DR.  RICARDO
KOMOTAR
MD, FAANS, FACS

Miriam Kalamian is a nutrition consultant, educator, and author specializing in the implementation of ketogenic therapies. She earned her master of education (EdM) from Smith College and her master of human nutrition (MS) from Eastern Michigan University. She is board certified in nutrition (CNS) by the Board for Certification of Nutrition Specialists. Inspired by the work of Thomas N. Seyfried, PhD, Miriam draws on a decade of experience to provide comprehensive guidelines that specifically address the many diet and lifestyle challenges associated with a cancer diagnosis. Miriam is a leading voice in the keto movement. Her passion for helping others implement this diet comes directly from her personal experience. Her son Raffi was diagnosed with a brain tumor in December 2004. Standard of care therapies failed to stop the relentless progression of his disease, and it became painfully clear that she needed to switch gears quickly. That is what originally led her to Dr. Thomas Seyfried’s research supporting the use of the ketogenic diet for cancer. Beyond cancer, Miriam integrates nutritional strategies with metabolic therapies and lifestyle modifications to develop personalized treatments that address a broad spectrum of conditions that are currently considered intractable, including age-related, neurodegenerative, and bariatric diseases.

Dr. Al Musella interest in brain tumors started when his sister-in-law, Lana, was diagnosed with a GBM in 1992, and was told it was hopeless. After surgery and radiation, the tumor was larger than before the surgery and she was told she only had a few weeks left to live and there was no treatment options for her other than a standard course of BCNU, which had no chance to help her for more than a few extra weeks. Al created and ran the Brain Tumor Forum on Compuserve in January 1993. He organized the members and had them help survey every major hospital in the USA to find what treatments were available. That list was posted on Compuserve and became the basis for the first internet database of clinical trials. At that time, the NCI only maintained lists of clinical trials that they funded, not the trials sponsored by the drug companies or the individual doctors or hospitals. The NCI invited Al to demonstrate his technology to them, and the clinicaltrials.gov website was created. Dr. Musella is currently focused on getting a new law passed called the promising pathway act. It will create a conditional approval pathway for brain tumor (and other serious diseases) treatments, as well as a learning system to track all patients who use the conditionally approved treatments.

Brian Levine has a rich work experience spanning over several years. Brian started their career at Goldman Sachs in 1994 and worked their way up to become a Partner and co-head of Global Equities Trading and Execution Services. At Goldman Sachs, they served on various committees, including the Firmwide Risk Committee, Firmwide Technology Risk Committee, and Securities Division Executive Committee. Brian retired from Goldman Sachs in 2019. Afterwards, they co-founded The Public Health Company in 2020, where they held the position of Co-Founder and Senior Advisor. The Public Health Company specializes in biosecurity and offers a SaaS-enabled service for the management of bio-risks. Currently, Brian is serving as the Interim Chief Executive Officer at Major League Pickleball. Brian Levine completed a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree at Emory University - Goizueta Business School from 1992 to 1994. Prior to that, they earned a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree from the University of Florida, where they studied from 1988 to 1992.

Lewis C. Cantley, PhD, is a Professor of Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School. Prior to this appointment, he was the Margaret and Herman Sokol Professor and Meyer Director of the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center at Weill Cornell Medical College/Ronald P. Stanton Clinical Cancer Program at New York Presbyterian Hospital (2012-22). Dr. Cantley is a graduate of West Virginia Wesleyan College, obtained a PhD in biophysical chemistry from Cornell University, completed postdoctoral training at Harvard University, and subsequently taught and conducted research in biochemistry, physiology and cancer biology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School. His laboratory discovered the PI 3-Kinase pathway that plays a critical role in insulin signaling and in cancers. Dr. Cantley was elected to the National Academy of Inventors in 2020, the Institute of Medicine in 2014, the National Academy of Sciences in 2001, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1999. Among his other awards are the ASBMB Avanti Award for Lipid Research in 1998, the Heinrich Wieland Preis for Lipid Research in 2000, the Caledonian Prize from the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2002, the 2005 Pezcoller Foundation–AACR International Award for Cancer Research, the 2009 Rolf Luft Award for Diabetes and Endocrinology Research from the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, the 2011 Pasrow Prize for Cancer Research, the 2013 Breakthrough in Life Sciences Prize and the 2013 Jacobaeus Prize for Diabetes Research from the Karolinska Institute and the 2015 AACR Princess Takamatsu Memorial Lectureship.

Fifteen-time Emmy Award-winning journalist Teresa Rodríguez was the spokesperson of Univision’s corporate initiative “Univisionarios,” (2021-2023) which celebrated the positive contributions of Hispanics in the United States. For over 20 years, she was the co-anchor of the primetime award-winning weekly newsmagazine program, “Aquí y Ahora,” (Here and Now), in which she covered investigative and consumer stories as well as conducted interviews with leading newsmakers, politicians and celebrities. She is the recipient of a George Foster Peabody Award and a Silver Angel Award for Excellence in Media. She was named to the 2013 Power Women list by New York Moves Magazine and was recognized by The Hollywood Reporter for having one of the top 10 highest Q scores for Spanish-speaking U.S. Latinos. She was also honored with the Silver Circle Award from the Suncoast, Florida chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. In 2016, she received a GLAAD award for her special, “En Cuerpo Ajeno,” (“In a Foreign Body”), which examined the lives of four transgender individuals. In 2017 she won another GLAAD outstanding journalism award for her story on a well-known Venezuelan singer and her transgender son. Most recently, Teresa was recognized as “Journalist of the Year” at HPRA’s National ¡Bravo! Awards.

Dr. Grunch was born and raised in Gainesville, Georgia, and graduated from West Hall High School. For undergraduate school, she went to the University of Georgia where she completed her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. Dr. Grunch then attended medical school at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta, Georgia, and subsequently matched in neurological surgery at Duke University where she completed her internship in 2008. She trained in neurological surgery at Duke University and graduated in 2013. At Duke, she earned the Synthes Spine Fellowship from 2010-2011. Dr. Grunch’s main interests are minimally invasive spine techniques and advancing the field of neurotrauma.