Gia Merlo, MD, MBA, DipABLM, FACLM

Gia Merlo is clinical professor of nursing and Senior Advisor on Wellness at New York University (NYU). She is also a clinical professor of psychiatry in the NYU Grossman School of Medicine.

Merlo is the author of Principles of Medical Professionalism with Oxford University Press, where she stresses the importance of physician wellness and addressing the social determinants of health, as well as the need to address chronic diseases with prevention. Merlo serves on the editorial board of the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine. She is a contributing author of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) curriculum Lifestyle Medicine 101, its board review course, Foundations to Lifestyle Medicine, and was elected a fellow of ACLM in 2021. Merlo developed a novel Lifestyle Medicine curriculum titled Wellness in Nursing Through the Lens of Lifestyle Medicine and has been teaching this elective course to doctoral and graduate nursing students at the Rory Meyers College of Nursing at NYU since 2020.

Before joining NYU, Merlo was associate dean of health professions at Rice University. She has served on the faculty at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Rice University, Texas Children’s Hospital, and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Merlo has served on the board of directors of many nonprofits over the years and is currently on the board of directors of Plant-Powered Metro of New York (PPMNY). She has been involved in clinician care and medical education for nearly 30 years in professional development and mental health, particularly of healthcare professionals.

​​Kathy Berra, MSN, NP-BC, FAHA, FPCNA, FAAN

Kathy Berra graduated from Stanford University and received her Master’s and Adult Nurse Practitioner Degree from the University of San Francisco. She worked in clinical research for 26 years at the Stanford Prevention Research Center, Stanford University School of Medicine. Her research activities focused on heart disease prevention, women and heart disease, and nurse case management for CVD risk reduction. She has published extensively in the medical literature, has authored 2 books, and speaks internationally on heart disease prevention and treatment. In 2007, Kathy started a home based care management company – LifeCare Company. Her business is dedicated to caring for persons with complex medical problems who are living at home.

Kathy has been active in the American Heart Association for over 35 years and was awarded “AHA Clinician of the Year” in 2008. She is active on the AHA Council for Cardiovascular Nursing currently serving as member of the Epidemiology and Prevention Sciences Committee. She is a founding member and past president of the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation and past Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation. She is a founder and past president of the Preventive Cardiovascular Nurses Association and serves on their Board of Directors. She is a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee for WomenHeart – a national coalition of women with heart disease. WomenHeart’s mission is to improve the health and quality of life of women living with or at risk of heart disease, and to advocate for their benefit.