Advisory Council
Oliver C. Wenker, MD, MBA, DEAA
Director of Technology Discovery, Professor of Anesthesiology, Adjunct Professor for Health Informatics, The University of Texas; CEO, Internet Scientific Publications LLC.
Dr. Wenker started his career as an anesthesiologist in 1985. He is triple European board certified in anesthesiology, critical care medicine and emergency/disaster medicine. Dr. Wenker served many years as an emergency trauma physician and as a disaster medicine triage and lead physician being directly involved in over 700 rescue missions. In 2004, Dr. Wenker earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the Jones Graduate School for Management at Rice University in Houston, Texas, receiving the prestigious Jones Award for Academic Excellence.
Since 2001, Dr. Wenker is MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Director of Technology Discovery. In this function, he is responsible for identifying promising new technologies and creating multidisciplinary project teams to guide faculty towards commercialization. His expertise and contributions have led to the reduction in business risk of early-stage emerging technologies, improved intellectual property development, and improved the likelihood for the University of Texas to license or spin off these new technologies into clinical and commercial applications.
Dr. Wenker’s special interests involve electronic publishing and the use of digital information for education. In 1996, he founded Internet Scientific Publications, LLC. This online platform became the world’s largest independent electronic medical publishing house. Approximately 27,000 daily readers enjoy the free medical content offered by the site. Dr. Wenker created and launched 76 online journals in the past twelve years. He assembled over 1,200 international editors and reviewers and closely collaborates with over 60 editors-in-chief. For two consecutive years he won the esteemed ASA (American Society of Anesthesiologists) “Exceptional Merit for Outstanding Education in Anesthesia Award.” In addition, he won over 20 awards for his online journals and most recently received the Golden Web Award presented by the International Association of Webmasters and Designers. He consults professional athletes from the NFL in doping-free performance enhancement through natural nutritional products. He is currently working on his American Board Certification in Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine.
Andrew Heyman, MD, MHSA
Director of Medical Acupuncture, Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Michigan; CEO, Wellness Business Solutions
Dr. Heyman is a nationally-recognized expert in natural medicine and on faculty in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Michigan. He has been involved in the field of anti-aging and integrative medicine for over two decades and has extensive experience in nutrition, vitamins, herbology, Chinese medicine, manual therapies and more.
Dr. Heyman received a Masters in Health Services Administration at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and, upon graduation, became the administrator for the University of Michigan Complementary and Alternative Medicine Research Center where he was responsible for administering a $7 million NIH grant to research alternative therapies for cardiovascular diseases. He was directly responsible for business development, staff management and community education programs. The center was one of the first in the country to place alternative therapies and their scientific examination in an academic center and has since grown into the Program in Integrative Medicine, which celebrated its 10-year anniversary in 2008.
Early in his career, he developed an interest in increasing access of natural therapies to underserved populations. In 1990, he received formal training in Five Element Shiatsu, a form of Japanese manual therapy from the Meridian Shiatsu Institute in Pennsylvania. He partnered with the University of Pennsylvania to create a set of wellness programs that taught self-care methods, meditation and nutrition to poor communities in Philadelphia. He continued this work with Jim Gordon, MD at the Center for Mind-Body Medicine in Washington DC exploring the intersection between public health, at-risk groups, and alternative therapies.
Dr. Heyman currently holds several leadership positions in the field of anti-aging and integrative medicine. He is the national clinical chair of the Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine, a collaboration of 42 North American universities that maintain a strong interest in the combination of conventional with natural therapies. He also concurrently holds the position of Assistant Director of the Fellowship in Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine, the only program of its kind to fully educate physicians in the emerging specialty of Anti-Aging Medicine.
Dr. Heyman is also the President of the Lavalle Institute for Education, an intensive training program for physicians already trained in Integrative Medicine designed to refine their knowledge base and clinical skills. He also holds the position of Editor-In-Chief of the Internet Journal of Anti-Aging and Aesthetic Medicine.
Dr. Heyman remains clinically active as well, which includes providing medical acupuncture at the University of Michigan, in addition to directing a medical spa and several private practices. He also consults to physicians, health systems and public health professionals seeking to develop wellness, lifestyle and nutrition programs. Finally, Dr. Heyman has been featured on the Discovery Channel, Martha Stewart Living Magazine, Ladies Home Journal, Natural Health Magazine and appeared in many other TV and print venues and is a sought after speaker around the country on natural health topics.
Ron Rothenberg, MD, FACEP
Diplomate, American Board of Anti-Aging/Regenerative Medicine; Board Certified; American Board of Emergency Medicine Founder; California HealthSpan Institute
Dr. Rothenberg graduated from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York in 1970 and completed his residency in Emergency Medicine at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center in 1975. He received an academic appointment to the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine in 1977 and was promoted to full Clinical Professor of Preventive and Family Medicine in 1989.
Dr. Rothenberg has been an Attending Physician at Scripps Memorial Hospital, Encinitas, California since 1982. As a pioneer in the field of Anti-Aging/Regenerative Medicine, Dr. Rothenberg was the tenth physician in the world to become fully board certified in this specialty. Dr. Rothenberg founded the California HealthSpan Institute in San Diego, California in 1998 with a commitment to transforming our understanding of and finding treatments for the disease process called aging. Dr. Rothenberg lectures internationally and has educated over 25,000 physicians, teaching the latest trends and clinical applications in anti-aging/regenerative medicine.
Challenging traditional medicine’s approach to treating the external symptoms of aging, California HealthSpan Institute works toward preventing the disease process typically associated with aging by addressing the internal causes before they become external symptoms. Dr. Rothenberg is the best-selling author of the book Forever Ageless: Advanced Edition.
Stephanie Chaney, DC
Board Certified Chiropractor; VP, Maryland Board of Chiropractic Examiners; International Chiropractors Association Fellow; CBP Chiropractor of the Year Awardee; Owner and Director, Living Health Chiropractic, LLC.
Dr. Chaney was diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis at 8 years of age. Through key dietary changes encouraged by her Naturopath and Family Physician, who was both an MD and DC, by her teenage years she was in complete remission.
This early understanding of the role of proper nutrition and dietary habits and their direct correlation with wellness and the quality of life, led Dr. Chaney into a lifelong commitment to understanding various states of wellness without the need for drugs and surgery.
Upon graduating from The University of Ottawa in Canada with a Bachelor’s degree in science, Dr. Chaney made the decision to become a chiropractor with a special emphasis on nutrition, and chose to pursue her Doctorate Degree in Chiropractic at New York Chiropractic College and received her degree in 2001.
Currently, Dr. Chaney, along with her husband, Dr. Tom Chaney, own and operate Living Health Chiropractic. The main focus in the practice is on nutritional counseling, as well as on her weight loss and detoxification programs. Dr. Chaney is constantly involved on state and national levels helping to create the first comprehensive practice guidelines and complete chiropractic research database for the International Chiropractors Association. In 2007 she was elected by the Governor of Maryland in to the Maryland Chiropractic Board of Examiners.
Sahar Swidan, Pharm.D., BCPS
Clinical Associate Professor of Pharmacy, University of Michigan, College of Pharmacy, Ann Arbor; Michigan GNP Pharmacist of The Year Awardee
Dr. Swidan obtained her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Michigan and additionally completed a 3-year research fellowship in Bio-Pharmaceutics at the University of Michigan. She was previously the Director of Pharmacy at Chelsea Community Hospital and the Clinical Pharmacist for the inpatient head and chronic pain service. Currently she is President & CEO of Pharmacy Solutions in Ann Arbor, Michigan which is a unique, personal and educational specialty pharmacy. She is also Clinical Associate Professor of Pharmacy at the University of Michigan, College of Pharmacy. Dr. Swidan is an internationally-known speaker in the area of pain management and she has authored several books, articles and patient education material in the area of pain management.