Speakers

Helen V. Ratajczak
PhD

Helen V. Ratajczak has been conducting research on immunology and toxicology since 1967. Her research became focused on autism in 1996 when her three-year-old grandson was diagnosed with the disease. Up to date, Dr. Ratajczak has published more than 80 manuscripts and numerous abstracts for presentations at international and regional conferences. While working for Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Ratajczak wrote two drug discovery programs for autism. She was also a Visiting Scientist in 2009-2010 with the Wadsworth Center/NY State Department of Health, where she discussed various aspects of autism. In addition, a proposal by Dr. Rataiczak entitled “Objective Measure of Autism” was authorized by the New England Institutional Review Board in 2011 and is currently funded by Edmond Enterprises, LLC. She is executive committee member of ACMES and peer reviewer of North American Journal of Medicine and Science.

Carol Englender

Carol Englender, MD: Dr. Englender is an integrative family physician who has been treating children and adults on the autism spectrum for over twenty years, incorporating the biomedical model known as the Defeat Autism Now protocol. She is a graduate of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and served as a founding member of the board of Trustees of the American Holistic Medical Association. Her past work settings have included acting as medical supervisor at several clinics of the Illinois Drug Abuse Program, and working as a member of the medical staff of the Kaiser Permanente Richmond Medical Center in California. After moving to Massachusetts she was medical director of the integrative health groups Whole Health Associates in Watertown, and Center for Heath in Newton. Dr. Englender is an active member of the American College for Advancement in Medicine and the American Academy of Environmental Medicine. Her private practice is in Framingham, MA.

Wenliang Chen

Wenliang Chen, MD and PhD: Dr. Chen is a general and laparoscopic Surgeon since 2006 at Jordan Hospital, Plymouth, MA, he finished his undergraduate in Genetics and Molecular Biology and received his MD at Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, and he finished his General Surgery Residency, 2000-2005 at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA. He finished at Advanced Laparoscopy Fellowship from 2005-2006 at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA.

Daniel T.S. Heffernan

Daniel T.S. Heffernan: Mr.Heffernan is a partner with Kotin, Crabtree & Strong and concentrates his practice in special education, civil rights and personal injury. He graduated magna cum laude from Boston College in 1981 where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, and cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1987. He has extensive trial experience, and has litigated matters both in Massachusetts and throughout the United States. Prior to joining Kotin, Crabtree & Strong, Mr. Heffernan was a partner in Weisman & Associates. He serves on the faculty of Harvard Law School’s Trial Advocacy Program, instructing law students in trial preparation and trial techniques. From 1995 to 2007 he served as the president of the board of directors of the Federation for Children with Special Needs, and in 2002 he and his wife, Julie, received the Dr. Allen C. Crocker Award of Excellence by the Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress. He writes and lectures frequently on special education law and advocacy. From 1995 to 2000, he served as the president of the board of directors of Community Legal Services and Counseling Center. Mr. Heffernan is a Corporate Member of the Greater Boston Legal Services and has served as a Hearing Officer for the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers. He has two daughters, Maggie and Evie, and an eighteen year old son, Brian, with Down syndrome. For several years, he has coached special Olympic teams.

William Wilson
MD

Dr. William is a board-certified family doctor at Beverly Hospital. His expertise and interest is the interface between foods and brain function. Dr. William graduated from University of Minnesota Medical School in 1974 and has been practice family medicine for nearly 40 years. He used to practice in Northern Minnesota and has long been interested in research on neuroscience. He has discovered a close relationship between Carbs Syndrome and autism. He is also the physician owner of Wilson Institute of Neurobiology, which is dedicated to understanding the connection between common Psychiatric conditions and common co-morbid medical conditions. He is executive member and lecturer of ACMES and To Cure Autism Institute.

Alan Chew

Alan Chew, JD: Alan has been providing tax and consulting services to the financial services industry since 1995. Alan joined New York Life Insurance Company in 2004 starting with The Nautilus Group and then the Advanced Planning Group in 2009. Besides providing estate, business succession and tax planning to the company’s general agents, one of Alan’s current responsibilities involves servicing the agents and clients that are affiliated to the Chinese Cultural Market. Alan became a life insurance agent with New York Life in 2010 and qualified for MDRT and President’s Council in his first year as an agent. In 2011, Alan rejoined the Advanced Planning Group as a Corporate Vice President – Advanced Planning Executive Advisor serving and supporting the U.S. Chinese Cultural Markets. Alan holds a B.B.A. with Honors and a Masters in Professional Accounting from The University of Texas at Austin, and a Juris Doctor, graduating Cum Laude, from the Southern Methodist University. Alan is fluent in Mandarin and other Chinese dialects.

Hie-Won Hann
MD

Professor of Medicine at Jefferson Medical College. Dr. Hann has been the director of Liver Disease Prevention Center at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital since 1988. She has also been continuously funded by NIH for carrying out research projects on hepatitis. Since 1996, she has conducted 32 clinical trials and published a total of 280 articles, book chapters and abstracts.  Dr. Hann is also an active speaker in the field of hepatitis B and she has shared her knowledge with healthcare  leaders in the U.S. and Asian countries, including Korea, Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Thailand, China, Vietnam, Australia, Panama and multiple Korean American (and Chinese) churches across the United States.  She also served on CDC Hepatitis B Advisory Group for Asian/Pacific Islander, Immunization Action coalition, Hepatitis B Foundation and National Asian Pacific Leadership Initiative on Cancer. She is executive member  and lecturer of ACMES, peer reviewer of North American Journal of Medicine and Science.

Louisa Silva

Louisa Silva, M.D., M.P.H. Dr. Silva has practiced Family Medicine in Oregon for 30 years. She also has degrees in public health and medical acupuncture. For the past 20 years, she has integrated Western and Chinese medicine into her practice. She has also engaged in autism research integrating Western scientific research approaches with Chinese Medical diagnostic and treatment approaches. She has published randomized controlled studies of a dual parent and therapist delivered treatment for young children with autism and is currently the principal investigator on a large Phase-2 effectiveness trial of the methodology funded by the Federal Bureau of Maternal Child Health. In addition, her research has focused on the prevalence, significance, and treatment of the abnormal touch responses in young children with autism.

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