I’m a dermatologist who, along with my physician husband, has embraced a whole-food plant-based lifestyle. My practice is devoted to cosmetic and aesthetic procedures, to include liposuction. Many patients seek my services who aren’t candidates for liposuction, but need to lose weight. These patients frequently have lifestyle diseases. I’ve completed the Cornell University Plant-based Nutrition Certificate program through the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies. I’m passionate about health and wellness and love to instill that enthusiasm in others.

I became passionate about a plant based diet after I realized that humans were designed to thrive on plant food. Soon after changing to a plant based diet I began to see the positive effects on my own health. I experienced first hand how effective and immediate a plant based diet can relieve the symptoms of menopause and fatigue. From that point on I incorporated dietary counseling about a plant based lifestyle into my practice. As an obstetrician dealing with high risk pregnancies, I have an opportunity to make a difference that has generational impact. Pregnancy is considered to be a window into a woman’s future health. It is the perfect time to make lifestyle changes that not only improve pregnancy outcomes, but also prevents or reverses obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and autoimmune disease. And a woman that adopts a plant based lifestyle during pregnancy is likely to influence what she feeds her children transforming the health of her entire family.

General Surgeon

I became interested in plant-based nutrition six years ago after my youngest Brother, David died of an MI. Shortly after that I read an article in the New York Times by Michael Ozner MD regarding excess coronary care. In that article, he discussed how one meal affects our blood vessel health for hours. I then began to read more on this topic and the idea of a plant-based diet to not only prevent, but also treat heart disease kept cropping up. Eventually, I discovered Dr. Esselstyn’s program at the Cleveland Clinic. He graciously invited me to attend his program. After changing to a plant-based diet, I lost 35 lbs and was able to stop my statin drug. My cholesterol fell to 130. This experience has opened my eyes to the role diet plays in the rheumatic diseases. There is a robust literature enumerating how diet and other lifestyle factors affect inflammation. Thus, I have incorporated lifestyle medicine into my medical practice, Harbor Arthritis Center PC (www.harborarthritis.com).