Meet Our Scientific & Medical Advisory Board
Meet the renowned scientists and medical professionals who guide our research initiatives.
Scientific Advisory Board
Michael Gottschalk, MD
Dr. Gottschalk grew up in Dallas, Texas as the youngest of three boys. He went on to graduate from JJ Pierce High School in the top 10% of his class and as an AP Scholar with Distinction. Dr. Gottschalk received an academic scholarship to attend the Business Honors Program at the University of Texas at Austin. After graduating from UT Austin, he then went to complete medical school at the University of Texas Health Science at San Antonio. Upon completion of medical school, Dr. Gottschalk completed his Orthopaedic Surgery Internship and Residency at Emory University. While in his training, Dr. Gottschalk received multiple accolades and awards for his outstanding research and was elected as a resident leader to the esteemed American Orthopaedic Association.
After the completion of his Orthopaedic Surgical Training, Dr. Gottschalk was selected to the prestigious Emanuel Kaplan Hand and Upper Extremity Fellowship at the NYU Hospital For Joint Diseases. He was selected as the Hand and Upper Extremity administrative fellow and served on the resident council for quality and safety. During his training at the Hospital for Joint Diseases, Dr. Gottschalk helped treat work related injuries to the NYPD, NYFD, and hotel trade union.
Dr. Gottschalk is board-certified in Orthopedic Surgery and surgery of the hand. He also holds the positions of Assistant Professor of Plastics Surgery, Adjunct Appointment, Plastics Surgery - Surgery at Emory University School of Medicine, and Assistant Professor, Director of Clinical Research in the Department of Orthopedics at Emory University. Dr. Gottschalk has won numerous awards and is a member of many professional orthopedic societies.
Dr. Colwyn Headley
Dr. Colwyn "CoCo" Headley earned his B.S. in Microbiology and Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences – Immunology from The Ohio State University. His doctoral research focused on the effects of biological aging on host-pathogen interactions, adaptive immunity, and developing strategies to enhance immune function in the elderly. Currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University’s Cardiovascular Institute, Dr. Headley’s research merges his interests in aging-related mitochondrial dysfunction and immune health within the context of cardiovascular disease. His work aims to uncover novel insights into the immune-cardiovascular axis and develop therapeutic strategies, including mitochondrial transplantation, to address immune and cardiovascular dysfunctions in aging and immune compromised populations.
Fran D. Kendall, MD
Dr. Kendall, a board certified Clinical Biochemical Geneticist trained at Harvard, has 30 yrs. of experience in the care of patients with mitochondrial, metabolic, and connective tissue disorders.
As one of the first women in her field, she piloted the first Mitochondrial Disorders Program in the US, created one of the first private laboratories focused on metabolic and mitochondrial disorders, and offered telemedicine to underserved rare disease communities around the world before such practice was commonplace. Her current consulting firm, a unique, innovative group, VMP Genetics, brings together Metabolic leaders to provide direct patient care consultation, physician support to understaffed programs, and biochemical genetics education through a host of platforms. She is a founding member and current CEO of VMP Genetics, LLC.
Dr. Kendall is also the author of numerous articles and book chapters on mitochondrial and other metabolic disorders, serviced as the Safety Committee Chair for a mitochondrial medication clinical trial and is on the Medical Advisory Committee for MitoAction. She resides in Atlanta, GA with her family and enjoys traveling the globe, gardening, writing and mastering the piano.
Robert Lufkin, MD
Physician/medical school professor (UCLA and USC) and New York Times bestselling author focusing on the applied science of health, longevity, and consciousness. After reversing chronic disease and transforming his life he is making it his mission to help others do the same.
Helping to reimagine the conventional healthcare model with evidence-based lifestyle modifications and other tools.
His new book, ‘Lies I Taught In Medical School’ is a New York Times bestseller and has reframed how we think about metabolic health and longevity. In addition to being a practicing physician, he is author of over 200 peer reviewed scientific papers and 14 books that are available in ten languages. His weekly video podcast and social media posts have over 400,000 followers worldwide.
Robert has given invited lectures/keynotes around the world, and was named one of the ‘100 Most Creative People in Los Angeles’ by Buzz Magazine. His other honors include serving as President of the Society of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, President of the American Society of Head and Neck Radiology, and numerous other professional affiliations. Among his many inventions including several patents in artificial intelligence, he developed an MR-compatible biopsy needle which is used worldwide today as the “Lufkin Needle.”
Robert studied computer science at Brown University and completed his medical degree at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. He is currently Adjunct Clinical Professor of Radiology at the USC Keck School of Medicine with an academic focus on the applied science of longevity. He is also Chief of Metabolic Imaging at a large medical network in southern California.
Deborah G. Murdock, PhD
Deborah Murdock is a Research Associate Professor of Pediatrics in the Perelman School of Medicine and co-scientific director of the Center for Mitochondrial and Epigenomic Medicine at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
She has been studying mitochondrial biology for over 25 years. Her main area of research is the mitochondrial fatty acid synthesis pathway, and mitochondrial dysfunction in common diseases. Most recently she has created experimental models of the mitochondrial fatty acid synthesis disorder MEPAN that can be used for testing therapeutics.
Area of Expertise: Mitochondrial genetics, primary mitochondrial disease, mitochondrial fatty acid synthesis, mouse models of mitochondrial dysfunction, mitochondrial dysfunction in common disease.
Anupam Patgiri, PhD
Dr. Patgiri's research focuses on developing innovative therapies for mitochondrial diseases. He earned his PhD in chemical biology under the supervision of Dr. Paramjit (Bobby) Arora at NYU, where he created the first direct inhibitor of the oncoprotein Ras as a potential anticancer therapeutic. Dr. Patgiri then trained as a postdoctoral fellow under Dr. Vamsi Mootha at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in mitochondrial disease biology. During his postdoctoral research, Dr. Patgiri engineered an enzyme called LOXCAT as a potential therapy for primary mitochondrial diseases. In his independent lab, Dr. Patgiri leverages his expertise in chemistry, drug development, metabolism, and mitochondrial disease biology to develop potential therapies for mitochondrial diseases. Given the close association between mitochondrial dysfunction and various common conditions such as neurodegeneration and aging, Dr. Patgiri also aims to apply his research on rare, inherited mitochondrial diseases to develop "mitochondria-centric" therapies for common diseases.
Anupam Patgiri, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Chemical Biology at Emory University School of Medicine. Dr. Patgiri is a member of the Discovery and Developmental Therapeutics Research Program at Winship Cancer Institute.
Dr. Nehama Schondorf, DPT, CMTPT, COMT, Vestibular Rehabilitation Specialist
Dr. Nehama Schondorf’s career began as a certified Vestibular Rehabilitation Specialist and founder of the Balance and Vestibular Center at Doctors Hospital in Augusta, GA. Nehama received her Doctor of Physical Therapy from Emory University in 2009. Her clinical focus includes the treatment and prevention of athletic injuries, overuse injuries, postural and movement dysfunction, and vestibular rehabilitation. Nehama completed extensive advanced training in trigger point dry needling and manual therapy. She became a certified Manual Trigger Point Therapist (CMTPT) through Myopain Seminars in 2014 and recently completed her Clinical Certification in Orthopedic Manual Therapy (COMT) through Select Physical Therapy.
Dr. Howard Snapper
Dr. Howard Snapper is a highly-specialized physician and one of fewer than 50 doctors in North America certified to diagnose and treat autonomic disorders. Doctors across the nation refer their patients to Dr. Snapper for his specialized evaluation and skilled expertise. Dr. Snapper is board-certified in Cardiovascular Disease and interventional cardiology. He is also board-certified in Autonomic Disorders. He is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology.
Dr. Snapper received his medical degree from the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He completed his internship and residency at Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago and completed a general and interventional fellowship at the New England Medical Center Hospital in Boston. Dr. Snapper joined Wellstar Medical Group, Cardiovascular Medicine in November 2008. He is currently on staff at Wellstar Kennestone and Cobb hospitals.
Dr. Snapper has been instrumental in establishing the first cardiac screening program for student athletes in Cobb County using echocardiography.
Douglas Wallace, PhD
Douglas C Wallace, PhD, is Director of the Center for Mitochondrial and Epigenomic Medicine at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. He holds the Michael and Charles Barnett Endowed Chair in Pediatric Mitochondrial Medicine and Metabolic Diseases. More than 35 years ago, Dr. Wallace and his colleagues founded the field of human mitochondrial genetics. Dr. Wallace showed that the mtDNA is inherited exclusively from the mother and that genetic alterations in the mtDNA can result in a wide range of metabolic and degenerative diseases as well as being important in cancer and aging.
Dr. Wallace's research is currently dedicated to understanding the crucial role of mitochondrial energy in both human health and disease.
