Our Leadership

Board of Directors

Elisabeth Lesser (Chair)

Co-Founder and CFO of Mattagan Properties, LLC

Patricia Kennedy (Treasurer)

Senior Advisor

Asia Pacific Land Ltd.

Carol Kurland (Secretary)

Philanthropist

J. Jeffrey Assaf

Senior Managing Director

ICG Advisors, LLC

Cynthia Chen McTernan

Attorney

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP

Susan Dost

CEO

Sheridan In-Home Health Care

Mitch Golant, PhD FAPOS

Fellow, American Clinical Psychologist

American Psychosocial Oncology Society

Aaron De Los Reyes

Vice President, Softtek Industrial Solutions/ Product Management Services

Tom F. Keefer

General Manager

The New Mart, Inc.

Steven Rosen

President Creative Marketing and Publishing

Regime Music Group

Ruth Salk

Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist

Our Team

Julia Forth

Chief Executive Officer

Shannon La Cava, PsyD (PSY27456)

Chief Clinical Officer, Director of Programs & Research

Elizabeth Lazar

Chief Strategic Growth & Development Officer

Nancy Willard

Operations and Finance Manager

Kathy Riley, MPH, CHES

Associate Director, Programs

Sigall Cahn, LCSW (LCS68264)

Associate Director, Clinical Services

Kelly Hagen

Development Coordinator

Edlin Rodarte

Program Coordinator

Sophia Makal, MA, AMFT, APCC

Clinical Associate

Supervised by Shannon La Cava, PsyD (PSY27456)

Liz Doyle, MA, AMFT

Clinical Associate

Supervised by Shannon La Cava, PsyD (PSY27456)

Program Facilitators

Rita Aron, LMFT (LMFT6255)

Facilitator

Deborah Brownstone, LCSW (LCSW22708)

Facilitator

Debbie Cervantes, LCSW (LCS100243)

Facilitator

Alexandra Gubin, MSW LCSW-C (LCSW86944)

Facilitator

William Kavanagh, LMFT (LMFT98486)

Facilitator

Julie LaCumbre, PsyD (PSY31212)

Facilitator

Tom Pier, LCSW, OSW-C (LCS21605)

Facilitator

Catalina Lawsin, PsyD

(PSY31125)

Facilitator

Jill Pomerantz, LCSW (LCSW24287)

Facilitator

Malcolm Schultz, JD, LMFT (LMFT25149)

Facilitator

Lynne Silbert, LMFT (LMFT19226)

Facilitator

Professional Advisory Board

  • Arash Asher, MD — Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
  • Anita Bajpai, MD — Nutrition Medicine
  • Rachel Beller, MS, RD — Beller Nutrition                                                                                             
  • Anton Bilchik, MD — Providence Saint John’s Cancer Institute
  • Richard Essner, MD — Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
  • Armando Giuliano, MD — Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
  • Mitch Golant, PhD. — Private Practice Psychologist
  • Melanie Goldfarb, MD — Providence Saint John’s Cancer Institute
  • Behrooz Hakimian, MD — Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
  • Omid Hamid, MD — The Angeles Clinic
  • Ronald Hurst, MD — California Oncology Research Institute
  • Scott Irwin, MD, PhD. — Cedars-Sinai Health System, Cedars-Sinai Cancer
  • Beth Karlan, MD — Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
  • Carolyn Katzin, MSPH, CNS — UCLA, Simms Mann
  • Santosh Kesari, MD, PhD —  Neuro-Oncology Pacific Neuroscience Institute
  • Laura Kruper, MD — City of Hope
  • Jennifer Linehan, MD — Providence Saint John’s Cancer Institute
  • Parvin Peddi, MD — Providence Saint John’s Cancer Institute
  • Heather Richardson, MD — Bedford Breast Center
  • Lisl Schweers, LCSW — Cancer and Blood Disease Institute, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles
  • Dennis Slamon, MD, PhD — UCLA, Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center
  • Annette Stanton, PhD — UCLA Dept. of Psychology 
  • Zul Surani — Cedars-Sinai Cancer, Cancer Research Center for Health Equity
  • David Wellisch, PhD — UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute
  • Deane Wolcott, MD — Emeritus Psychiatrist, Cedars-Sinai Health System