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• Suzanne Beach  

  Suzanne Beach is an Exercise Physiologist at our HeartWorks location.

• JeriLu Breneman RN, PHN

  JeriLu Breneman is an RN and a Public Health Nurse. Nursing is her second career, and since she became a nurse, she has cared for patients in hospital, clinic and Hospice settings. JeriLu states: “ I believe that mind/body medicine is an essential component of true health care reform. Illness care becomes health care when we take responsibility for our health by understanding how our bodies can heal themselves, and consciously cooperating in that process.”

• Nora Bulloch MPH, MA, RD

  Nora Bulloch has been a Registered Dietitian and health educator for over 16 years. She holds a Masters degree in Nutrition Education and Public Health Nutrition. Nora has developed and facilitated many health education and weight control groups and enthusiastically works to personalize her approach for each person.

• Soledad Drago  

  Soledad Drago currently serves as the bilingual Nutrition Educator and she teaches the train-the-trainer Raising Healthy, Active Kids program for Promotores de Salud and Community Health Outreach Workers. Sole brings over 8 years of experience in the field of medical nutrition therapy and health education. She completed her bachelor of science in dietetics in 2000 and is a Registered Dietitian in her home country of Argentina.

• Gail Dubinsky MD

  Gail Dubinsky is in private practice in Sebastopol, specializing in soft tissue neuro-orthopedic injuries since 1988. She has studied yoga intensively for the past 20 years, and taught yoga in Sonoma County since 1990, with expertise in modifying traditional postures for individual needs. She is the creator of the video series R.S.I.? Rx: Yoga!

• Joan Gates RD, MPH, MS

  Joan Gates is a Registered Dietitian with over 20 years experience in nutrition education. She holds Masters degrees in both Nutrition Science and Public Health Nutrition. Joan has taught sports nutrition at U.C. Berkeley, counseled patients in a cardiology practice and worked in heart disease prevention research at Stanford. She has developed and taught many classes in the areas of cardiac nutrition, diabetes, sports nutrition and weight control.

• Joyce Giammattei Dr.PH, RD, CDE, CHES, ACSM

  Joyce Giammattei is a Registered Dietitian, Certified Diabetes Educator, certified by the American College of Sports Medicine, and a Certified Health Education Specialist. She holds a Doctorate in Public Health and has experience teaching in many settings.

• Ayano Healy CHES

  Ayano Healy is a Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) with a Bachelor of Science in Health Promotion. She currently serves as the program coordinator for Project TRUE (Teens R U Educated?), Active Play Recess program and is certified by the American Lung Association as a Smoking Cessation Counselor.

• Michelle House Health Education Grant Manager

  Michelle House holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a minor in Women's Studies from the University of Santa Cruz. She has worked in public health for over 20 years in Australia and the United States. Ms. House has extensive experience in coordinating health promotion programs in grant writing, teen pregnancy prevention, tobacco control and asthma.

• Linda Katz-Krieger MS, RD

  Linda Katz-Kriger is a bilingual Registered Dietitian specializing in pediatric nutrition and adolescent health.

• Caitlin Leff MS, RD

  Caitlin Leff is a Registered Dietitian and holds a Masters in Nutrition from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. She specializes in educating families and children about food and nutrition as a way to emphasize the positive change that health can bring to anyone’s life. Caitlin has extensive experience in the creation and implementation of behavioral weight loss programs, as well as in childhood obesity prevention programs.

• Dustin Maul ACLS certified

  Dustin Maul is an Exercise Specialist at HeartWorks. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology from Sonoma State University as well as a certification in Gerontology. Dustin provides personal training and is certified in Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS).

• Michelle Escobar-McGarry  

  Michelle Escobar-McGarry is certified by the American Lung Association and has been working in the addiction field for over 10 years. As a former smoker Michelle knows how challenging it is to quit. She brings experience, compassion and a sense of humor to the cessation process.

• Katey Mitts BSN, RN, CDE

  Katey Mitts is a Certified Diabetes Educator and Registered Nurse with a Bachelors of Science in Nursing from Johns Hopkins University. She has over 10 years of experience teaching diabetes and pre-diabetes classes. Katey approaches diabetes education from a professional as well as personal perspective, as she has lived with Type 1 diabetes since 1998. She loves to help people with diabetes replace fear with hope and misinformation with truth to be able to confidently live well with diabetes.

• Kathie Myers RN

  Kathie Myers has been a Registered Nurse for almost 30 years. She has worked in the areas of rehabilitation in spinal cord injury, care of the geriatric population and health education. She has worked in both the U.S. and Mexico for many years in all of these areas of specialty. She currently teaches Diabetes y Su Salud for the Center for Well-Being.

• Jeanette Perez Promotora de Salud

  Jeanette Perez is the Bilingual Program Assistant and a Promotora de Salud at the Center for Well-Being. She has been with the Center for over 2 years and completed the Promotores de Salud training focused on childhood obesity and iron-deficiency anemia prevention in 2009. Ms Perez co-teaches Tomando Pasos, a multi-session family-based childhood obesity prevention program offered in Spanish.

• Gail Prosser RD, CDE

  Gail Prosser is a Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator. She specializes in pediatrics nutrition and diabetes. Teaching group education has allowed her to blend the scientific aspects of Dietetics (putting the practice of nutrition knowledge, metabolism, and science into health healing and prevention) and teaching, which allows her to take scientific knowledge to the practical level and assist families with meal planning, grocery shopping, making healthy choices, menus and much, much more. She currently teaches our Diabetes Wellness Series for the Center for Well-Being.

• Kathy Reiche  

  Kathy Reiche is certified in Viniyoga. She has completed workshops with Shiva Rae, Angela Farmer, Victor Van Kooten, Heidi Sue Roth, Thia Ashanoah and other accomplished yoga practitioners. In addition to yoga, Kathy blends Feldenkrais movements and breath work to integrate and promote relaxed awareness.

• James Rosen Ph.D.

  James Rosen, Ph.D. is Professor Emeritus from the University of Vermont where he was a clinical psychology professor and researcher for 28 years. He is recognized internationally as an expert in eating disorders, body image, obesity and weight control.

• Hannah Rothlin MA

  Hannah Rothlin, MA, is an Exercise Physiologist at our HeartWorks location. She holds a Master’s degree in Exercise Physiology from Sonoma State University and a second Master’s degree from the Holmes Institute in Consciousness Studies which has an emphasis in world religions, psychology, and philosophy. Hannah has worked in the health and fitness field for over 25 years. With her education and many years of experience Hannah enjoys assisting our participants with body, mind, and spirit health and wellness.

• Sarah Sanabria NP, CDE

  Sarah Sanabria is a Nurse Practitioner with a master\\\'s degree in geriatrics from U.C. San Francisco and further specialization in diabetes in diabetes management. Her current nurse practitioner practice focuses on helping individuals gain and maintain good control of diabetes. Sarah believes teaching self-management to people with diabetes is key to delaying and preventing complications associated with diabetes.

• Virginia Schiff  

  Virginia Schiff currently serves as the Promotores de Salud Coordinator for the Northern California Center for Well-Being where she implements the Raising Healthy Active Kids program and the Healthy Homes Asthma Prevention Program for Promotores de Salud and Community Health Outreach Workers. Virginia graduated as a General Doctor in her home country of Argentina. Her experience includes disease management and prevention, healthcare presentations and community engagement.

• Sandra Taverna de Fernandez CNA

  Sandra Taverna de Fernandez was born in Salta, Argentina and has been living in Sonoma County for over 10 years. Sandra is a Promotores de Salud II for the Center for Well-Being where she teaches Mas y Menos, a healthy eating and active living class for parents with small children, and Healthy Homes, a class focused on reducing exposure to tobacco and other asthma triggers. Sandra has over 10 years of health promotion experience having worked as a Certified Nursing Assistant, a Home Visitor for new mothers, and a Promotora de Salud with the Center’s Raising Healthy Active Kids program.

• Mary Ellen Wells PT

  Mary Ellen Wells is a Physical Therapist and movement educator with over 20 years of experience. She is a graduate of Tamalpa Institute's movement-based Expressive Arts Program and has studied Authentic Movement, Feldenkrais, and Continuum. Mary Ellen has advanced training in Craniosacral Therapy. Her interest in the body/mind connection as well as her personal experience with fibromyalgia inspires her classes and private practice.