Dr. Allan V. Abbott
Abbott is professor and vice chairman of family medicine and associate dean of medical curriculum at USC's Keck School of Medicine. His areas of expertise and interest include exercise prescription and promotion, as well as how much physical activity is enough.
Jane E. Allen
Allen joined The Times' Health section a year ago after five years as the L.A.-based science and medical writer for the Associated Press. At The Times, she has explored such subjects as osteoporosis, heart failure and caregiver stress in families of minority patients with Alzheimer's.
Dr. Charles A. Anderson
Co-director of the Sleep Disorders Center at Pasadena's Huntington Memorial Hospital, Anderson is a graduate of UC Santa Barbara and the USC Medical School. He is board-certified in internal medicine, pulmonary disease, critical care and sleep medicine.
Johanna Asarian-Anderson
Asarian-Anderson is manager of the Nutrition Program for the Public Health Programs and Services branch of the L.A. County Department of Health Services. She holds a master's of public health nutrition and is a registered dietitian.
Carole Bartolotto
Bartolotto has a bachelor of science degree in dietetics and nutrition, and a master's degree in exercise physiology from Cal State Northridge. She is a member of the health education and promotion department at Kaiser Permanente's regional offices.
Dr. Jack M. Berger
Berger, an associate professor of clinical anesthesiology at USC, has worked in the area of pain management since 1982. Berger has served as director of the L.A. County-USC Medical Center's Symptom Management and Palliative Care Program since 1998.
Daniel Bernhardt
Bernhardt, star of the syndicated series "Mortal Kombat: Conquest," has been studying the martial arts since he was a teenager. His training led him to open his own martial arts academy at 17.
Sarah Bernhoit
Bernhoit works as a pharmacy specialist for B. Braun/McGaw. The president-elect of the Los Angeles district of the California Dietetic Assn., Bernhoit became a registered dietitian in 1994.
Sharon Bernstein
Bernstein covers health care for The Times' Business section and specializes in bringing together questions of business, policy and patient care. Her coverage of health-care issues won first place for investigative reporting from the Greater Los Angeles Press Club for 1998.
Brigit Legere Binns
Binns is a food writer and restaurant consultant. She is the author of cookbooks, including her latest, "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Lowfat Cooking," and has been involved with several others.
Mary Leigh Blek
Blek and her husband, Charles, co-founded Orange County Citizens for the Prevention of Gun Violence in 1995 in memory of their son Matthew, who was shot to death in New York City in 1994 by a would-be robber.
Dr. David S. Boyer
Boyer, a retina specialist, has performed thousands of eye surgeries in his 22 years in private practice. He is senior partner of Retina-Vitreous Associates Medical Group and heads the vitroretinal surgery department at Good Samaritan Hospital.
Rachelle Bross
Bross is a research associate and program manager at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine & Science in Los Angeles. She has conducted research into areas including protein and energy metabolism and obesity.
Sherry Brourman
Brourman has worked in the field of physical therapy for many years in rehabilitative and orthopedic medicine. Her book "Walk Yourself Well" describes primary movement balancing, a movement system Brourman developed.
Bonnie Burns
Burns is a consumer advocate with more than two decades of experience in long-term care insurance. The director of education for the California HICAP Assn., an association of senior insurance counseling programs, Burns helped the state Department of Aging rewrite its buyers guide for long-term care.
John K. Chen
Chen is a specialist in pharmacology and Chinese herbal medicine. President of Lotus Herbs Inc. of La Puente, Chen is an assistant professor at the USC School of Pharmacy, and a professor of Western pharmacology at Yo San University and Emperor's College of Traditional Oriental Medicine, both in Santa Monica.
Jack Christy
Christy joined the California HealthCare Foundation in March as director of the California Medicare Project. He oversees the foundation's Medicare-related grants, studies and outreach while working to enlarge the project's capacity to gather and disseminate Medicare information for the public, media and policymakers.
Barbara J. Chuck
A journalist for more than 10 years, 6 1/2 with The Times, Chuck has been assistant editor of the Health section since September 1998. Before that, she was the primary health and fitness copy editor for the paper's features section.
Peter Clarke
Clarke is a professor of preventive medicine and communication at USC. Author, with Susan H. Evans, of "Surviving Modern Medicine," Clarke has directed many projects that apply advanced telecommunications to health care.
Cathy S. Cluff
