Advisors
Nelson Mozia, MD
As of the October edition of 5280, Denver's Magazine, Doctor Nelson Mozia has been voted 13 times as a Top Doc.
Doctor Nelson Mozia's mother, a mid wife in his home land of Nigeria, died of colon cancer on his 18th birthday, prompting him to be a Colorectal Surgeon. Doctor Mozia was Kim Adair's surgeon in 2006.
Surgical Training:
Resident General Surgery, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH - 1975-1979
Chief Resident General Surgery, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH - 1979-1980
Special Fellow, Colon & Rectal Surgery, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH - 1980-1981
Diplomate National Board of Medical Examiners, United States - 1976
Licensure in United States: Ohio state license, 1976; Colorado state license, 1981
Diplomate American Board of Surgery,1981; Recertified 1990 and 2001
Diplomate American Board of Colorectal Surgery, 1982
Photo courtesy of Mo Lukens, Mo's Family Portraits
Brian Aikin, MD, PC
Doctor Aikin is a Board Certified Family Physician. Although his specialties are diabetes, diabetes complications; heart disease, heart failure and stroke, Doctor Aikin gets an A+ for directing Kim Adair to get screened for polyps at Rocky Mountain Gastroenterology Associates. Read Kim's story here. "He is my Five Star Family Physician" says Kim.
Doctor Aikin is affiliated with Exempla Lutheran Medical Center, Centura Health Saint Anthony and Saint Anthony Centra Hospital. He is a graduate of Queen's University Faculty of Health Sciences.
Photo: Doctor Aikin speaking at "Meet the Friends and Doctors of Butt-Check" Event at Evergreen Lake, Evergreen, CO.
James Pulju, MD
Doctor Pulji practices with Rocky Mountain Gastroenterology Associates.
Medical School: University of Southern California, School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, 1986
Internship: University of Southern California Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, 1986-1987
Residency: University of Southern California Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, 1987 -1989
Fellowship: University of Southern California Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, 1989 -1991
Specialty: Gastroenterology
Specialty Board Certification: American Board of Internal Medicine – Internal Medicine, American Board of Internal Medicine – Gastroenterology
Susan Leigh, BSN, RN
After receiving her degree in nursing from the University of Arizona in Tucson, Susan Leigh served as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army and completed a tour of duty in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam, in 1971. Soon after her return from Vietnam, she was diagnosed and treated for Hodgkin’s lymphoma. This experience influenced her decision to enter oncology nursing where she worked with various clinical research teams at the University of Arizona from 1976 to 1989.
Currently, Susan works as a Breast Cancer Survivorship Navigator with Arizona Oncology, a large community-based oncology practice in Tucson. She was a founding member and past president of the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS), and a member of the working committee that developed the Cancer Survival Toolbox: Building Skills That Work for You. Susan also initiated the formation of both the Nurse Survivors Focus Group and the Survivorship Special Interest Group (SIG) within ONS, and is the 1st recipient of the NCCS-sponsored ONS Excellence in Survivor Advocacy Award. She is also the 2009 recipient of the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) Annual Achievement Award.
Susan is a consumer advocate in research at both local and national levels. Locally, she is a member of the Board of Directors for Bag It, a not-for-profit organization that provides information and education to newly diagnosed individuals with cancer and their families. She also serves as a consumer advocate for various projects at the Arizona Cancer Center. Nationally, she sits on committees at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and has been a member of CARRA (Consumer Advocates in Research Related Activities) since its inception.
Her current interests focus on cancer survivorship with special emphasis on long-term and late effects of disease and therapy. Survivorship-related issues are reflected in her speaking engagements, in professional and consumer publications, and in the development of community-based advocacy initiatives. Besides surviving Hodgkin's lymphoma, she has also been treated for breast and bladder cancers. But so far...NO colorectal cancer!
Scott Leischow, Ph.D.
Scott J. Leischow, Ph.D. is professor at The University of Arizona in the Colleges of Medicine and Public Health and is associate director of the Behavioral and Social Sciences Research at the Arizona Cancer Center. Before that, Dr. Leischow served as chief of the Tobacco Control Research Branch at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and while at NCI went on detail to the Office of the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and served as senior advisor for tobacco policy. In that role, Dr. Leischow served as the Secretary’s point person on tobacco.
While at NCI, Dr. Leischow received several awards, including the NIH Director’s Award, NCI Directors Gold Star Award, and the NCI Plain Language Award. He was regularly asked to represent both NCI and NIH on tobacco control matters, including testifying before Congress on tobacco harm reduction. Dr. Leischow also developed and led an effort at NCI which focused on systems thinking, network analysis and knowledge management approaches to help fashion new perspectives and approaches for improving tobacco control and public health. Most of Dr. Leischow’s research and publications focus on pharmacologic and behavioral treatments for tobacco dependence, along with systems approaches to public health.
Dr. Diane Spindler, CTN, PhD
Dr. Spindler has 20 years of experience in Microbiology and Biochemical research. Her continued education in related fields combined with a passion for healing inspired her to open her practice "Mountain Holistic Health" in Indian Hills, Colorado. Dr. Diane Spindler is a Licensed and Certified Traditional Naturopath with a PhD in Nutrition. Her specialties are Blood Chemistry, Immune, Hormone, Neurotransmitter and Allergy Testing, Kinesiology and Iridology. The client's system is balanced, strengthened and cleansed through orthomolecular therapy, suggested dietary and lifestyle modifications and detoxification therapies.
Dr. Spindler can evaluate the physiological systems to create a program specific to a clients needs for healing. Diane is a doctor that helps people heal themselves.
Sign up for her free monthly newsletter on her web site and feel free to contact her with general or specific questions and inquiries.
Dr. Spindler can be reached at:
(303) 697-1736
diane@mountainholistic.com
www.mountainholistic.com
James Moison
I grew up in the health care industry. My father was a Chiropractor / Kinesiologist. The exposure was phenomenal, and I learned a lot at an early age. Following in my father’s footsteps did not happen until much later.
In the meantime, I worked many jobs while going to engineering school. Structure and support, form and function, fascinated me. It wasn’t long until I realized sitting behind a desk all day was not my true aspiration.
Twelve years ago I decided to go to massage therapy school and it has been off to the races every since. I excelled in school, started building a private practice and was soon invited back to teach. Being a teacher quickly makes you realize that in order to keep an edge, you must never stop learning. With that in mind, I pursued a full certification as a personal trainer. This gave me more tools in the implementation of body performance.
Traveling has always been a passion. For two years I was able to travel the U.S. teaching CEU’s in Neuromuscular Therapy to Massage Therapists, Personal Trainers, Therapists and Chiropractors.
Now settled in Boise, my focus is treating a wide variety of cases. I will only recommend products to my clients that produce results. I still teach massage therapy. mIn order to keep my edge these days, I am enjoying finishing up my PHD in Naturopathy.
My hobbies are running, mountain biking, skiing, backpacking and cooking healthy.
James Moison LMT, CPT, CNMT.
John Turenne
John Turenne, founder and President of Sustainable Food Systems, is a nationally recognized leader and innovator in sustainable food practices. Recognizing the impact of food service decision-making on the world around us, John’s consulting company is on the cutting edge in developing best-practices tailored to benefit both the planet and the bottom line for clients.
John and his team at Sustainable Food Systems have worked with visionaries across the country who have had the desire to make positive changes to the way they do business. Sustainable Food Systems brings those ideas and desires to reality through careful assessment, planning, teaching and development.
John’s impressive client list includes The Culinary Institute of America, Yale University, Harvard Medical School, Jamie Oliver Ltd., The New Hampshire Department of Education, Kaiser Permanente, St Lukes Wood River Medical Center as well as several public hospital and school systems.
John Turenne and Sustainable Food Systems continue to harvest national and international recognition.
Tani Bahti, RN, CT, CHPN
Passionate about end of life issues, Tani has spent 25 of her 34 years in nursing focused on improving end of life care. Recognizing how fear, misinformation and lack of information can negatively impact decision-making and the dying experience, she has been committed to improving end of life care through education.
Author of "Dying to Know – Straight Talk About Death & Dying" and producer of the "Straight Talk Series on End of Life", she also wrote and produced the award-winning video, "Living Through Dying—The Struggle for Grace". She has authored articles and booklets about end of life decision-making and care.
Tani is a frequent lecturer for professional and lay groups both locally and nationally and has been the recipient of numerous awards for her work. She developed clinical training programs for the medical and nursing students at the University of Arizona for end of life and hospice care.
Tani is the founder and Executive Director of Passages – Support & Education in End of Life Issues, a non-profit organization devoted to providing compassionate guidance in end of life issues through support, education and research.
Jerry W. Howell, Ph.D.
Dr. Howell is a seasoned health and performance improvement (HPI) strategist that has a broad range of experience in working with employers, patients, providers, insurers, and stakeholder initiatives in key leadership and operations positions. He has been an HPI strategist and change agent for over two decades in bridging the gaps between research and practical application, between clinical sciences and business through proactive and proven leadership.
Dr. Howell has worked as an HPI practitioner and executive with a number of leading organizations. Beginning in 1980 as a health promotion/disease prevention specialist and clinical exercise physiologist, he was a pioneering architect of employee health and performance improvement programs for Eastman Kodak Company. He spent 16 years with Kodak in positions of increasing clinical, strategic, and executive responsibility. As Director of Employee HPI Services for the Colorado Division and then as Corporate Manager of Employee HPI, he held strategic and operational responsibilities for integrated, multidisciplinary employee health management services for $240M in health care for 34,000 employees and their families. He led a community-wide private-public sector collaborative among business (Bausch & Lomb, Frontier, Kodak, Monroe County, University of Rochester, Wegmans, Xerox), physicians (RIPA, RCIPA), hospitals (Rochester Hospital Consortium), public health (Monroe County Public Health), and insurers (Blue Cross/Blue Shield and Preferred Care HMO) to design, implement and evaluate the use of consumer/patient wellness, clinical preventive services, risk reduction, chronic disease management, and self-management decision support systems for optimizing total value of the Rochester Health Care System.
Following his tenure with Kodak, he became Corporate Director of the Institute for Healthcare Management for PhyCor, Inc., a physician practice management company that operated multispecialty clinics (48 clinics, 3,076 physicians, 400 service sites) and IPAs (33 markets and 24,000 physicians); managed a total of 3.9M managed care lives and $3.4B in health care. Under his leadership the Institute served as a vehicle for national, regional, and local clinical and operational performance improvement initiatives for affiliated physicians. He was a principal architect and co-directed the launch of the National Forum for Condition-Specific (asthma, CHF, diabetes) Best Practices for 300 physicians and practice managers as well as 9 nation-wide, condition-specific (preventive services/risk management, asthma, breast cancer, cardiovascular, diabetes, low back pain, arthritis, pediatric asthma, musculoskeletal) physician-driven care management councils.
In 1999 he joined OpTx Oncology Solutions, Inc., an oncology-specific practice management and software company supporting care and research for more than 200,000 cancer patients. As Corporate Manager for Clinical Outcomes Research Services, Dr. Howell was responsible for the implementation of clinical quality performance indicators and performance improvement initiatives for comprehensive cancer centers and community oncology practices. In 2001, he co-founded and served as President of Navitas Cancer Rehabilitation Centers of America, Inc. Dr. Howell was a principal architect for the clinical and business proforma that resulted in $8 million in venture capital for Navitas to own and operate cancer rehabilitation and symptoms management centers in Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico. Health improvement, symptoms management and quality of life services are provided through an array of complementary/integrative therapies before, during, and following cancer treatment.
Most recently, Dr. Howell served as Vice President, Quality and Patient Safety, at The Children’s Hospital in Denver. In this capacity, he provided leadership for hospital-wide quality improvement, patient safety, strategic planning, strategy aligned management, and balanced scorecard initiatives.
He is a Partner with Integrated Healthplan Solutions, an organization that provides health plan solutions for employers who believe employee health impacts performance and overall costs. He has provided consultations on employee health and performance improvement for a number of organizations. A partial listing includes: New England Medical Center, Institute for Healthcare Improvement, Community-wide Health Improvement Learning Collaborative, Coors Brewing Company, Ball Aerospace, Hewlett-Packard, Eastman Chemical Company, Central New York Employers Benefit Coalition, Community Benefit Group of Colorado, U.S. West Communications.
Dr. Howell is a Certified Exercise Specialist with the American College of Sports Medicine; earned a BA in Health Education and Exercise Physiology, an MS from the University of Colorado in Applied Physiology and Kinesiology, and a PhD from the University of Colorado in Health and Behavioral Sciences.