Terry Gass, RN, IBCLC
Lactation Consultant
Providence Holy Cross Medical Center
Lisa Kessler, PhD
External Evaluator
California Polytechnic University, Pomona
Lisa Kessler is an Assistant Professor and Director of the Didactic Program in Dietetics in the Human Nutrition and Food Science Department at the California State Polytechnic University in Pomona. She has been a Registered Dietitian since 1987 and obtained a master of public health in nutrition from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1987. She received a doctorate of public health from Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health in 1994. Between 1994 and 2006, Lisa gained intra-cultural experience working outside the US, specifically in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Cyprus and Austria. She served as Dean of Students at the American University in Dubai. She was the Director of Health Education at King Fahd Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. She was an Assistant Professor at Intercollege in Larnaca, Cyprus and served as Adjunct Faculty at the Institute of Nutrition at the University of Vienna, Austria. Currently she is the Principle Investigator for a 250K USDA funded grant entitled, “Development, Implementation and Evaluation of a Spanish Dietetic Curriculum”. She was selected as Cal Poly Pomona’s College of Agriculture Teacher of the Year in June 2010, received the Journal of Human Lactation’s first author award for most useful article in 1995, received the Kruse Award for Excellence in Public Health Nutrition in 1993 and was selected as Young Dietitian of the Year in Texas in 1990.
Sherri G. Mendelson RNC, PhD, CNS, IBCLC
Director of Nursing Research and Magnet Program
Providence Holy Cross Medical Center
Sherri Garber Mendelson, PhD, RNC, CNS, is Director of Nursing Research and Magnet Program for Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills, California. She has responsibility for Nursing Research initiatives and Magnet re-designation. She is also an Assistant Clinical Professor in the School of Nursing at University of California, Los Angeles. Earlier in her career, she served as Clinical Nurse Specialist for Maternal Child Health Nursing. Prior to joining PHCMC, Dr. Mendelson served as a CNS in several hospitals in the Los Angeles and Chicago areas. She is a BSN and MSN graduate of University of Illinois and holds a PhD in Nursing from the University of California at Los Angeles.
Dr. Mendelson is board certified in Inpatient Obstetrics, Electronic Fetal Monitoring and High Risk Neonatal Nursing. Her publications include:
PACLAC Guidelines for Maternal Care, 2009. Los Angeles, CA.
Mendelson, S., McNeese-Smith, D., Koniak-Griffin, D., Nyamathi, A., & Lu, M. 2008. A community-based parish nurse intervention program for Mexican American women with gestational diabetes. JOGNN 37:4 415-425
Mendelson, S., 2008. Maternal and fetal complications (test questions); Assessment of fetal wellbeing (test questions). In Core Review for Neonatal Intensive Care Nursing. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders Co.
Mendelson, S., and Monaco, R., 2001. Maternal and fetal complications (test questions); Assessment of fetal wellbeing (test questions). In Core Review for Neonatal Intensive Care Nursing. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders Co.
Schy, D.S., Maglaya, K.F., Mendelson, S. G., Race, K.E.H., & Ludwig-Beymer, P. (1996). The effects of in-hospital lactation education on breastfeeding practice. Journal of Human Lactation. 12:117-122.
Dr. Mendelson is a member of AWHONN, Sigma Theta Tau, Alpha Lambda and Gamma Tau Chapters. Awards and Grants include:
2000-2004 Eugene Cota Robles Fellowship, University of California, Los Angeles
2004-2008 Reviewer, AWHONN Nursing for Women’s Health
2005-2006 UCLA Dissertation Year Fellowship
2008-Present Reviewer, AWHONN JOGNN
2008 PACLAC Member of the Year
2009 AWHONN JOGNN Research article of the year
Birth and Beyond California (Breast feeding promotion)
First Five LA Best Babies Collaborative (Pregnancy and interconception case management to improve birth outcomes).
Rebeca Sheng, BS, IBCLC
WIC Program, North East Valley Health Corportation
Gayle Schachne, MPH, RD, CLE
WIC Program Director at the North East Valley Health Corporation