Louis J. Papa, M.D
Primary Care Physician
Partner, Olsan Medical Group, Strong Health, Rochester, NY
 
Louis J. Papa M.D., FACP is board certified in Internal Medicine and is a primary care physician and partner at Olsan Medical Group.  He is an Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of Rochester, where he helps educate internal medicine residents on primary outpatient care.  He is also an attending physician at Strong Memorial Hospital. In 1989, Dr. Papa graduated from the State University of New York at Stony Brook School of Medicine and came to Rochester to complete his residency at Strong.  He is a member of the American College of Physicians.   Dr. Papa was elected a Fellow of the American College of Physicians at age 33, is a former Delegate for the Young Physicians Section representing New York State to the American Medical Association, and was named by his peers to "Best Doctors in America" in 2001.  He was selected by "Rochester Business Journal" as one of the "Forty under Forty" young community leaders in 2001 and was named as one of only 25 physicians under 40 years old nationally to receive the "Excellence in Medicine Award" from the American Medical Association Foundation for leadership in 2003. Dr. Papa is a member of numerous medical, civic and community committees and boards including volunteer work with the uninsured, and as Vice- President of the local medical society.

Alok A. Khorana, M.D., F.A.C.P.
Assistant Professor of Medicine, James P. Wilmot Cancer Center,
University of Rochester

Alok A. Khorana, M.D., is Assistant Professor of Medicine at the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center of the University of Rochester, where he is a key member of the Multidisciplinary GI Cancer Program.  A graduate of Maharaja Sayajirao University in Baroda, India, he completed his residency in internal medicine at the University at Buffalo in 1999 and his fellowship in hematology/oncology at the University of Rochester in 2002.  Dr. Khorana's clinical and translational research program focuses on predictive factors in gastrointestinal oncology and cancer-associated thrombosis.  His scientific work has been published in several peer-reviewed journals including Journal of Clinical Oncology, Cancer, Lancet Oncology, Blood, and Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology.  He has been elected a Fellow of the American College of Physicians and is an active member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, American Society of Hematology and International Society of Thrombosis and Haemostasis.  Dr. Khorana also serves on the GI Committees of the Southwest Oncology Group and American College of Surgeons Oncology Group.  In addition to his scientific work, Dr. Khorana occasionally writes fiction, some of which has been published in Health Affairs and Medical Humanities.   

Sapna Syngal, M.D.
Director of the Brigham and Women's Gastroenterology
Center for the Screening, Early Detection and Prevention of Cancer

Dr. Sapna Syngal received her MD from McGill University in 1990 and completed her clinical training in internal medicine and gastroenterology at Brigham and Women's Hospital. She received her Masters in Public Health from Harvard School of Public Health and completed a research fellowship at the Harvard Education Program in Cancer Prevention. In 1995, she joined the faculty of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Harvard Medical School where she is principally involved in clinical care and research in the genetics, early detection and prevention of gastrointestinal cancer. She is the Director of the Brigham and Women's Gastroenterology Center for the Screening, Early Detection and Prevention of Cancer. She directs a NIH-funded research program that focuses on the genetics and prevention of colorectal and pancreatic cancers.  She has long been an advocate of colorectal cancer screening and prevention and lectures extensively nationally to physicians, other health care providers, and patients about the benefits of colorectal cancer screening and the importance of identifying individuals and families at high risk for developing colorectal cancer.   

David Katz, M.D., M.P.M., F.A.C.P.M.
Author, The Way to Eat
Co-Founder and Director, Yale's Prevention Research Center

David L. Katz, M.D., MPH, FACPM, FACP is Associate Clinical Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health at the Yale University School of Medicine, where he Directs Yale's Prevention Research Center.  He is a board-certified specialist in both Internal Medicine and Preventive Medicine, and has been in clinical practice for 15 years.  He is a nationally renowned expert on nutrition and weight control, and has served as a consultant to the US Secretary of Health, the US Food and Drug Administration, the Florida Governor's Obesity Task Force, and the Ministries of Health in Canada and Israel.  Dr. Katz has published some 70 scientific articles and 7 books to date, including a nutrition textbook for clinicians, and a book for the public detailing skills and strategies for lifelong healthful eating and weight control, entitled The Way to Eat (Sourcebooks, 2002; www.thewaytoeat.net). A featured speaker in 2004 at the TIME Magazine/ABC News Summit on Obesity in Williamsburg, VA, Dr. Katz is also featured in an upcoming PBS special on the obesity epidemic hosted by Walter Cronkite, and a VH1 celebrity weight loss program to air in January, '05.  Dr. Katz is the nutrition columnist to 'O,' the Oprah Magazine, contributing a monthly column entiteld 'The Way to Eat.'  In early '05, he will be launching a nutrition column with the New York Times syndicate.  Dr. Katz lives in Connecticut with his wife, Catherine, and their 5 children: Rebecca, Corinda, Valerie, Natalia, and Gabriel.

Eric Logan
IT Project Manager in Kodak's Worldwide Information Systems organization

Eric Logan has been actively involved in the community since his arrival to Rochester in 1973 as a student at Roberts Wesleyan College. Working as a volunteer "peer" counselor in local urban and suburban high schools while completing his undergraduate education, he saw the great potential of this community as an exciting place to live, work, and raise a family.

Eric has worked in the community in local media as a news reporter and has volunteered extensively at the community public broadcast facility, WXXI. Since 1981, he has enjoyed a rewarding career at Eastman Kodak Company, where he currently serves as an IT Project Manager in Kodak's Worldwide Information Systems organization.

Eric's community activities have included serving as past President of the Friends of Mount Hope Cemetery, member of the Board of the Susan B. Anthony House, and as a Mayoral appointee of the Rochester/Monroe County Freedom Trail Commission. Eric also serves as the current Chair of the WXXI Community Advisory Board.  

Eric and his wife Anne live in Rochester's South Wedge community where they are actively involved in neighborhood and community initiatives.  They are empty-nesters with a son and daughter and grandson. Eric is also active in his local church (New Hope Free Methodist Church) where he serves as a musician and worship leader.

During their "free time", you will find Eric and Anne enjoying a quiet round of golf on any of the local public golf courses.

Eric's personal story about battling colorectal cancer: Eric consulted his PCP in July 2001 when he noticed blood in the stool. Subsequent fecal occult blood tests were negative until a repeat test in October confirmed Eric's visual findings. A late November colonoscopy revealed a large mass approximately the size of an orange that had grown through the wall of the colon. Surgery to remove the mass confirmed that the cancer was classified as Stage 3C with the involvement of 1 lymph (sentinel) node with some cancerous cells at the margins of the surgery. Eric, and his wife Anne, agreed that the recommended procedure of adjuvant chemotherapy including radiation treatment was the best option. Eric remains in remission today and credits his survival to the love and support of his family, his church, and friends, skilled and knowledgeable physicians, and his employer's flexibility in allowing Eric to balance work and recovery.

Elissa Orlando
Civilian Guest

Elissa L. Orlando is a 20-year veteran of public affairs programming and multimedia storytelling. Orlando is director of national programming and special projects at WXXI Public Broadcasting. She was producer of the nationally televised Crucible of Freedom companion program to Ken Burns Not for Ourselves Alone.  Orlando has won several New York State broadcasting awards for television news reporting in Somalia Africa, Homestead Florida and other local and national venues.  She is a recipient of the Gracie award for television programming from American Women in Radio and Television, and she is the recipient of a Telly award for her production of the TV documentary Reclaiming the Crescent.  Orlando also received the Woman of the Distinction award from the Jefferson County Women's Conference in 1995. She was formerly TV news and public affairs director at WXXI, where she also served as executive producer, Website editor and news anchor of Need to Know, WXXI's Emmy Award-winning newsmagazine.