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. 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 Memorial Hospital where he is currently an attending physician. Dr. Papa is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, 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 involved in a number of medical, civic and community activities and boards including his role as a board member of the largest health foundation in Upstate New York - the Greater Rochester Healthcare Foundation, volunteer work with the uninsured, as a New York Council member for the American College of Physicians and is currently President of the local medical society.

Kathy Cole-Kelly, MS, MSW
Professor, Family Medicine
CWRU School of Medicine

Kathy Cole-Kelly, MS, MSW is professor of Family Medicine at Case School of Medicine. She is the Director of the Communications in Medicine curriculum at the medical school as well as co-directing the Foundations of Clinical Medicine seminars ON DOCTORING. Ms. Cole-Kelly is a frequent national and international speaker or workshop leader at meetings dedicated to doctor patient communication, medical family interviewing, and addressing the core competencies in medical education. She has been part of several major grant initiatives on doctor patient communication curriculum, most significantly with the Macy Foundation on Healthcare Communication grants both at Case Western School of Medicine and University of Massachusetts School of Medicine. She has been recognized as an outstanding teacher and won the most prestigious teaching award at the medical school, the Kaiser Permanente Outstanding Teacher award that was given to one clinical faculty and one basic science faculty each year.

Ms. Cole-Kelly has published multiple articles in the areas of doctor patient communication and medical family interviewing. She has written many book chapters on these topics and is a contributor to the doc.com interactive educational modules produced by the American Academy of Communication in Healthcare. For 19 years Ms. Cole-Kelly directed the psychosocial curriculum in the Department of Family Medicine at Metrohealth Hospital.

Jeffrey H. Peters, M.D.
Surgeon-in-Chief, Strong Memorial Hospital

Dr. Peters currently serves as the Seymour I. Schwartz Professor and chairman of the Department of Surgery at the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC), and surgeon-in-chief of Strong Memorial Hospital.  Dr. Peters was formerly Professor of Surgery at University of Southern California School of Medicine and Chief, Division of General Surgery, at USC University Hospital in Los Angeles.

Dr. Peters graduated from The Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health in 1981. He pursued an internship and residency in surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital, as well as a postdoctoral fellowship in immunology at Johns Hopkins. He served as an honorary registrar at The John Radcliff Hospital in Oxford, England; and studied as a clinical esophageal fellow at Creighton University Department of Surgery.

Dr. Peters has served as President of the Society of American Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) and as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Society of Surgery of the Alimentary Tract. He has been listed among the Best Doctors in America, as Physician of the Year at USC University Hospital and has received a Distinguished Alumni Award from Ohio State University College of Medicine. Dr. Peters has served as a consultant to industry on many occasions and is an NIH funded researcher in the field of esophageal adenocarcinoma. He has authored more than 180 peer-reviewed original articles and more than 75 book chapters.

Ryan D. Madanick, M.D.
Assistant Professor of Medicine
University of North Carolina
School of Medicine

Ryan D. Madanick, M.D. is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at UNC School of Medicine in Chapel Hill, North Carolina and works in the Center for Esophageal Diseases and Swallowing.  He specializes in managing patients with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and swallowing problems. 

Dr. Madanick attended the University of Miami in the Honors Program in Medicine, where he earned both his undergraduate and medical degrees. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he was awarded Intern of the Year and Outstanding Teaching Resident.  He returned to Miami for his subspecialty fellowship in gastroenterology at Jackson Memorial Hospital/University of Miami Medical Center.  After completing
his fellowship, he remained on the faculty at the University of Miami, where the medical students recognized him by awarding him the Student Inpatient Teaching Award for his role in their clinical education.  He moved to UNC in November 2006, where he continues to play an active role in the education of medical students and resident physicians.  He is board certified in both Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology. 

Gladys Velarde, M.D.
Director, Women's Heart Program
Strong Heart and Vascular Center

Dr. Velarde is the Director of the Women's Heart Program at the Strong Heart and Vascular Center. She is an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine. Dr. Velarde received her medical degree from New York University School of Medicine. She completed her residency at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center and fellowships in cardiology at Boston University and Mt. Sinai Hospitals. She is board certified in cardiovascular disease.

Dr. Velarde's practice stresses preventive care for women (and men) at risk for cardiovascular disease and early detection of cardiac-related problems. The Women's Heart Center is unique, comprised entirely of female physicians, nurse practitioners and support staff, offering  specialties from all areas of cardiology, as well as heart surgery and vascular surgery.

In addition to clinical care, her research interests include assessment of novel markers of cardiovascular disease in women with the metabolic syndrome. Currently she is the principal investigator of the PINK (Prothrombotic, INflammatory marKers) study, the first women-only study in female patients with the metabolic syndrome. The study focuses on blood markers that may put women with this syndrome at higher risk for cardiovascular events.

Susan Pirozzolo
GERD Patient

Susan Pirozzolo is the community information specialist for the Horseheads Central School District in Horseheads, New York. The district, in the Southern Tier of New York, includes 4300 students and 700 employees in seven schools. Susan is responsible for all communications activities for the district, including development of the district newsletter and other publications, media relations, website coordination, and grantwriting. Prior to joining the district in 1998, she was the community relations specialist for the National Warplane Museum and marketing coordinator for a local credit union. She holds a bachelor's degree in English/Communications from LeMoyne College in Syracuse, New York. Susan is the secretary of the board of directors of the Chemung County YMCA, a member of the Village of Horseheads Master Planning Committee, and a volunteer for the Twin Tiers Komen Race for the Cure, United Way, and various community events. She has been
 living with GERD for several years now.