Medical Specialists Consultants: 55

Dr. Thomas J. Berger was board certified in 1981 as a cardiac surgeon by the American Board of Thoracic Surgery and has been involved, as an expert, in over 300 medical malpractice cases. Most of this experience has been since 1998, when his firm, Heart of the Matter Expertise, began to gain recognition, within the legal community, as the premier expert witness service for cases involving cardiac surgery and cardio-thoracic disease.

Areas of Expertise:

• Cardiovascular Surgery
• Cardiology
• Surgery - General
• Thoracic Surgery

Mission Statement

To see that the truth about every case, in which an associate of Heart of the Matter Expertise becomes involved, is uncovered and understood, whether this means assuring justice for a poorly treated patient or protecting the precious reputation of an unfairly accused physician.

A senior clinical faculty member at Harvard Medical School, Harold J. Bursztajn, M.D., is active in patient care in medical, psychiatric and judicial education nationally. He is qualified in both state and federal courts and is nationally recognized as a distinguished impartial, clinical, ethical and forensic expert to P/D attorneys and institutions. Individual and multispecialty team consultations available.

• Informed Consent & Malpractice
• Employment Litigation: ADA, Disability, Sexual Misconduct Discrimination, Worker's Compensation
• Emotional & Physical Damages: Conscious Pain & Suffering, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Neuropsychiatry & Pain Imaging
• Standards For Experts
• Product Liability: Medical Devices & Pharmaceuticals, Toxic Tort
• Criminal Justice & Public Safety: Diminished Capacity, Drug Addiction, Competency to Confess, Death Penalty Mitigation, Workplace Safety
• Family & Custody Issues
• Testamentary & Contractual Capacity
• Professional & Organizational Ethics: Patient Care, Managed Care, Privacy
• Psychoanalysis & Cultural Perspectives

• Criminal Court Evaluations - Competence to Stand Trial, Assessment of Criminal Responsibility, NGRI Assessments
• Civil Court Evaluations - Personal Injury with Psychiatric symptoms, Brain Injury with Psychiatric symptoms, Malpractice related questions
• Family Court Evaluations - Involuntary Commitment, Guardianship, Testamentary Capacity, Undue Influence, Contractual Capacity, Fitness to Parent, Child Custody
• Third Party Forensic Evaluations - Fitness for Duty, Return to Work, Disability, ADA Accommodations, Medical Necessity, Independent Psychiatric Evaluations

Wayne H. Grant, PharmD, has been a registered Clinical Pharmacist, in good standing, in the State of Ohio, since 1990. Dr. Grant's current clinical practice targets disease state management in multiple areas, including but not limited to; cardiology, gastrointestinal, geriatrics, nephrology, oncology, psychiatry, and pulmonology. 

Consulting Services - Dr. Grant provides Comprehensive Medication Management services, including a complete review of prescriptions and over-the-counter medications. He is available for direct communication with patients and families. 

Experience - A detailed understanding of pain management is paramount to his current practice. Dosage routes from oral, intravenous, intrathecal, and others, in conjunction with strong opioids and adjuvants, garner much of Dr. Grant’s attention. He has delivered local, state, national and international speaking programs reflective of the fundamental practice of pharmacy. As a peer reviewer for the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy, Dr. Grant has provided feedback on articles that will determine future drug therapies. A history of clinical practice, management, and education culminates present-day understanding of the pharmacy profession. 

View Dr. Grant's Profile.

I am a board-certified emergency medicine physician. I have been called upon to express opinions in the areas of medical malpractice, personal injury, negligence, standard of care, and causation. I am involved in both plaintiff and defense cases, and expert witness work accounts for less than 10% of my total income. 

My qualifications include: 

• Award-winning emergency physician in active practice with 30 years clinical experience
• Associate Clinical Professor of Emergency Medicine at University of California San Francisco School of Medicine (volunteer)
• Current VP of company that staffs 500 emergency departments, overseeing more than 5000 ER providers in risk management and quality assurance issues 
• Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians (FACEP) 
• Past President of the California Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians 
• Medical Director of California Highway Patrol 
• Extensive publication and speaking experience in the area of emergency medicine

Ms. Elizabeth D'Alesio has 30 years experience in ICU, including Medical, Surgical and Acute Care. She is ICU certified. She has managed the ICU and telemetry floor which includes bed monitoring. Ms. D'Alesio has also been involved with creating policy/procedure to meet JACHO requirements as well as ongoing recruiting of new ICU staff. She has served on the ethics committee for four years while in management.

Ms. D'Alesio is currently employed at the Reproductive Science Center of Milford and Milford Regional Medical Center where she administers Conscious Sedation, assists physicians with pacemakers, arteriograms and picc lines for septic patients.She currently holds certifications as and Adult Nurse Practitioner and Women's Health Nurse Practitioner,and has recently completed the Kaplan Life Care Planning Course.

Elliot D. Felman, MD, is Board Certified in Family Practice. In practice for more than 32 years. Experienced in both plaintiff and defense review, deposition and testimony for evaluation of medical malpractice. Available for evaluation of Standard of Care for Family Practice, General Practice and Internal Medicine. Clinical Faculty - UCLA School of Medicine.  Expert Reviewer - State Medical Board of California.

Areas of Expertise:

Elite Medical Experts works with attorneys to provide 100% Board-Certified physicians and surgeons practicing at the professorial level at the nation's leading universities. From Stanford to Yale, and from every medical and surgical specialty, Elite secures full-time practicing high-level experts from the nation’s most respected medical institutions. Each specialist is truly unique – a Board Certified professor with a dedicated clinical practice, extensive publications, and top-tier credentials from a major U.S. medical center. 

Complex Consulting at the Intersection of Medicine & Business
Elite Medical Experts also consults on complex strategic and tactical issues for enterprises of any size, and has extensive experience securing top-tier Professors of Medicine and Surgery for a range of complex consulting engagements. Elite Medical Experts is mission-critical to:

To learn how you can align with nationally recognized thought leaders from myriad areas of expertise, call Elite today and ask for our Director of Complex Consulting:

Dr. Burton Bentley II, M.D., FAAEM
CEO, Elite Medical Experts, LLC.

View Elite Medical Experts' Expert Witness Profile.

Theresa A. Schmidt, DPT, is Board-certified in Orthopedic Physical Therapy. With over 25 years of experience in clinical, academic and administrative settings, she is an Approved Provider of continuing education for NY State Boards of Physical Therapy and Massage Therapy, and for the National Certification Board of Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork, Inc., (NCBTMB). She updates clinicians internationally on clinical practice guidelines, standards of care, examination and management of injuries, disease, movement impairments, and disability.

Dr. Schmidt is an approved provider of continuing education by National Certification Board of Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork, Inc, NCBTMB, Inc., and New York State Board of Massage Therapy. She is also a published author in medical journals and has published her research in MOJ Orthopedics, Journal of Complementary and Alternative Medicine, and Fascia Research Congress III.

In her current position as a business owner and approved provider of continuing education seminars and physical therapy with her company, Educise PC, Dr. Schmidt provides clinical and educational services to empower clients to achieve optimal health and wellness, and to inspire clinicians to incorporate best practices into the care of their clients, based on the latest evidence. 

As an instructor, Dr. Schmidt regularly updates her practice with research on the latest clinical prediction rules, clinical practice guidelines, and evidence-based research in physical therapy. As a long-term member of the American Physical Therapy Association, she has access to the latest research in the field, as well as best practices in contemporary care for promoting favorable patient outcomes and appropriate utilization of services. As a clinician, she provides individualized care programs for clients in outpatient settings, primarily focusing on the specialty of Orthopedic Rehabilitation, Personal Fitness, Massage, Ergonomics, and serving as an Expert Consultant for injury and malpractice cases.

Comprehensive Consulting Services:

• Orthopedic injuries, muscle strains, ligament sprains, fractures
• Post-surgical conditions, Sports injuries
• Auto accident injuries and work injuries
• Joint disorders and arthritis, Joint replacements, Spinal pain
• Chronic pain, Fibromyalgia, Myofascial Pain, TMJ, tension headache
• Hand injuries, Neurological disorders, Balance Issues
• Work injury prevention and ergonomic assessment and advice
• Therapeutic modalities include: cupping therapy, ultrasound, diathermy, electrical stimulation, thermal therapy, full body whirlpool, acustim, TENS, NMES, microcurrent, IASTM, paraffin wax and taping
• Exercise and fitness equipment includes: Elliptical climber, stationary bike, cross country Nordic track, Airdyne upper/lower body ergometer, free weights, rebounder trampoline, BOSU balance trainer, fitness balls, rockers, balance and agility trainers, steppers, and more

View Dr. Theresa A. Schmidt's Expert Witness Profile.

• Cognitive Behavior Therapy
• Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Evaluation & Treatment
• Forensic Testimony (Consultation, Evaluation Treatment Following Trauma or Injury)

Dr. Divya Chander, MD, PhD,  is a physician, neuroscientist, and futurist who trained at Harvard, UCSF, UCSD, and the Salk Institute. She is currently the Chair of Neuroscience and Faculty in Medicine at Singularity University. She is also a Visiting Scholar in the Stanford Department of Medicine, Biomedical Informatics, and was a member of the Stanford Anesthesiology Faculty for 8 years.

In the operating room, Dr. Chander applies EEG technology to understand what human brains and the underlying networks look like when they lose and regain consciousness. She also has a precision medicine initiative focused on understanding genetic variability in responses to anesthetic drugs and brain oscillations. Her goal is to understand neural mechanisms of consciousness, as well as the evolution of human consciousness secondary to human augmentation. She is working on devices that read and write the brain (brain mapping, neuromodulation) and link to brain machine interfaces for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes.

Keynote Speaking:

• Neuroscience is on the cutting edge of decoding brains, making it possible like never before to peer into brains and hijack their circuitry. In this talk, Dr. Chander explores how old and new technologies make it possible to read visions and dreams, hack thoughts, and plant false memories. She also addresses how modern medicine and science make it possible to restore and enhance function to people who are paralyzed, opening the door to digital and robotic control with the human mind.
• Medicine / Healthcare is being transformed by exponential technologies that often are developed in the non-healthcare space. Dr. Chander explores how breakthroughs in 3D printing, robotics, artificial intelligence, stem cells, augmented and virtual reality, microfluidics, nanotechnology, and brain machine interfaces are pushing medicine into the realm of science fiction. New diagnostics, therapies, and even augmentation are considered, as well as their ethical implications. 

Video: Can You Read My Mind? The Promises & Perils of AI Decoding the Brain: Divya Chander at NextMed Health

• Bioethics has both the near and long-term implications for humanity and the biosphere. This has never been more true as we have gained the ability to rewrite both the genetic and the neural code, fundamentally changing what it means to be human. The ability to implant, read and write functions to humans leaves us vulnerable to losing our privacy, or even being hacked and manipulated. This talk explores the ethical implications of the technology we have developed, which is exploding at an exponential rate, and considers some new solutions.

View Dr. Divya Chander's Expert Witness Profile.

• Face-Facelift (Rhytidectomy, Eyelid (Blepharoplasty, Chemical Peel, Dermabrasion, Browlift, Nose (Rhinoplasty, Chin Implant (Augentation Mentoplasty)
• Breast- Enlargement (Augentation Mammoplasty), Reduction, Lift (Mastopexy)
• Body- Tummy Tuck (Abdominoplasty), Arm Lift (brachioplasty), Liposuction (Suction Lipectomy), Ear (Otoplasy), Labial Reduction/Augmentation

• American Society of Plastic Surgeons
• American Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, Inc.
• American College of Surgeons
• American Medical Association
• Florida Medical Association
• Florida Society of Plastic Surgeons
• American College of Legal Medicine

Lori S. Corley MD, FAAP, is Board Certified in Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine. Also certified in Basic Life Support (BLS) and Neonatal Advanced Life Support NALS, she provides comprehensive medical care for infants, children, and adolescents, acting as their primary care physician. 

Employment Experience

• Consultant / Expert Witness for Medical Malpractice cases - Case list available on request (2004-present)
• Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Georgia Health Sciences University /Medical College of Georgia (2002-present)
• Adjunct Professor, MSN Primary Care Nurse Practitioner Program, Kennesaw State University (2001-present)

Dr. Corley provides litigation support services to attorneys representing Plaintiff and Defense. She is available to review medical records, give depositions, and trial testimony for cases that include issues of causation, quality control, and standard of care. 

Areas of Expertise:

• Pediatric Medicine - General infections and illnesses (fevers, sore throats, ear infections, etc.) and minor injuries, as well as some diseases (septic shock), emotional stressors in children that may lead to psychiatric or mental health complications, including developmental and anxiety disorders, behavioral problems and functional complications
• Adolescent Medicine - Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), substance abuse, obesity, eating disorders, mental illnesses (ADHD), acne, pregnancy, birth control programs, menstrual disorders, problems with puberty, among many other conditions and disorders

Lawrence Amsel, MD, MPH, is Board Certified in Psychiatry and Neurology. An Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and an Attending physician at New York Presbyterian Hospital in New York, NY, he specializes in:

Evidence Based Psychotherapy for Anxiety Disorders - PTSD - Psychological Sequelae of Terrorism

With an MD from Yale University and an MPH in Biostatistics from Columbia University, Dr. Amsel combined his clinical expertise with his analytic mathematics background to become one of the early champions of the application of Decision Science, Game Theory, and Behavioral Economics to Psychiatric Research. 

Dr. Amsel has published numerous articles and delivered presentations, symposia, and workshops on Behavioral Economics and Game Theory and other topics on Mathematical Psychiatry. His speaking services are in demand both nationally and internationally. Dr. Amsel will contribute to the proposed study, “Adolescent and Family Decision Making In Time of Disaster,” as Co-Principal Investigator and will serve as the team expert on decision tasks, helping to incorporate the selected tasks into the overall study design. He will be involved in supervising the collection of data related to these tasks and will help guide study design, data collection and analysis, and assist in the interpretation and publication of research findings. 

In 2003, Dr. Amsel organized the first ever American Psychiatric Association symposium on applications of Game Theory to psychiatry. He has published articles and presented posters on Game Theory modeling of suicide, OCD, and PTSD. After 9/11, Dr. Amsel joined the Trauma Studies and Services division at the New York Psychiatric Institute, and has been involved in treating victims of 9/11 and their families, in training community clinicians in cutting edge treatments for PTSD and Complicated (Traumatic) Grief, as well as in doing research on optimal methods of disseminating this training. 

Over the last several years, Dr. Amsel has been collaborating with Dr. Hoven at the Child Psychiatric Epidemiology Group (CPEG) working on understanding the connection between decision deficits, trauma and psychiatric disorders in the developing brain of children/adolescents. He has extensive clinical expertise within psychiatric research, as well as expertise in applying decision science tasks in psychiatric research settings.

View Dr. Amsel's Expert Witness Profile.

• Hospitals, Clinics, and Offices - Consult and organize for the development and expansion of a new facilities or offices and related care patterns
• Personal - Consult with family members to organize health care history, needs, and medications and to help understand healthcare information and interpretation
• Teaching - Emergency Nurse Pediatric Course Instructor, Triage Class instructor, Charge Nurse class instructor