President

Dexter Shurney, MD, MBA, MPH, FACLM

Dexter Shurney, MD, MBA, MPH, FACLM  is the Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of Clinical Affairs for Zipongo, a San Francisco-based based digital health and wellness company. Dr. Shurney is the former Chief Medical Director / Executive Director for Global Health Benefits and Corporate Wellness for Cummins, Inc. Prior to Cummins, he was the Chief Medical Director of the Employee Health Plan for Vanderbilt University and Medical Center. During his tenure at Vanderbilt he also held joint faculty appointments as Assistant Clinical Professor, Division of Internal Medicine and Public Health, and Adjunct Faculty, Owens Graduate School of Management.

Other positions that Dr. Shurney has held include Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for Healthways, Senior Health Policy Strategist in the Division of Government Affairs for the biotechnology company Amgen Inc., Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of medical affairs for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, and Editor of the Journal of Managed Care Physicians.

Dr. Shurney serves on numerous boards including: the Global Business Group on Health, and the National Association of Managed Care Physicians. He was also the most recent Chair of the Business Strategies Committee for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)/National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP). Shurney is co-author of the book “Integrating Wellness into Your Disease Management Programs.” 

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President Elect

Catherine Collings, M.D. F.A.C.C. M.S.

Dr. Cate Collings is a board-certified practicing cardiologist in Silicon Valley. She received her BS at the University of California and her MS in Exercise Physiology followed by an MD degree at the University of Wisconsin. Returning to California, her residency and cardiology fellowship training were completed at Stanford University Medical Center.

Dr. Collings established and provides ongoing medical directorship to the El Camino Hospital Cardiopulmonary Wellness Center targeting lifestyle measures to improve the health of cardiac patients. In addition to her clinical work, she is developing a Women’s Heart Center to focus on women specific cardiovascular disease management and on the unique application of lifestyle competencies to women and their family’s heart health.

Dr. Collings joined the ACLM Board in 2015 to bridge to the cardiology community and promote lifestyle intervention on equal footing with other cardiovascular interventions. She is passionate about the importance of physician-patient partnerships to co-navigate the abundance of health information and mobile health technologies so that patients achieve meaningful health outcomes. She loves spare time-particularly active travel vacations, culinary explorations, and family time.

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Past President

George E. Guthrie MD, MPH, CDE, FACLM, FAAFP

Dr. George Guthrie received his MD degree from Loma Linda University in 1981. After completing his Family Practice Residency at Hinsdale Hospital near Chicago he joined a multi-specialty medical group on the island of Guam. The high incidence of Type 2 Diabetes in his patients led to a growing interest in the effective lifestyle treatment of the disease.

A return to clinical practice took Dr. Guthrie to the foothills of the California Sierra Nevada Mountains where he continued to apply his community lifestyle medicine focus from a traditional allopathic medical clinic. He and his wife, Dena, successfully piloted and ran annual seven, week-long, community based programs designed to lower the risk of heart disease using lifestyle principles.

In the last few years Dr. Guthrie has had the privilege of being involved in the development several lifestyle change programs including the Coronary Health Improvement Project (CHIP), The Wellspring Diabetes Program, and the CREATION Health program. This has led to the opportunity to speak on lifestyle medicine around the United States and other English speaking countries for a variety of audiences. In 2008 he had the opportunity to be host on a healthy living series for TV entitled, Your Life and Health.

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Secretary

Deepa Sannidhi, MD

Deepa Sannidhi, MD, is dually trained in the specialties of Family Medicine and Preventive Medicine. She is currently employed as a staff physician at UC San Diego School of Medicine, where she teaches medical students and residents. She will be transitioning to the role of Associate Clinical Professor of Family Medicine in the near future. Her training has focused on gaining expertise in Nutrition, Obesity and Lifestyle Medicine. As a resident physician, Dr. Sannidhi served on the board of ACLM’s Professionals in Training (PiT) as VP for Education and then subsequently as President. During her tenure, she spearheaded the creation of a graduate medical education database. She also founded the Residency Curriculum Working Group, a collaboration between ACLM PiT, Loma Linda Health, and the Lifestyle Medicine Education Collaborative (LMed) to advance Lifestyle Medicine in Residency Training. Under her leadership as President, the Professionals in Training started the Careers in Lifestyle Medicine Webinar Series and has embarked on a nation-wide research project to study Lifestyle Medicine training and interest among health-professions trainees. She has served as a consultant and faculty for the American College of Preventive Medicine during a CDC funded curriculum in Lifestyle Medicine for Primary Care Providers. She has worked with San Diego Department of Public Health to pilot a referral program from an academic primary care clinic to the county’s Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), educating clinicians and medical staff in Primary Care settings about Lifestyle Medicine and the DPP. She currently also manages the residency curriculum training of the Preventive Medicine Residents at UC San Diego in Lifestyle Medicine.

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Treasurer

Quinn Pauly, MD, FAAFP

Quinn Pauly is Program Director for Intensive Cardiac Rehabilitation, and Section Chief of the Wellness Network at Renown Health in Reno, Nevada. Dr. Pauly completed his Bachelor of Arts in Biology at Pomona College before receiving his MD degree from University of Nevada School of Medicine in 1990, and then completed his residency in Family Medicine at UCSF/Natividad Medical Center in 1993. Quinn is a practicing clinician, with an emphasis on Lifestyle Medicine, and a Clinical Assistant Professor at University of Nevada Reno School of Medicine. He has significant experience in Accountable Care Organization leadership, Executive Health, CHIP Facilitator, and Health Foundation fundraising. Quinn’s other responsibilities at Renown include the Physician Wellness Initiative and the Cancer Survivorship Task Force. Quinn is the proud father of four, and an avid outdoorsman. As ACLM Treasurer, Quinn is most interested in seeing ACLM grow in membership and scholarship, with the goal of making Lifestyle Medicine accessible and affordable for all members of the community.

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Young Director 

Paiyuam (Pi) Asnaashari, DO

Paiyuam (Pi) Asnaashari, received his medical degree from Western University of Health Sciences and is currently a resident physician at UC Davis Family Medicine Program. He will be pursuing a sports medicine fellowship after his residency. He has been volunteering for the ACLM’s Professionals in Training (PiT) committee since medical school and has helped grow Lifestyle Medicine Interest Groups (LMIG’s) across various medical school campuses and create various online Lifestyle Medicine content to stimulate student / trainee interest. As the Young Director, Paiyuam is immensely interested in continuing to garner student / trainee interest in Lifestyle Medicine across many medical schools, grow LMIG’s and create educational content to display importance of Lifestyle Medicine. He is keen on developing and improving behavioral change skills to help his future patients use diet and physical activity as a primary form treatment for preventing and treating chronic disease.  

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Director 

Elizabeth Frates, MD

Elizabeth Pegg Frates, MD, is trained as a physiatrist as well as a health and wellness coach. Dr. Frates is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Harvard College where she majored in psychology and biology. She then graduated from Stanford Medical School and did her internal medicine internship at Massachusetts General Hospital, after which she completed her physiatry residency at Harvard’s Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Dr. Frates has held a faculty appointment at Harvard Medical School (HMS) since 2000, and she is now an Assistant Professor, Part Time. She is an award-winning teacher at HMS. In 2008, she started the first Lifestyle Medicine Interest Group (LMIG) at HMS and has worked with ACLM to help other institutions develop LMIGs in her role as Board Liaison to the Professionals in Training Group. Two years ago, Dr. Frates 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. In addition, to her academic work, Dr. Frates runs her own private practice, helping people adopt healthy habits, through Wellness Synergy, LLC. 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. Co Author of the book, Life After Stroke: The Guide to Recovering Your Health and Preventing Another Stroke, co-author of three chapters on behavior change in different medical textbooks, and author of multiple journal articles on lifestyle medicine, Dr. Frates is currently working on writing her next book. She is passionate about developing programs focused on lifestyle medicine and wellness..  

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Director

Richard Safeer, MD, FAAFP

Richard is Medical Director of Employee Health & Wellness at Johns Hopkins HealthCare LLC. Dr. Safeer completed his Bachelor of Science in Nutrition at Cornell University before graduating from medical school at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He completed his residency in Family Medicine at Franklin Square Hospital Center, in Baltimore, Maryland. After which, he completed a Faculty Development Fellowship at the Virginia Commonwealth University of Medicine in Richmond, Virginia. He is also certified in Clinical Lipidology.

Amongst his responsibilities at Hopkins, includes addressing the employee health initiative, Healthy At Hopkins. He is the clinical lead for the Employee Health Plan. As an assistant Professor in Pediatrics and Internal Medicine in the School of Medicine, he sees patients in the Hopkins Hospital Lipidology clinic, where he is able to instill lifestyle in to his practice. He also holds a joint appointment in the School of Public Health, Department of Health, Behavior and Society.

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Director

James Loomis, MD, MBA

James F. Loomis Jr., M.D., M.B.A., received his medical degree from the University of Arkansas, where he was elected to the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society and graduated with honors. He subsequently completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at Barnes Hospital/Washington University in St. Louis, MO. In addition, Dr. Loomis received an M.B.A. from the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis. He is board certified in internal medicine and has also completed the certification program in Plant-Based Nutrition from Cornell University.

Dr. Loomis is the medical director at the Barnard Medical Center in Washington DC, which emphasizes the importance of a plant-based diet in the prevention, treatment and hopefully reversal of many chronic diseases. Before moving to Washington, he practiced internal medicine at St. Luke’s Hospital in St. Louis, where he was also the director of prevention and wellness. He also served as team internist for the St. Louis Rams football team and the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team, as well as tour physician for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra. He is on the clinical faculty of the department of internal medicine at Washington University School of Medicine.

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Director

Brenda Rea MD, DrPH, PT, RD

Brenda Rea has consistently pursued professional training and experiences to develop knowledge, skills and abilities in relation to lifestyle medicine. Specifically, she obtained her Master’s in Physical Therapy in 1995 and her DrPH in Preventive Care in 2003 from Loma Linda University (LLU). Working as a physical therapist with neurologically impaired, cardiopulmonary, pediatric, and balance disorder clients led her to a strong desire to prevent the debilitating effects of poor lifestyle behaviors. She subsequently transitioned into public health and nutrition where she fully developed and implemented lifestyle and preventive medicine educational interventions in the School of Public Health (SPH) at LLU. During her time as faculty in the LLU SPH, she became a founding member of ACLM.

Dr. Rea’s desire to broaden her expertise and influence in the field of lifestyle medicine led her to complete medical school and Family Medicine Residency at LLU in 2014. She is currently a physician in the Preventive Medicine Department at LLU with responsibilities that include Medical Director of the Employee Wellness program, Associate Program Director of the Family and Preventive Medicine Residency Program, a clinician in primary care and lifestyle medicine clinics, and an instructor of clinical skill development and lifestyle medicine training for residents and medical students. When not at work, Dr. Rea can be found at the local gym exercising with her husband, backpacking in the great outdoors, playing beach volleyball or learning how to cook (yes, I’m a dietitian that is learning to enjoy cooking thanks to amazing plant based chefs!!).

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Director

Amanda McKinney, MD, FACLM, FACOG, CPE

Dr. Amanda McKinney is board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology, Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery, and Lifestyle Medicine. She is also a Certified Physician Executive through the American Association of Physician Leadership and serves as the Founder and Executive Director of the Institute for Human and Planetary Health at Doane University. Through the Institute she develops and delivers Continuing Medical Education in Lifestyle Medicine as well as Planetary Health on edX, Harvard and MIT’s massive open online course provider. The mission of Institute for Human and Planetary Health is to present the evidence that the dietary pattern that best preserves both human and planetary health is based on minimally processed, whole plant foods grown using sustainable and restorative agricultural practices and seeks to provide educational opportunities for those who want to restore human and planetary health, create resilient, healthy communities and help transform current policy that favors high cost medical care, industrial agricultural and food production systems over people and the environment.

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Director

Salvatore Lacagnina, DO

Dr. Salvatore Lacagnina is the System Medical Director of Wellness and Employee Health for Lee Health. In this role, his mission is to motivate, educate and empower people to improve their health and wellness. Dr. Sal, as he likes to be called, is one of Lee Health’s champions responsible for developing a comprehensive health, wellness and preventive care program for more than 13,000 employees and family members. He is the Medical Director for the LH Employee Health clinics and the Medical Director for the Wellness Centers in Cape Coral and Ft. Myers. From 1994-2010 he practiced Internal Medicine with the Lee Physician Group and served as its Medical Director until 2010 before taking on his role as System Medical Director of Wellness and Employee Health. His emphasis is on the prevention and reversal of cardio metabolic diseases, diabetes, weight management, cancer risk factor reduction and overall lifestyle medicine. Dr. Sal earned his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine and he is Board Certified in Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine and in the process of completing the ACLM certification program.. 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. He also speaks publically throughout the community.

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Director

Pankaj Vij , MD, FACP

I have a passion for nutrition and fitness and am interested in slowing down the aging process and optimizing human performance. I believe in improving health span, not just life span by promoting a nutrient dense plant rich diet, regular physical activity, meditation and sleep. I have a strong interest in Mind-Body medicine, stress management and mindfulness and wrote the book Turbo Metabolism: 8 Weeks to a New You: Preventing and Reversing Diabetes, Obesity, Heart Disease, and Other Metabolic Diseases by Treating the Causes.

I am Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Obesity Medicine. I have been practicing in the San Francisco Bay area since 2002. I have helped hundreds of people achieve and maintain their goal weight, reduce stress and improve their overall health. I know that the keys to improved health, vitality and longevity are within our reach and I have helped lots of my patients with these goals without taking more prescription drugs.

I attended medical school at the elite All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India. I completed a residency in Internal Medicine at William Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak, MI.

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Director

Ted Barnett, MD, FACLM

Having practiced in the Rochester, NY area since 2006, Dr. Barnett is the founder, executive medical director and CEO of Rochester Lifestyle Medicine (RLM). With a BS in Intensive Biology from Yale University, he earned his MD from Tufts University School of Medicine, followed by a Flexible Internship with Framingham Union Hospital and a Diagnostic Radiology Residency at Tufts. Board Certified in Diagnostic Imaging, as well as Vascular and Interventional Radiology, he refers to himself as the high-tech doctor with low tech solutions. Dr. Barnett teaches a 6-week plant-based nutrition course which is accredited for 12 professional CMEs, in addition to patient education training offered by he and his RLM team.

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Director

MIchelle McMacken, MD

Michelle McMacken, MD, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at NYU School of Medicine. An honors graduate of Yale University and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, Dr. McMacken practices internal medicine in the Adult Primary Care Center at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue, where she also directs the hospital's Weight Management Program and the Plant-Based Lifestyle Medicine Program. Through a 2014 NYU Merrin Fellowship grant, Dr. McMacken studied evidence-based nutrition and developed a nutrition curriculum for her internal medicine faculty colleagues. She has received the faculty ‘Teacher of the Year’ award three times for her work with physician trainees and has presented on nutrition at the American College of Physicians, the American Diabetes Association, and other national academic conferences. She has also been featured in several documentary films and popular nutrition-related websites and podcasts. Dr. McMacken is a council member for the True Health Initiative, a coalition of health experts from around the world committed to educating on evidence-based, proven principles of lifestyle as medicine. She is proud to serve on the board of ACLM, the organization that catalyzed her passion for lifestyle medicine.

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