Wabi Sabi Health Foundation

Gauri Agarwal, M.D., F.A.C.P. is the Associate Regional Dean for Medical Curriculum and Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine (UMMSM). She serves as the Clerkship Director for the Integrated Medicine clerkship on the UMMSM Regional Medical Campus and course director for the Senior Capstone Course at the Gordon Center for Research in Medical Education, the MD/MPH third year Transitioning to Residency Course, and the Medical Education Senior Elective.  She completed her undergraduate and medical school training as part of the six year Honors Program in Medical Education at the University of Miami.  She completed her residency training in internal medicine at Northwestern University and the University of Pittsburgh, where she also served as chief resident in internal medicine in 2004. Dr. Agarwal joined the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh in 2005, developing a new inpatient gastrointestinal service for internal medicine residents.  She subsequently joined the faculty at Harvard Medical School at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in 2006 serving as an academic hospitalist.  She returned to the University of Miami in 2007 where she has been inducted into Alpha Omega Alpha and Iron Arrow Honor Society.  She has won teaching awards including the Dwight Warren Award for Excellence in teaching, the Golden Stethoscope Award for Excellence in Teaching, Mentorship, and Student Advocacy, and the American College of Physicians Medical Educator Award.  She is a faculty advisor for the Obliterants Literary Journal, Herophilus Academic Society, and the Internal Medicine Interest Group.   She is also a member of the Cell Biology and Physiology Question Writing Committee for the National Board of Medical Examiners and serves annually as the course director for the American College of Physicians internal medicine board exam preparation course in Orlando, Florida.  She currently lives in Boca Raton, Florida with her husband and four children.

Annela Flores’s love for helping people thrive through music led her to the field of music therapy. Upon the completion of her bachelor’s degree at University of the Pacific, Annela spent over a year in India working with a non-profit as a teacher, administrator, and outreach coordinator. She initiated and managed programs such as music therapy services, teacher training, and medical outreach. Annela has worked with a number of populations including: individuals with special needs, older adults, people with Parkinson’s disease, substance abuse recovery, youth at-risk, pulmonary rehabilitation, wellness groups, and in pediatric and adult medical care. Currently, she is an intern supervisor and staff music therapist for MusicWorx Inc. Annela is passionate about empowering people to effectively use music to improve the lives of individuals and their communities.

Dr. Blinderman is an Associate Professor of Medicine and the Director of the Adult Palliative Medicine Service at Columbia University Medical Center/New-York Presbyterian Hospital and Co-Director of the Center for Supportive Care and Clinical Ethics in the Department of Medicine. He was previously an attending physician on the Palliative Care Service at the Massachusetts General Hospital and co-directed the MGH Cancer Pain Clinic from 2007-2010.

Dr. Blinderman received his undergraduate degree in chemistry (Boston University) and a M.A. in philosophy (Columbia) before earning his medical degree from Ben Gurion University in Israel. He completed both a residency in Family Medicine and a fellowship in Hospice and Palliative Medicine at Beth Israel Medical Center in NY. He then went on to complete a Medical Ethics fellowship at Harvard Medical School..

Dr. Blinderman has published numerous original articles, reviews and chapters in the following areas: comfort care (Blinderman CD, Billings JA. NEJM, 2015) early palliative care in lung cancer patients (Temel et al. NEJM 2010), comfort care for the dying patient (NEJM, 2015), medical ethics, existential distress, symptom assessment and quality of life in chronic lung and heart failure patients, as well as cancer pain management, and the management of pain in patients with a history of substance abuse.

He currently is the section editor for Case Discussions in the Journal of Palliative Medicine.

His academic interests include: decision-making at the end of life, the role of palliative care in public health, palliative care in developing countries, medical ethics, and the integration of contemplative care and meditation in medical practice. He also has a strong interest in teaching and developing programs to improve students’ and residents’ skills in communication and care for the dying.  Dr. Blinderman also serves on the advisory board and teaches at the New York Zen Center for Contemplative Care.

Shafika is a practicing Palliative Care Physician working with Madras Cancer Care Foundation and Cancare Foundation.  She consults at Apollo Cancer Specialty, Kumaran Hospital and Ramarao Polyclinic in Chennai, India. She is  a member of the Indian Association of Palliative Care and part of the scientific committee for IAPCON 2019. Shafika graduated from Sri Ramachandra Medical College, Chennai and then specialized in MD General Medicine from Mahatma Gandhi Medical College, Pondicherry. Her interest in Palliative Medicine begun while she was working as a Clinical Fellow at  The London Clinic, UK for several years. She has completed the National Fellowship in Palliative Medicine course from Calicut and is now pursuing her MSc in Palliative Medicine from Cardiff University, UK. Her special interests are Supportive Oncology in adults and Medical Ethics in Palliative Care. Shafika likes to take an active role in family life with her husband and daughter during her free time.

Dr. Chitra Venkateswaran is the founder/clinical director of Mehac Foundation, a not for profit based on a palliative care model. There they strive to deliver exceptional care to improve the quality of life of people with mental illnesses in the community,. The goal is to improve the psychosocial component in any person with a special interest to facilitate integration of psychological issues in palliative care.

She is a faculty at the Department of Oncology and Palliative Care of Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Kochi. The main goal is to set up an integrated approach in palliative care and oncology. The focus also is on referrals from other physicians, nurses and social workers addressing the psychological and social issues of patients and families. She also devotes her time to the palliative care issues, and supervising junior physicians on symptom management.

Lavanya Thomas has 8 years of experience in Sales Strategy and Operational Effectiveness.  She is a seasoned consultant with hands on sales experience and has words dight cross-functional global teams, managed complex programs with strong focus on execution.  She has a Masters in Business Administration from Cordiff University and Masters in Liberal Art in Management from Harvard University.

She served as a senior consult and now is an Engagement Manager at EY.

Lavanya also mentors early stage sustainable start ups and evaluates startup investment opportunities as part of the HBS Angels Club, NYC.

Paul currently is the Veterans Equitable Resource Allocation Coordinator and Data Analytics for WPB Medical Center.   Prior to his current position, Paul Desh was the Patient Safety Manager.  Paul served in this position for over 3 years and obtained the Gold Cornerstone Award from the National Center for Patient Safety for all three years.

Paul attended Rider University in New Jersey for his Undergraduate studies.  He went on to medical school at Sri Ramachandra Medical College in India.  His research was on “Hybrid Procedures in Limb Salvage”.  He got his Masters in Business Administration with a concentration in Health Care from George Washington University, Washington D.C.  He then completed a Patient Safety Fellowship at James A. Haley Medical Center.  His research was presented at Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts.  He recently completed his Competency Development for Leaders training in 2017.  His project focused on improving the Culture of Patient Safety within the hospital network.

Daniel Raj, a physician from India, retired and moved from New York 5 years ago to take care of his terminally ill brother in Texas.   After completing his Master’s in Public Health majoring in Health Administration from Columbia University, he decided to focus his career with the geriatric population.  His career spans over 3 decades experience in Acute Care, Sub Acute Care and Long Term Care.

His last 25 years has been working with the geriatric population developing cost effective treatment alternatives in alternate settings other than in a hospital setting for those with clinically complex diseases.

His marketing, management and administrative skills have been utilized not only in the private sector but also as the board member of non profit organizations. His fiscal skills have helped generate significant profits and cost savings for the organizations that he has served.

Daniel is happily married for 37 years to his wife Shobi and is the father of 5 children.  He enjoys traveling, reading and of late, cooking.

Shobi’s background includes working for a large health insurance conglomerate for over 10 years in various positions and has experience in product development, compliance, legal, customer service and as an educator/trainer for health care providers.   Currently, she owns an independent agency, which brokers a network of over 7,000 attorneys to provide affordable access to legal services.

She has been involved with fund raising for various non-profits and has worked with boards and executive staff to strategically develop and implement fund raising campaigns, which includes increasing revenues by 400% for one non-profit.  Shobi also enjoys participating in local community civic organizations and holds positions as an Ambassador for the Chamber of Commerce, Vice Chair for the Shop Local Committee, and as the Treasurer for the local PTA. During her free time she enjoys spending time with her 5 children and husband of over 35 years.

She is a proud cancer survivor.

Khanh graduated from Baylor University where she studied industrial psychology and business management.  Although she started her professional life in corporate America, she returned to academia to pursue her nursing degree and became a registered nurse in 2011.
Since then, she developed her Healthcare Information Technology career and contributed to many technological implementations throughout institutions across the renowned Texas Medical Center.  Khanh’s experience is as a clinical informatics nursing professional focused on the successful implementation, integration, and adoption of healthcare IT systems.  She is currently the Senior IS Clinical Educator at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, Texas.  Khanh is a founding board member and secretary of the Houston Chapter of the American Nurses Informatics Association.  She is currently pursuing her MBA in Healthcare Administration at the University of Texas at Tyler.  Khanh resides in the Greater Houston, Texas area where she is married to her college sweetheart and is the proud mother to three very busy children.

Sonali is a graduate of Sri Ramachandra Medical College.  She is an Intensive Care physician working in NYC.  She is passionate about using music and art therapy in palliative care.