Leadership Team

Robert M. Peck, MD, Honorary President, In Memoriam, passed away on July 31, 2016.

Dr. Robert Peck is the honorary president in memoriam of the California Physicians Alliance. The following is a brief autobiography of a physician who dedicated his life to patient advocacy.

Steve Tarzynski MD is a practicing pediatrician and president of the California Physicians Alliance. Dr. Tarzynski has over four decades of activist experience in health care reform and other progressive movements.

“When I worked in the Emergency Room at Los Angeles County Medical Center, I became aware of the unfairness of our health care system. I realized that those with insurance were much more likely to get the care they needed, before it was too late. I’ve been a single payer supporter ever since.”

Anali is an alumna of Cal State University, Northridge where she earned a Bachelors degree in Liberal Arts as well as a Masters degree in Public Health in Health Education (MPH).

“It is rewarding for me to work for an organization like the California Physicians Alliance since they advocate health insurance for ALL. I am a transplant from Ann Arbor, MI to Berkeley, CA and have worked the last ten years for non-profits. I also enjoy using the non-practical side of my brain. I have sung in choruses and have traveled extensively in the United States (to all but two states).”

Dan Wohlfeiler, MJ, MPH, is Chief of the Office of Policy, Communications and Planning at the Sexually Transmitted Disease Control Branch at the California Department of Public Health. He has worked in STD and HIV transmission since 1986, in Spain, Central America, and at the World Health Organization’s Global Programme on AIDS.

Dr. Glennah Trochet was born and raised in Colombia, South America. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1976, she completed her residency in Family Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas in 1979.

Following a two-year term as a commissioned corps officer for the Indian Health Service in Zuni, New Mexico, she came to Sacramento with her husband and was in private practice for 8 years. During that time her two daughters were born.

Vall Vinaithirthan is a rising senior studying Biology at UC Santa Barbara hoping to pursue an MD/MPH in the future.

Hilary Siebens, MD joined PNHP in 1999 out of admiration for Dr. David Himmelstein’s courage and her own growing awareness of the unkindness and failures for patients and their families, especially those with disabilities, of the current health care system. She appreciates the simplicity and effectiveness of single payer (an Improved Medicare for All). In 2009 she helped develop the Los Angeles California Physicians Alliance chapter and in 2010 joined the Board.

Dr. Jim Kratzer is a lifelong advocate for comprehensive universal healthcare, “everybody in, nobody out.” His mother was born in Canada, an 11th generation Canadian, and was also a moralizer: healthcare as a basic human right has always been a core value in his family.

Bill Tarran is a podiatrist in private practice in Daly City, CA and is employed as a podiatrist for the City and County of San Francisco in the Department of Public Health where he provides care in the city’s outpatient community clinics.

For the past 18 years, Abby H. Arnold has been an organizational consultant and grant writer whose clients included non-profit organizations, local governments, unions, and faith-based groups, specializing in building partnerships among organizations to successfully compete for large government grants.

Dr. Susie Baldwin is a preventive medicine and women’s health physician who has been a member of California Physicians Alliance (CaPA) since her medical school days in Brooklyn, NY.

Dr. Arthur Chen is currently a Senior Fellow focusing on building a learning organization that promotes a culture of service excellence and community advocacy at Asian Health Services (a Federally Qualified Health Center [FQHC]) in Oakland, California, where he has practiced inpatient and outpatient medicine as a family physician since 1983 and also served as their Medical Director and Special Programs Director (1984-1995). He also serves as the Deputy Director for the National Leadership Academy for the Public’s Health,Read More »

Christopher Cherney has worked as a California licensed nursing home administrator since 1997. He obtained a BA in Biochemistry from Harvard University in 1987 and his MA in Gerontology from SFSU in 2012. In 2001, he became the first employee of Kaiser Permanente’s first-ever free-standing skilled nursing facility.

Parker Duncan, MD, MPH, now a bilingual (Spanish) family medicine physician working in the community clinics of Sonoma County, first heard about the California Physicians Alliance during his first year of medical school at UC Irvine.

Gerri Field graduated from U.C. Berkeley with degrees in economics and history. Her career has spanned the legal, teaching and political organizing fields. She became a health care activist 30 years ago when her professional life took her to NYC and Paris, France during which time she experienced a “Tale of Two Cities” in health care systems.

Justin earned his bachelor’s degree in psychobiology from UCLA. He is currently enrolled at Touro University College of Osteopathic Medicine, in his new role as the Northern California CaHPSA Representative, Justin looks forward to supporting CaHPSA students in fostering a culture of civic engagement and single payer advocacy at their schools."

Jim Mangia is the President and CEO of St. John’s Well Child and Family Centers, a network of a dozen nonprofit federally qualified health centers and school-based clinics providing free medical, dental and mental health services to more than 200,000 patient visits in south Los Angeles.

Leslie K. Bruce, JD is a seasoned professional with a career in advocacy, communications and community relations that spans more than 30 years. She currently serves as Director of Healthcare Leadership and Community Outreach for UC San Diego Extension where she teaches a number of classes in US healthcare and advocacy in the UC San Diego School of Medicine master’s degree programs while managing a portfolio of continuing education courses and programs for healthcare professionals.

Scott Carter is the Executive Producer of HBO’s Real Time With Bill Maher, a show which holds the record for most Emmy nominations without a victory.

Laura A. Schmidt is a Professor of Health Policy in the School of Medicine at the University of California at San Francisco. She holds a joint appointment in the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies and the Department of Anthropology, History and Social Medicine. Dr. Schmidt is also Co-Director of the Community Engagement and Health Policy Program for UCSF’s Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute. She received her PhD training in sociology at UC Berkeley andRead More »

Cindy De La Cruz received her Master’s in Public Health from CSU Long Beach with an emphasis in Community Health Education.

Howard Feinberg is a 1984 graduate of The College of Osteopathic Medicine of the Pacific in Pomona, CA (now Western University).

Jeoffry Gordon, MD, MPH is a full-time family and preventative medicine practitioner at Family Health Centers of San Diego, providing medical care primarily to homeless patients.

Director, UCLA Center for Health Policy Research
Professor of Health Policy and Management, UCLA Fielding School of Public Health

Don McCanne practiced family medicine in San Clemente, California for over three decades. He served as chief of staff of San Clemente hospital, and as chairman of the board of a very successful community-oriented bank.

Dr. Nevarez currently serves as the Vice President of External Relations and Preventive Medicine Advisor at the Public Health Institute (PHI), one of the largest and most comprehensive non-profit public health organizations in the nation

I left my job as a corporate executive a few years ago after an honest-to-God, life-changing, Road-to-Damascus epiphany.

Alberto’s core values center on the notion that people, love, and compassion – matched with organized power, strategy, and vision – have the potential to transform society.

Alfredo Carlos is a Faculty member in the departments of Political Science and Chicano and Latino Studies at California State University, Long Beach. His interests revolve around understanding the nature of inequality in the U.S. and through praxis, organizing alternative economies that empower working communities especially those of color.

Gustavo is the Director of Young Invincibles, the largest millennial-focused advocacy and policy organization in the nation.

Indu Subaiya is the Executive Vice President and Co-Founder of Health 2.0, the leading conference and media platform company that promotes, showcases and catalyzes new technologies in healthcare through a worldwide series of conferences, code-a-thons, prize challenges, and more.

In 1992 Paula began volunteering at the Liberty Hill Foundation and used her expertise in office management to help Liberty Hill build its infrastructure.

Marianne Parker Brown has been on the faculty of the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health from 1984-2004 and 2015-2017.

Kent Wong is the director of the UCLA Labor Center, where he teaches courses in labor studies and Asian American studies.

Art Small MD is an expert in health economics, value assessment, and managed care.

Beatriz is a PhD student in Public Health at the University of California, Merced.