Planning Committee & Course Directors

David Rabago, MD, Associate Professor, Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health

Annette Zaharoff, MD, Medical Director, The Non-Surgical Center of Texas

Mary P. Doherty, Vice President, Hackett Hemwall Patterson Foundation

Laura Cruz, Administrative Specialist, Hackett Hemwall Patterson Foundation

Terese Bailey, Accreditation Specialist, University of Wisconsin–Madison ICEP

Faculty

* = Research Symposium faculty
† = Conference faculty

Danielle Aufiero, MD*
Dr. Aufiero is a board-certified physical medicine and rehabilitation physician, an assistant clinical professor of medicine at David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and at Western University of Health Sciences, and an adjunct assistant professor at Touro University.  She is a partner at the Orthohealing Center in Los Angeles, CA, and co-founder of the Orthohealing Method, advocating a standardized approach to orthobiologics with registry data collection.  Dr. Aufiero has published multiple peer reviewed articles and frequently lectures on orthobiologics to advance the field.

Joel Baumgartner, MD†
Dr. Baumgartner is board certified in family medicine and sports medicine. He specializes in non-surgical orthopedics, sports medicine, and regenerative orthopedics. As the founder of Rejuv Medical in Waite Park, MN, he utilizes the latest in diagnostic and treatment technology to better treat musculoskeletal injury and pain. Dr. Baumgartner's new ultrasound guided Regenerative Injection Manual is now complete. He also recently authored a book for the general public entitled Regenerate: Body Heal Thyself without Drugs or Surgery. It explains how lifestyle changes can augment the body’s ability to heal and regenerate. He has a passion for training and helping other physicians create a practice model that will thrive in our competitive markets.

Christopher Centeno, MD*
Dr. Centeno is the medical director of the Centeno-Schultz clinic in Colorado, the world’s largest interventional orthobiologics practice. He is involved in active clinical and bench science research on the use of bone marrow concentrate and other stem cell therapies and has published more than 25 peer-reviewed papers on the topic. He was a founder of the Interventional Orthopedics Foundation and his clinic runs a fellowship in interventional orthobiologics.

Craig Chappell, DO†
Dr. Chappell is board certified in sports medicine, family medicine, and osteopathic manipulative medicine (OMM).  He has been performing regenerative injections with the use of ultrasound guidance for the past 10 years and has taught regenerative injection technique nationally and internationally. Dr. Chappell specializes in non-surgical orthopedic, sports medicine, and regenerative medicine at
in2itMedical in Pleasant Grove, UT. He has served with the HHPF in Honduras and Mexico and lectured at the Madison conference.

Gary Bruce Clark, MD†
Dr. Clark is board certified in anatomical/clinical pathology and neuropathology. As a “recovering pathologist” he has morphed, specializing in orthopedic medicine over the last 25 years with special interest in regenerative medicine, including prolotherapy and PRP.  He has participated in 10 HHPF Honduran trips, four Mexico trips, and several Madison conferences, serving as faculty on many occasions.  He has contributed to the HHPF Procedure Standardization Program. He has a busy practice in Boulder, Colorado, where he runs a solo musculoskeletal clinic.  He is currently writing a book on orthopedic medicine with special focus on clinical biotensegrity as illustrated by sacroiliac joint displacement.

Tricia Croake-Uleman, MD†
Dr. Croake-Uleman is a board-certified family medicine physician in Mason, Ohio. She owns Southwest Ohio Health Partners and Southwest Ohio Pain Management. Her practice involves treating pain and musculoskeletal injuries using interventional pain management techniques, prolotherapy/ PRP, perineural therapy, physical therapy, counseling and nutrition. Dr. Croake-Uleman has served with HHPF in Mexico and Honduras.

David de la Mora, MD†
Dr. de la Mora is the director of the HHPF Guadalajara chapter and organizes the annual HHPF Prolotherapy and Vein Medical Brigade trip to Mexico. He has attended the Madison conference for 15 years, both as a participant and faculty member, and has also served as a clinic director on the HHPF Honduras trips. Dr. de la Mora has a full time prolotherapy practice in Mexico.

John Finkenstadt, MD† (HHPF BOD)
Dr. Finkenstadt’s medical practice in Syracuse, NY, is devoted solely to the treatment of musculoskeletal pain.  He is board certified in family medicine with a CAQ in sports medicine. He is also certified in acupuncture and has completed a five-year course of study at the Canadian College of Osteopathy. Dr. Finkenstadt has served as faculty on HHPF trips to Honduras and at the Madison conference.

Ricardo Frusso, MD*
Dr. Frusso is a certified family medicine physician and pain doctor. He is certified by AAOM in prolotherapy, has a master’s degree in Lyftogt Perineural Inyection Therapy (PIT) and is a sports medicine physician in the Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, Argentina (HIBA).  In addition to his clinical practice, he does research and teaches prolotherapy and Lyftogt PIT.  Dr. Frusso is one of the directors of the University Workshop of Myofascial Pain in the HIBA and coordinates a group of family physicians who treat chronic pain.

Martin Gallagher, MD, DC, ABOIM†
Dr. Gallagher is uniquely licensed as a board-certified family physician, chiropractor, and medical acupuncturist. He is the director of Integrative Medicine at Medical Wellness Associates, where he combines prolotherapy, ozone, acupuncture, chiropractic, and IV nutritional protocols to reverse chronic disease. Dr. Gallagher is on the faculty in the Department of Family Medicine at West Virginia University. He established the first family medicine residency in the US where select residents graduate double boarded in family medicine and medical acupuncture. Dr. Gallagher is a board member of IART, AAOM and a frequent participant at the HHPF conferences.

Adrian Gretton, MD†
Dr. Gretton trained as a family physician in Calgary, AB, Canada and has developed an active interest in pain and injury management. He has more than a decade of experience in prolotherapy at the Advanced Spinal Care Center in Calgary. Dr. Gretton leads a multidisciplinary team at the Calgary Chronic Pain Centre. He has served with the HHPF in Mexico and Honduras and has taught at the Madison conference for over 10 years.

Ines Guerrero Pestalardo, MD*
Dr. Ines Guerrero Pestalardo obtained his MD from Austral University of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and PM&R residency at Graduate Hospital de Rehabilitacion Manuel Rocca in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Her continuity clinical practice in Interventional Regenerative Orthopedic Medicine is in Buenos Aires and Rosario, Argentina. Dr. Guerrero is currently serving as the president of the Latin-American Association of Orthopaedic Medicine (AAOM), an international non-profit organization of physicians dedicated to the promotion of regenerative medicine education around Latin America. Since last year, she has been investigating changes in cytokines after prolotherapy with Dr. Gaston Topol.

Jay Harms, MD†
Dr. Harms is in practice in Peoria, IL, and is board certified in family medicine. In his medical practice, he cares for the entire range of family medicine patients, including chronic pain patients. Dr. Harms has been an active member of the HHPF since 2003, serving in the capacity of volunteer and faculty in Honduras and at the Madison conference.

Theodore Harrison, MD, MBA* (HHPF BOD)
Dr. Harrison is board certified in emergency medicine and anti-aging and regenerative medicine. He practiced emergency and critical care medicine in the Baltimore area for 20+ years before focusing on regenerative medicine. Dr. Harrison trained in prolotherapy at the University of Wisconsin/HHPF and also trained at the Ageless Regenerative Institute in Florida in the techniques of stem cell extraction and fat transfer graft. He has written a book for the lay public on regenerative medicine and is currently in practice at Rejuvacare PC in Port Angeles, WA.

Aeneas Janze, MD† (HHPF BOD)
Dr. Janze is a board-certified physical medicine and rehabilitation physician and Director of Integrative Services at the William Beaumont Army Medical Center.  Dr. Janze has spent the last 14 years working in Army Medicine bringing interventional regenerative orthopedic medicine techniques to injured soldiers to include dextrose prolotherapy, PRP, prolozone and perineural injection therapy.  Dr. Janze blends these regenerative medicine techniques with acupuncture, manipulation, and movement pattern analysis to address both the structural and functional aspects of chronic pain. 

Young Uck Kim, MD†
Dr. Kim is an orthopedic surgeon in Seoul, South Korea. His clinic, Rapha Medience Orthopaedic Clinic, is a busy orthopedic surgery and prolotherapy practice. Over the past 19 years, he has observed the benefits of prolotherapy for his patients, and his practice performs more non-surgical procedures than orthopedic surgery. Dr. Kim utilizes ultrasound, mainly for academic purposes and research.

William Knight, DO†
Dr. Knight is in practice in Metairie, LA, caring for patients with chronic pain and with other rehabilitation needs. He is board certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation. Dr. Knight has served with the HHPF as an instructor in Honduras and Mexico and at the Madison conference.

Andrew Kochan, MD†
Dr. Andrew Kochan practices prolotherapy and other regenerative medical techniques in Los Angeles, CA, and near Monterey, CA. He is board certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation and is internationally recognized as an expert in apitherapy. He has been doing prolotherapy for 35 years and has taught prolotherapy in Honduras since 2003 and in Guadalajara and Madison for many years. 

Susan Lanza, MD†
Dr. Susan Lanza graduated in medicine and surgery from the University of Palermo, Italy, in 2003 and earned her second medicine and surgery degrees from the University of Caracas (UCV), Venezuela, in 2008. She is board certified in Italy with a specialization in sports medicine, has a master’s in aesthetic medicine and is an instructor in neuralprolotherapy. Dr. Lanza has served as a prolotherapy instructor with the HHPF in Honduras, Mexico, and Madison for many years. She is also an instructor for SIPRO (Italian Prolotherapy Association) and for the European Mission of Prolotherapy in Italy and Greece. She has a private practice in various cities in Italy specializing in sports medicine, prolotherapy, ultrasound management and aesthetic medicine. 

Kenneth Lee, MD*
Dr. Lee is a musculoskeletal radiologist in the Department of Radiology at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (UW SMPH). His research and clinical interests include MSK US and minimally invasive therapies of sports injuries, quantitative ultrasound elastography, and regenerative medicine therapies for overuse tendon injuries. He has received multiple peer-reviewed grant awards for team science research studies in tendon elastography and PRP therapies. He has published 45 peer-reviewed manuscripts and given over 170 national and international presentations.

Liza Maniquis-Smigel, MD†
Dr. Maniquis-Smigel is a diplomate of American Academy of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and of the American Academy of Regenerative Medicine.  She is in private practice in Hawaii. Her special interests include treatment of musculoskeletal injuries with regenerative approach including prolotherapy, perineural injection treatment, prolozone, PRP and stem cell therapy. Dr. Maniquis-Smigel published three research articles on dextrose caudal epidural. She has served with the HHPF in Honduras and Mexico since 2003 and has often lectured at the Madison conference.

Emily Molina, MD*
Emily Molina is a first year internal medicine resident at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Prior to receiving her medical degree from Texas A&M College of Medicine, she pursued research in a cohort of rheumatoid
arthritis patients in south Texas focusing on clinical outcomes. Her current research interests include myofascial pain, musculoskeletal anatomy, social determinants of health and quality patient care.

William Mora, MD†
Dr. Mora is board certified in family medicine, and he received a CAQ in sports medicine. He also received certification by the American Board of Integrative Holistic Medicine and the American Board of Medical Acupuncture. Dr. Mora trained in prolotherapy with Dr. Jeff Patterson at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health. He currently works in an integrative holistic functional medical practice in Sacramento, CA, with a focus on prolotherapy and regenerative injection therapy.

Jim Nosal, MD†
Dr. Nosal practices family medicine in Crandon, WI.  He has been involved with prolotherapy at the HHPF conferences for many years.

Bobby Nourani, DO*†
Dr. Nourani is an associate clinical professor at the University of California Irvine, Susan Samueli Integrative Health Center. He is the Inpatient Integrative Health medical director. He is board certified in family medicine, neuromusculoskeletal medicine, and pain medicine. He is also certified in medical acupuncture. Dr. Nourani has enjoyed serving with HHPF in Honduras and Mexico since 2010 and has lectured at the annual conference in Madison since 2014.

Ripal Parikh, DO†
Dr. Parikh is board certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation and pain management. He works in private practice, Regen Medical, focusing on regenerative medicine techniques including prolotherapy and PRP. He has been involved with HHPF since 2010 and has served in Honduras and Mexico.

Eric Phillippi, MD†
Dr. Phillippi operates a private practice procedure clinic in Madison, WI.  At his practice, Medical Procedures of Wisconsin, he provides regenerative injections including prolotherapy, perineural injection therapy, PRP, and stem cell therapy.  He also offers many outpatient surgical procedures including varicose vein treatments, vasectomy, and minor skin surgery.  Board-certified in family medicine, he received his medical degree and completed residency training at the University of Wisconsin - Madison.  He serves as an adjunct clinical faculty at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health teaching medical students in his course: Office-Based Procedures in Family Medicine.

David Rabago, MD*† (HHPF BOD)
Dr. Rabago is a board-certified family medicine physician and associate professor at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, and immediate past president of the HHPF. His clinical practice is in Madison, WI; his research endeavors include assessment of prolotherapy for chronic musculoskeletal conditions including knee osteoarthritis. Dr. Rabago also mentors others in the design, conduct and publication of research devoted to prolotherapy and other injection therapies. He lectures nationally and internationally on these topics.

Deborah Raehl, DO†
Dr. Raehl is a board-certified family physician who has been teaching and practicing full-scope family medicine for over 20 years at Prevea Eau Claire Family Medicine Residency. Her special interests include treatment of the citizen athlete, prolotherapy, and osteopathic manipulative medicine. Dr. Raehl has served and taught with HHPF in Honduras, Mexico and at the Madison conference since 2009. She also serves as adjunct clinical faculty for University of Wisconsin Department of Family Medicine and Community Health and associate clinical professor for the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Brian Ralston, MD† (President HHHF BOD)
Dr. Ralston is a board-certified family medicine physician with a certificate of added qualifications in sports medicine, practicing in the Chicago area. Dr. Ralston is a faculty member of the MacNeal Family Medicine Residency Program, and clinical associate professor of medicine at the University of Chicago.  Dr. Ralston has worked with the HHPF as a prolotherapy provider and instructor since 1995.

K. Dean Reeves, MD*
Dr. Reeves has served as either primary investigator or research designer and facilitator for studies of the clinical effects and basic science of dextrose prolotherapy and perineural injection in osteoarthritis, tendinosis and chronic widespread pain since 1994.  In recent years, he has enjoyed participation in a team approach to research in cooperation with Dr. David Rabago and in support of the goals of the UW Prolotherapy Education and Research Lab. 

Ali Safayan, MD†
Dr. Safayan has been in practice at Restorative Health Center for Integrative Medicine in Washington, DC, since 1990. Board certified in internal medicine (2000-2010), he has taught prolotherapy during our Madison conference as well as on HHPF trips to Honduras and Mexico. He is also a senior faculty member and the preceptor in charge of the Helms Medical Institute (HMI) which provides medical acupuncture training for both civilian and military physicians. In his practice, Dr. Safayan utilizes conventional and complementary therapies including prolotherapy, PRP, medical acupuncture, and functional and nutritional medicine. 

Jaehyun Shim, MD†
Dr. Shim is a neurosurgeon in Seoul, South Korea.  After learning prolotherapy from the HHPF, his medical practice in Seoul now includes prolotherapy for chronic pain.  Dr. Shim is active in the HHPF, instructing physicians in Honduras, Mexico and at the annual HHPF Madison conference.  Dr. Shim is also a member and faculty of the Seoul MKS Ultrasound Society.

Regina Sit, MBBS(HK), FRACGP, FHKCFP, FHKAM*
Dr. Regina Sit is the associate professor in family medicine, the Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care, the Chinese University of Hong Kong. In addition to her family medicine specialist training, she also carries qualifications in pediatrics, dermatology, geriatric and internal medicine. As a family physician, she develops her special skills in pain management and is a Certified Interventional Pain Sonologist by the World Institute of Pain. Her clinical and research interests focus on the study of musculoskeletal pain in primary care. Currently, she is the director of the CUHK-Jockey Club Pain Relief Project for the Seniors, and is leading an interdisciplinary

Jon Trister, MD†
Dr. Trister is board certified in internal medicine. In his private practice in Massachusetts, he specializes in internal medicine, skin cancer outpatient surgery, orthopedic medicine, spinal cord injury medicine, osteopathy, and functional medicine. After completing his residencies in general and orthopedic surgery in the USSR and internal medicine in the US, Dr. Trister completed a fellowship in spinal cord injury medicine at Harvard Medical School. Prior to coming to the US, Dr. Trister was a general and orthopedic surgeon in Ukraine from 1975-1989.

Linh Vuong, MD†
Dr. Vuong is board certified in family medicine with a CAQ in sports medicine and extensive training in complementary and alternative practices. She has an integrative practice with her sister, Dr. Tinh Vuong, in the Los Angeles area that offers prolotherapy, PRP, PIT, MSK ultrasound, osteopathy and acupuncture. She enjoys teaching and is an attending physician at Harbor UCLA Family Medicine & Sports Medicine Department.  Dr. Vuong has been with HHPF since 2009 and has served in Honduras and Mexico.

Tinh Vuong, DO†
Dr. Vuong is board certified in family medicine, a licensed acupuncturist and herbalist, and a prolotherapist. She received her Doctor of Osteopathy (DO) degree from Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Vallejo, CA, and completed her family medicine internship and residency at Harbor UCLA Medical Center.

David Wang, DO*†
Dr. Wang is board certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation. He specializes in musculoskeletal ultrasound, osteopathic manipulation, spine, and regenerative medicine including prolotherapy and PRP. He is a founding partner and director of education and training of Regenerative Orthopedics and Sports Medicine, with offices throughout the Metropolitan DC area. Dr. Wang has been active in the HHPF for over 10 years, teaching at the Madison conference and in Honduras and Mexico.

Michael Weber, MD†
Dr. Weber received his medical degree from the University of Virginia School of Medicine, completed a residency in family medicine at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a fellowship in integrative medicine through the UW Academic Integrative Medicine Fellowship/ Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine Fellowship. A member of the UW faculty, he provides integrative primary care including acupuncture and prolotherapy.

Chueh-Hung Wu, MD, CIPS*
Dr. Chueh-Hung Wu is a board-certified physiatrist (specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation) and assistant professor at National Taiwan University College of Medicine. He has published over 50 articles in SCI-indexed journals, including two original articles in Radiology. He acts as a reviewer for 17 SCI-indexed journals. He is actively involved in teaching diagnostic and interventional musculoskeletal ultrasound and has been invited as a speaker and an instructor for more than 30 international conferences and workshops. He is currently conducting studies to investigate mechanisms of hydrodissection for nerves.

Annette Zaharoff, MD† (HHPF BOD)
Dr. Zaharoff is a sports medicine physician in private practice in San Antonio, TX. Her practice, The Non-Surgical Center of Texas, is a comprehensive center for the evaluation and nonsurgical treatment of MSK injuries.  Her practice includes prolotherapy, PRP, and stem cell injections and she is board certified in physical medicine and rehabilitation.  She is the current president and a founding member of the International Association for Regenerative Therapy (IART) and serves on the board of directors for HHPF.  She has been involved in strategic planning and educational trainings for IART and HHPF.    

Miguel Zárate, MD*
Dr. Miguel Zárate is a certified family medicine physician and pain doctor at Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, Argentina. He has an AAOM certification in prolotherapy, a master’s degree in Lyftogt Perineural Injection Therapy (PIT), and MSc degree in books edition. In addition to his clinical practice and research, Dr. Zárate teaches prolotherapy and Lyftogt PIT.  He is one of the directors of the University Workshop of Myofascial Pain in the Hospital Italiano de Buenos Aires, Argentina (HIBA). He coordinates a group of family physicians who treat chronic pain in HIBA and has published chapters and edited several family medicine books.