The ReachMD team comprises professionals who have expertise in the medical, business, education, legal, and venture capital fields.
David G. Preskill, MD
Founder and Chief Medical Officer
As both practitioner and entrepreneur, Dr. Preskill understands the challenges that the current environment presents to medical professionals as well as the tools and opportunities available for addressing them. Cognizant of the rapidly expanding body of medical research, and the time constraints of healthcare, Dr. Preskill envisioned ReachMD as a platform for helping busy practitioners keep pace with medical discoveries and dialogue without compromising on practice ideals or family demands. ReachMD is his second start-up venture. In 1999, he was the creative force and founder of Inner Vision Imaging, LLC, a medical device company that attempted to develop in-vivo imaging solutions to provide surgeons and pathologists cellular level detail of tissues and organs without the necessity to perform biopsies or organ removals. A board-certified OB/GYN, Dr. Preskill has been in private practice in the Chicago suburbs for 12 years. Dr. Preskill graduated from Northwestern Medical School and the University of Illinois-Urbana.
Gary Epstein
Chief Executive Officer
Gary Epstein, most recently the chief marketing officer for the American Medical Association (AMA), has been recognized as the driving force behind the AMA's re-invigoration and re-branding efforts. During his tenure, Mr. Epstein helped revitalize the AMA's reputation with physicians and patients, while enhancing the AMA's political reputation in Washington D.C., as the leading voice for doctors in America. Prior to joining the AMA, Mr. Epstein served as one of two regional CEO's for North America as part of the French-based Euro RSCG Worldwide. As CEO, Mr. Epstein ran one of the two largest units of Euro RSCG's global holdings with over one billion dollars in advertising billings and 1200 employees located in seven offices throughout the United States and Canada. In 2000, Mr. Epstein was inducted into the American Advertising Federation's Hall of Achievement, which has recognized some of the marketing industry's most outstanding professionals. He was also named as one of Chicago's top business leaders in Crain's Business annual "40 under 40" feature in 1998. Mr. Epstein is on the board of directors of the American Medical Insurance Agency (a subsidiary company of the AMA) and on the board of directors for Snippets Mini-Cuts Children's Hair Salons.
Paul Boidy
Executive Vice President, Sales and Customer Solutions
Paul Boidy has nearly two decades of experience in leading healthcare industry teams in the planning and execution of successful healthcare communications and education initiatives in both promotion and CME. Mr. Boidy was tapped by ReachMD in 2008 to help pharmaceutical, healthcare education and healthcare communications organizations effectively utilize ReachMD's innovative and one-of-a-kind medium to stay abreast of medical discovery and treatment dialogue. Prior to joining ReachMD, Mr. Boidy was director of neuroscience marketing for Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America. In that role, he was responsible for the planning and execution of all professional and consumer strategies involving the company's neuroscience products. Prior to Takeda, Mr. Boidy held positions of increasing responsibility in market development and the successful launch of pharmaceutical products in multiple therapeutic areas including arthritis, pain, anti-infective, sleep disorders and cardiovascular. Mr. Boidy's knowledge and understanding of the regulatory and legal aspects of marketing and medical education within the healthcare industry has proven to be an important benefit when developing solutions to meet the needs of our clients. Mr. Boidy speaks at industry conferences to advise healthcare marketers and communications companies on ways to leverage new media, social media and alternative channels to meet the needs of professional and consumer targets.
Alex Epstein
SVP, Programming, Content and Editorial
Alex Epstein is an electronic media content creation and distribution executive. In this capacity he draws on his 20 years of experience creating, writing, producing and directing a wide variety of award-winning internet, radio, video-on-demand, television broadcast, cable, and interactive projects. While in Chicago, Mr. Epstein has worked primarily as executive producer for electronic production companies, notably AnswersMedia, Inc.; Bader TV News; Del Hall Video; MindSight, and the Orbis Broadcast Group, where he led the creative team producing syndicated television programming and medical projects. Prior to joining Orbis, Alex spent seven years working for the Walt Disney Company in Los Angeles as senior producer/special projects for KCAL-TV News, where he wrote and produced television programs, series, specials and mini-documentaries. A native of New York City, he got his start in broadcast television in TV news at the CBS affiliate in Fairbanks, Alaska.
Mr Epstein has received numerous national and local awards for his work, ranging from a Los Angeles area Emmy award to recognition for executive producing PR Week's VNR of the year. He is a voting member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the National Television Academy. He holds a BA from Bennington College and an MBA from the Yale School of Organization and Management.
Natalie Allman
Vice President, Account Services
Natalie Allman brings over 15 years of management consulting and pharmaceutical sales management experience to ReachMD. Ms. Allman began her career at Accenture as a management consultant working in their healthcare practice. During her six years at Accenture, Natalie led consulting teams delivering business results for her healthcare clients including Quest Diagnostics, Searle, Abbott, and AstraZeneca. In 1997, Natalie left Accenture to join Searle/Pharmacia/Pfizer in their sales division where she quickly became a decorated sales leader and sales manager. In 2003 Natalie's district finished first in the Midwest region and she was named to the Pfizer Management Cabinet, Pfizer's top award for sales management. In her role as vice president of account services at ReachMD- Ms. Allman will combine her management consulting and sales management experience to lead her team and deliver high quality programs for ReachMD's partners, clients and sponsors. Ms. Allman is a graduate of Miami University in Oxford, Ohio where she graduated cum laude with University Honors and a major in business economics. In her free time she enjoys cooking, theater and spending time with her family.
Andy Reid
Vice President, Sales and Business Development
Andy Reid brings a unique background to ReachMD that spans both executive leadership in a major pharmaceutical company and technology-based experience on the provider side of the industry. The former InfoMedics vice president of U.S. pharma sales is a critical addition to the sales and business development team at ReachMD. Mr. Reid's responsibilities include helping brand managers connect their marketing communications to the specific segment of the ReachMD audience that will garner the greatest ROI. Prior to joining InfoMedics - Mr. Reid was vice president of sales for Pharmacia's Upjohn Division. In that capacity, he led a sales force of over 600 representatives, 60 district managers, and six regional directors, and saw sales triple during his seven-year tenures. Throughout his career, Mr. Reid has been directly involved in the planning and execution of top selling pharmaceutical brands across many therapeutic areas.
Matthew C. Birnholz, MD
Director of Programming and Content
Dr. Matthew Birnholz received his bachelor of arts in biochemistry and music from Colby College in Waterville, Maine, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude. Prior to attending medical school, he served as a bilingual preschool-kindergarten teacher for a Hispanic school community in Chicago. Dr. Birnholz earned his medical degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 2006, and was elected class speaker for commencement ceremonies. He was subsequently accepted into the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine's categorical pediatric residency program at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, and has deferred his clinical practice to pursue a strong interest in medical communications and the creative development of ReachMD. As a member of the programming staff, Dr. Birnholz utilizes his medical education and a prior-developed expertise in creative performance art from The Second City of Chicago to envision and coordinate dynamic, relevant and informative content aimed for medical professionals.
Julie Carson
Director of Client Services
As director of client services Julie Carson is responsible for the development of client relationships and corresponding programming and promotion with all of ReachMD's strategic partners such as the AMA; ACAIA; AGA, ACC; Sermo; University of Pennsylvania, the United States Air Force; and many more. These strategic partnerships, which include the medical societies, medical associations, health systems and hospitals and other healthcare organizations, insure that ReachMD has access to the best in class thought leaders and ongoing engagement of the target audience of medical professionals. Since graduating from Cornell University with a BFA; dual concentration in painting and electronic imaging, Ms. Carson has merged her training, talents and passions into a lifestyle that includes both the arts and technology. Her endeavors have included working in special effects for feature films, producer and content designer for interactive educational toys, and product management and design at technology firms. Ms. Carson has made a career of putting ideas to work at such creative institutions as Industrial Light and Magic (a division of Lucas Digital, Ltd), Tools, Inc. (an Idealab! company), Fisher Price, and LeapFrog Enterprises. She is also an accomplished violinist and artist.
Ana Maria Rosario-Jordan
Director Sales Operations
Ana Maria Rosario-Jordan joins ReachMD with over 15 years of executive management experience in sales, promotion, marketing, management and business development. Mrs. Rosario-Jordan has an impressive range of experience at Fortune 500 companies, such as Pfizer and Eli Lilly, within the marketing and field sales force departments. Additionally, Ms. Rosario-Jordan has been responsible for the development and management of numerous educational seminars for medical professionals with an emphasis on teaching presentation skills, Power Point workshops, and other practical business management skills. Mrs. Rosario-Jordan graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago with bachelor's in science degree in marketing and communications; and, a minor in entrepreneurial studies.
Matt Feddermann
Director of Production
After studying audio production at Columbia College, Chicago, Matt Feddermann went on to work in production at "legendary" Chicago jingle house, Comtrack, in the late 1990's. In 2002, Mr. Feddermann founded Phase Media, an audio production studio, working with famous well-known names, from jazz musician Dave Brubeck and film director Harold Ramis to companies like PBS and Cardinal Healthcare. Having experience in both the creative and business world has given him a unique perspective on audio production. In 2004, Mr. Feddermann was asked to join the ReachMD team to shape the "sound" of the channel.
Vernon Trespeces
Interactive Manager
A graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign, Vernon Trespeces earned a bachelor of arts degree in rhetoric with a minor in marketing and advertising. Though his original ambition was to begin a writing a career, he determined that he needed more of a variety of experiences to give his great American novel substance. For the last 13 years, he has continuously evolved his career. He has worked in newspaper advertising for a local paper in Hawaii only to come back to Chicago to develop his graphic design skills as a marketing specialist for Case Corporation, a leading manufacturer of agricultural equipment. With the boom of the internet in the 1990s, Mr. Trespeces consulted for Microsoft as a client services design specialist and developed ecommerce functionality for various Chicago-based dot-com start up companies. Once the tech bubble burst, Mr. Trespeces re-located to a remote beach island in Brazil to enhance his entreprenurial skills as manager of Capitao Colango, a successful beachside restaurant. In 2003 he came back to Chicago and launched two healthfood-based cafe and vitamin stores, HealthKick Chicago and The Drinkwell, but continued to keep up with emerging internet technologies. He has been an independent consultant since 2007, and has the interactive manager role at ReachMD since 2009.
Board of Directors
Stuart Frankenthal
Board Member
Stuart Frankenthal is currently the manager of Jass Realty Company, LLC, an industrial and commercial lessor of real estate. Mr. Frankenthal has operated several diverse businesses, including The Frankenthal Group and Paramount Foods, LLC, and founded Xodiax, LLC, an internet data center business. Mr. Frankenthal and Mr. Plonsker recently formed PF Investments to manage investments in ReachMD and other operating companies. Mr. Frankenthal is a graduate of the Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville, where he was on the staff of the Law Review, and is a licensed attorney and member of the bar in the states of Kentucky and Wisconsin. Mr. Frankenthal holds a BS in industry and labor relations from Cornell University. Mr. Frankenthal currently serves on the board of the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metipolitan Chicago and ORT America, and is the president of the Frankenthal Group Foundation, Ltd. He has also served on the boards of Louisville Collegiate School, Jewish Hospital Healthcare Systems Louisville and the Louisville Housing Authority.
Steven E. Plonsker
Board Member
Steven E. Plonsker is co-founder and a managing member of PF Investments, a management company established to oversee investments in ReachMD and other operating companies. Mr. Plonsker is also co-founder and a managing member of Solterra, an organization providing alternative energy opportunities to commercial real estate firms, and a managing member of the general partner of Aragorn Capital, a hedge fund focused on acquiring securities of distressed companies. Previously, for nearly two decades, he was executive vice president of JMB Realty Corporation, a business with vast real estate and operating assets. He has served as chief financial officer for the Northbrook Corporation, a holding company with operations across a wide spectrum of the business world. He holds extensive experience in transactions and has served as a board member for two large-scale restaurant and retail corporations. Mr. Plonsker earned his MBA from the University of Chicago, after graduating with a BS from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Edward Atkins, M.D.
Board Member
Ed Atkins is a Board Certified Anesthesiologist practicing in the Chicago area for more than 25 years and was President of a 16-person anesthesia group. He has been actively involved in the outpatient surgical center field for over 20 years as an owner, developer and operator of 11 surgical centers in the Chicago area. In 1994 he co-founded and was the managing partner of Same Day Surgery LLC, the largest surgicenter group in the Chicago area. Same Day Surgery LLC was successfully sold to USPI in 2004. Dr. Atkins was a co-founder, managing director, and past Chairman of Nations Healthcare in the UK. Nations was founded in 2003 for the purpose of developing private diagnostic and surgical facilities in partnership with the British government. Nations Healthcare received guaranteed contracts through a competitive bidding process for over $550 million from the National Health Service. Nations was sold to Circle Health, a UK health care company, in 2007. He is also a founder and executive board member of the Chicago Machine, one of the teams in the relatively new Major League Lacrosse league.
Gary Epstein
Chief Executive Officer
Gary Epstein, most recently the chief marketing officer for the American Medical Association (AMA), has been recognized as the driving force behind the AMA's re-invigoration and re-branding efforts. During his tenure, Mr. Epstein helped revitalize the AMA's reputation with physicians and patients, while enhancing the AMA's political reputation in Washington D.C., as the leading voice for doctors in America. Prior to joining the AMA, Mr. Epstein served as one of two regional CEO's for North America as part of the French-based Euro RSCG Worldwide. As CEO, Mr. Epstein ran one of the two largest units of Euro RSCG's global holdings with over one billion dollars in advertising billings and 1200 employees located in seven offices throughout the United States and Canada. In 2000, Mr. Epstein was inducted into the American Advertising Federation's Hall of Achievement, which has recognized some of the marketing industry's most outstanding professionals. He was also named as one of Chicago's top business leaders in Crain's Business annual "40 under 40" feature in 1998. Mr. Epstein is on the board of directors of the American Medical Insurance Agency (a subsidiary company of the AMA) and on the board of directors for Snippets Mini-Cuts Children's Hair Salons.
Joseph Gutman
Board Advisor
Joseph Gutman recently joined Grosvenor Capital Management, LP after 22 years at Goldman Sachs. Mr. Gutman is a managing director at Grosvenor Capital and head of their client group as well as a member of the executive management team. Mr. Gutman was an advisory director of Goldman Sachs from 2002-2005, and prior to that, co-head of the Goldman Sachs Chicago office from 1997 through 2002. He became a partner of Goldman Sachs and managing director in 1996. Mr. Gutman managed institutional equities in the early nineties after spending time in the private client business and as a sales trader. He graduated from the University of Illinois with a BS in accountancy and his CPA, before receiving his MBA at the Kellogg Graduate School of Northwestern University. Mr. Gutman is on the board of the University of Illinois Business School and the Kellogg Alumni Advisory Board as well as the Executive Committee of the Board of Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago and the To Make A Better Place Foundation.
Editorial Content Team
Lenard Adler, MD: Director of the Adult ADHD Program and professor of psychiatry and child adolescent psychiatry at the NYU School of Medicine
Anthony Alessi, MD: Chief of neurology at William W. Backus Hospital; author of the book and blog �Healthy Sports�
John Armstrong, MD: Trauma surgery, Shands Hospital at the University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla.; Assistant professor of surgery, University of Florida College of Medicine; Chair, Surgical Caucus, American Medical Association; Former Colonel, United States Army; Former director, Army Trauma Training Center, Miami
Michael Benson, MD: Obstetrics and gynecology, Evanston Northwestern Healthcare, Evanston, Ill.; Clinical assistant professor, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Bruce Bloom, DDS, JD: President and chief science officer, Partnership for Cures; Chair, Culpeper Scholarships in Medical Science
Mark Chyna, MD: Internal medicine, Condell Medical Center, Libertyville, Il.
Lisa D'Andrea, PA-C: Clinical director, Grand Oaks Health Center, Libertyville, Il.
Sayantani DasGupta, MD, MPH: Faculty, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons; Author of Her Own Medicine: A Woman�s Journey from Student to Doctor; Editorial Board Member, Literature and Medicine
Susan Dolan, RN, JD: Healthcare consultant; Author of TLC, Tender Legal Care: Making Choices in Life and Death and From the Start Consider the Finish: A Guide to Excellent End-of-Life Care
Lawrence F. Eichenfield, MD: Chief of pediatric and adolescent dermatology at Rady Children's Hospital and Health Center, San Diego; Professor of pediatrics and medicine in the Dermatology Department at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine
Lee Freedman, MD: Internal medicine, Northwestern Memorial Hospital; Clinical instructor of internal medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Robert Gilmore, MD: Surgery; Retired Colonel, United States Air Force; Former Commander, Air Force Medical Center, Wiesbaden, Germany, and Travis Air Force Base, Solano County, Ca.
Stuart Gitlow, MD, MPH, MBA: Addiction medicine; Executive director, Annenberg Physician Training Program in Addictive Disease; Faculty, Dartmouth Medical School and Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Jay Goldstein, MD: Gastroenterology, University of Illinois Hospital, Chicago; Professor of medicine, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine; Vice chair of clinical affairs, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine
Michael Greenberg, MD: Dermatology, University of Illinois Hospital, Chicago; Associate Clinical Professor of Dermatology, University of Illinois Hospital, Chicago
Sherwin Ho, MD: Orthopedic surgery, University of Chicago Medical Center; Associate professor of surgery, University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine; Director, Sports Medicine Fellowship Program, University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine
Mark Nolan Hill, MD: General Surgery, Condell Medical Center, Libertyville, Ill.; Professor of surgery, Chicago Medical School
Bruce Japsen: Healthcare journalist, Chicago Tribune; Adjunct professor, University of Chicago Graham School of General Studies and Loyola University Chicago
Shira Johnson, MD: Emergency medicine; Director, clinical research, Ovation Pharmaceuticals
Larry Kaskel, MD: Internal medicine and clinical lipidology; President and CEO, The Heart Attack Prevention Center
Gary Kohn, MD: Aerospace and occupational medicine; Clinical assistant professor of medicine, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston; Former corporate medical director, United Airlines
Andrew Krakowski, MD: Pediatric dermatology, Rady Children�s Hospital, San Diego; Fellow, Pediatric Dermatology, University of California, San Diego
Jack Lewin, MD: Cardiology and health Policy; Chief executive officer, American College of Cardiology; Former chief executive officer, California Medical Association; Former director of health, State of Hawaii; Founding president, Physicians� Foundations, Boston, Mass.; President, Patient Safety Institute
Mary Leuchars, MD: Sports medicine; On-site physician, 2000 Sydney Olympic Games; Medical consultant and on-site physician, Australian television
Leslie P. Lundt, MD: Psychiatry; Director, Foothills Psychiatry, Boise, Ida.; Affiliate Faculty, Idaho State University
Todd Mahr, MD: Allergy and immunology; Director, pediatric allergy, Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center, La Crosse, Wisc.; Clinical professor of pediatrics, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Lisa Mazzullo, MD: Obstetrics and gynecology, Northwestern Memorial Hospital; Assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine; Author, Before Your Pregnancy: A 90-Day Guide for Couples on How to Prepare for Conception
Jeffrey Nathanson, MD: Gastroenterology and internal Medicine; Clinical instructor, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine; Clinical instructor, University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine
Danny Petrasek, MD, PhD: Internal medicine and endocrinology; Bioengineering research faculty, California Institute of Technology; Clinical faculty, University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine
Maurice Pickard, MD: Internal medicine; Emeritus staff, Highland Park Hospital, Highland Park, Ill. and Lake Forest Hospital, Lake Forest, Ill.; Fellow (2005-06), University of Chicago MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics
Paul Raeburn: Past president, National Association of Science Writers; Program director, Annual New Horizons in Science Briefing; Member, association of Health Care Journalists
David T. Rubin, MD: Internal medicine and gastroenterology, University of Chicago Medical Center; Associate professor of medicine, University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine; Director, fellowship program in gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition, University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine
Martin A. Samuels, MD: Founding chair and chief of the Department of Neurology, Brigham and Women's Hospital; Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School. Director, Harvard Longwood Neurology Program
Ketan Sheth, MD, MBA: Medical director, Lafayette Allergy and Asthma Clinic, Lafayette, Ind.; Clinical assistant professor of pediatrics, Indiana University School of Medicine; Adjunct associate professor of clinical pharmacy, Purdue University School of Pharmacy
Jennifer Shu, MD: Editor-in-chief, American Academy of Pediatrics� Baby & Child Health and co-author, Heading Home With Your Newborn, published by AAP
Matthew Sorrentino, MD: Cardiology, Associate professor of medicine, Department of Cardiology, University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine; Fellow, American College of Cardiology; North American Editor, Journal of Geriatric Cardiology
Lauren Streicher, MD: Obstetrics and gynecology, Northwestern Memorial Hospital; Assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine; Host, Answered TV�s �The Answered Patient�; Medical correspondent, NBC�s �In the Loop With iVillage�; Author, The Essential Guide to Hysterectomy; Columnist, Chicago Sun-Times� �Ask the Ob-Gyn�; Medical correspondent, ABC; Health contributor, Figure Magazine
Eric Tangalos, MD: Medical director, Bethany Samaritan Heights nursing home, Rochester, Minn.; Professor of medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.; Vice chair of the Policy Committee, past-president, American Medical Directors Association
Charles Turck, PharmD: Pharmacy, University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center; Adjunct clinical instructor, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
Doug Weaver, MD: Cardiology and health policy; President, American College of Cardiology; Director, Henry Ford Cardiovascular Institute, Detroit, Mich.; Head of Cardiovascular Medicine and Darin Chair of Cardiology, Henry Ford Health System; Professor of medicine, Wayne State University, Detroit, Mich.
Janet Wright, MD: Cardiology and health policy; Senior Vice President for Science and Quality, American College of Cardiology