ideas suggest that alternate models of the body, other than Cell Doctrine, may be necessary to understand non-Western approaches to the body and health. Current laboratory investigations focuses on nerve-stem cell interactions in human livers, melatonin-related physiology of human liver stem cell and regenerative processes, and aspects of human liver stem cell activation in acute, fulminant hepatic failure. His papers on these and other topics can be found on his website: www.neiltheise.com.

Peter Bongiorno ND, LAc
Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine, Licensed Acupuncturist
Vice President, NY Association of Naturopathic Physicians

Dr. Peter Bongiorno is a naturopathic doctor and acupuncturist practicing in New York City. After researching at Yale University and the National Institutes of Health in the field of clinical neuroendocrinology, Dr. Bongiorno completed his naturopathic medicine training at Bastyr University. He is a major contributing author of the 3rd edition of the Textbook of Natural Medicine, and lectures nationally on the subject of natural medicine. He is currently finishing the textbook Natural Medicine for Depression for publication later this year. He can be reached by visiting www.InnerSourceHealth.com

William H. Frishman, MD, MACP
Director of Medicine
Westchester Medical Center
Rosenthal Professor and Chairman
Department of Medicine
New York Medical College

William H. Frishman, MD, MACP is the Director of Medicine at Westchester Medical Center and also serves as the Rosenthal Professor and Chairman of the Department of Medicine at New York Medical College. He is a board certified Internist and Cardiologist with international reputations in the areas of clinical cardiology and cardiovascular pharmacology. He has co-authored over 900 original research articles, reviews and book chapters. He has also edited, co-edited, authored, and co-authored twelve full-length textbooks including a major text, Cardiovascular Pharmacotherapeutics (McGraw Hill) now in its second edition and Complementary and Integrative Therapies for Cardiovascular Disease (Elsevier). In 2007 he had two new books published; Cardiovascular Regeneration and Stem Cell Therapy (Blackwell Futura) and Hypertension, A Clinical Guide (Lippincott). He currently serves as an editor of the American Journal of Medicine, Cardiology in Review and the Year Book of Medicine. Dr. Frishman has participated in major federally funded cardiovascular research trials as a co-principal investigator including the Bronx Aging Study and the Women’s Health Initiative.

He has received national recognition as a medical educator that includes the Teaching Scholar Award of the American Heart Association and the Distinguished Teacher Award from the Association of American Colleges and Alpha Omega Alpha. In recognition of his lifelong work as a practicing physician, he is also the recipient of the Humanism in Medicine Award from the Association of American College of Physicians and the US Army Commendation Medal for Meritorious service.

David C. Mason, DO, FACOFP
Acting Chair
Department of Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine
University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey

Dr. Mason is currently the acting Chair of the Department of Osteopathic Manipulates Medicine. He is board certified by both the AOBFP in family medicine an Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment (OMT) and the AOBNMM in Neuromusculoskeletal Medicine and Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine (NMM/OMM).

Nationally he serves on the Education, OPTI liaison, Postgraduate Standards, and Membership committees as well as Chairing the Undergraduate Academy Advisors committee for the American Academy of Osteopathy. He is also a member of the Osteopathic Principles and Practice committee and the Inservice Exam subcommittee of the Continuing Education and Evaluation committee of the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians. Dr. Mason is the vice chair of the Educational Council of Osteopathic Principles and Practices committee of the American Academy of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine.

He is co-author of the book A 5 -minute Osteopathic Manipulative Medicine Consult published by Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. He has also published in the JAOA and the NJOAPS Journal.

Research accomplishments include participation in research with extramural funding for pneumonia research and OMT in elderly hospitalized patients, as well as OMT in 1ow back pain to reduce analgesic use. He has secured intra-mural funding for 1ow back pain evaluation at OMT efficacy using inflammatory markers, and CVA and gait disorders.

Dr. Mason lectures regionally and nationally on osteopathic medical education and integration of OMT into clinical practice.

Karl P. Adler, MD
President and CEO
New York Medical College

In January, 2007 Dr. Adler was appointed president and chief executive officer of New York Medical College, where he holds an academic appointment as professor of medicine. He had previously served from 1987 to 1994 as dean of the School of Medicine and vice president for medical affairs. Dr. Adler currently serves as the Archbishop’s Delegate for Health Care in the Archdiocese of New York, and he continues to serve as chairman of the board of the Catholic Health Care System, where he was interim president and chief executive officer from 2001 to 2006. From 1994 to 2000 he was president and chief executive officer of St. Vincent’s Hospital and Medical Center of New York. He has held academic appointments at Albany Medical College, SUNY-Downstate Medical Center and Weill Cornell Medical College and has held leadership appointments at North Shore University Hospital, Ellis Hospital, Kings County Hospital and Metropolitan Hospital Center. From 1995 to 2004 Dr. Adler served as a member of the New York State Hospital Review and Planning Council. He is a fellow of The New York Academy of Medicine.

Ralph A. O'Connell, MD
Provost
Dean of the School of Medicine
New York Medical College

Ralph A. O’Connell, M.D., has been provost of New York Medical College and dean of the School of Medicine since 1996. From 1974 until he assumed his post at the university, Dr. O’Connell served as clinical director of the Department of Psychiatry at Saint Vincents Hospital and Medical Center in New York City. He has been a member of the university’s faculty since 1980, holding the rank of professor of psychiatry since 1993. Prior to his association with New York Medical College, he was assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Cornell University Medical College, serving in that capacity from 1967 to 1980.

A prolific writer and frequent speaker at national and international meetings, Dr. O’Connell has published extensively in scientific journals and has written many book chapters. His major research interest has been in psychopharmacology, centering on the longterm outcome of the use of lithium in manic-depressive disorder. He has published on brain imaging, specifically on the use of single photon emission computed tomography in acute mania and schizophrenia. Dr. O’Connell served as editor-in-chief of Comprehensive Psychiatry from 1984 to 1996.

A member of the American Medical Association, Dr. O’Connell is a fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and of the New York Academy of Medicine where he has served as vice chairman of the Board of Trustees. He was a member of that board from 1988 to 1997. Dr. O’Connell is a fellow of the American Psychopathological Association and a member of the American College of Psychiatrists.

Dr. O’Connell is active in numerous organizations, among them The Rockefeller University where he has been a member of the Council since 1991; Catholic Charities, Archdiocese of New York, for which he served as a trustee from 1991 to 1997; and the University Club of New York, of which he was president from 1993-1995. He is a trustee of Our Lady of Mercy Medical Center. In 1997, he was elected a director of The Catholic Communal Fund. Dr. O’Connell was appointed chair of the Task Force on Medical Education for the Catholic Health Care Network in 1996.

In 1963, Dr. O’Connell received his M.D. degree from Cornell University Medical College. During his studies at Cornell, he received a fellowship at Oxford University Medical College. He did his residency in psychiatry at Saint Vincents Hospital and Medical Center and was chief resident. He also completed a surgical internship and a fellowship in psychopharmacology research there. His residency training was interrupted by military service; he was commissioned a captain in the U.S. Army in 1965.

Dr. O’Connell received his undergraduate degree cum laude from the College of the Holy Cross in 1959. He is a graduate of Fordham Preparatory School. Born in New York City in 1938, Dr. O’Connell is married to Jane Burke O’Connell. The couple has three children, two sons and a daughter.

Registration for the conference will be open until April 16th, 2008.

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