SelectWell Best Life Experts

Dr. Superko is an internationally recognized expert in preventive cardiology trained at the State University of New York and the University of California-Davis. He conducted multiple NIH- funded clinical trials as Director of the Stanford University Lipid Research Clinic and as Director of the University of California, Berkeley, Cholesterol Research Center. He is currently on the editorial board of five medical journals and serves as a medical publication’s reviewer. Thus far, he has published 172 manuscripts, 20 textbook chapters, one public book and 132 abstract presentations.

As a fellow of the American Heart Association, he served as the Director of the American Heart Association Lipid Disorders Training Center in California and Chairman of numerous National medical educational programs. Of his awards and recognitions; he is most proud of the Larry King Cardiac Foundation Physician Laureate of which he was recognized for writing and directing the FEMA Firefighter Heart Disease Prevention Study and his continued efforts on behalf of the Firefighter community in their fight against heart disease.

As a Founder and Medical Director of Berkeley HeartLab, he established the first commercial laboratory to bring advanced research lab testing to the lay community. As Chief Medical Officer and Vice President at Celera Corporation he further contributed to advance clinical utility and education of cardiovascular genetics. He currently has an active preventive cardiology practice in Monterey California and serves as a Medical Advisor to Select Lab Partners to guide the utility of advanced Cardiovascular testing and programming.

Dr. Ettefagh’s career has been dedicated to developing advanced testing technology to detect and quantify biomarkers essential to assessing one’s health. As a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with his doctorate in medicinal biochemistry, he has specialized at using highly sophisticated instrumentation to develop new tests to further these advances in diagnostics.

Dr. Ettefagh joined the team in 2018 as the vice president of technical support and innovation. As such, he has been responsible for overseeing many high complexity laboratories working on molecular, clinical, and toxicological testing.

Dr. Ettefagh is passionate about assessing individuals’ health and using that assessment to make meaningful changes. He likens laboratory testing to any data we collect for ourselves. “You are more likely to make better food choices if you weigh yourself. You are more likely to get more exercise if you measure your steps. Thus, you are more likely to improve your health if you measure it.”

Brenda’s medical career has been primarily dedicated to cardiovascular disease. She has worked in intensive care, cardiac rehabilitation, and ultimately developing Prevention Clinics to identify and educate individuals on their personalized cardiovascular risks. Brenda has participated in numerous American College of Cardiology (ACC) committees and being recognized with the ACC Inaugural Distinguished Associate Award serves as a testament to her dedication and devotion to the cardiovascular team’s role in cardiovascular prevention and education.

She and her husband, Robert Superko, MD, a leader in preventive cardiology and research, established clinics to support early disease risk and assess high-risk family members through advanced and genetic testing. Her passion to learn more and share that knowledge has led to her participating in numerous cardiovascular research studies and providing lectures to medical audiences across the US. Their collaborative research work in the FEMA Heart Disease Prevention Study was a culmination of their desire to give back to the Firefighter community after 9/11 and a Fire Chief’s public outrage at the number of heart attacks occurring within his Fire community. Once the study was completed, she and her husband focused their efforts on establishing community Firefighter screening programs and helping make sure that the medical community was properly informed of how advanced testing could best identify those most ‘vulnerable’ of heart attacks.

At SelectWell, she has continued her passionate efforts of disease prevention through advanced diagnostics and personalized education. Her position as SelectWell® has also provided the ideal platform to continue efforts of improving the health and wellness of Firefighter communities with the SelectWell® Firefighter’s Heart Health Program which will be featured for all Fire Departments in January 2022 via Clarion Webinars.

Susan Dietz RN, MA, CLS specializes in advanced lipid testing and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk reduction. She has been a supervisor in an Intermediate Critical Care Unit and an RN Lipid Clinic Manager in a Cardiology practice. For the last 15 years, Susan has focused on clinical education for practitioners and patients regarding the interpretation and implications of advanced cardiac tests offered through specialty laboratories for the purpose of cardiovascular prevention.

Susan has received a Clinical Lipid Specialist Certification accredited by the Council of Clinical Lipidology. She has been the Director of Medical Education and Lead Medical Science Liaison. Susan has had the opportunity to provide clinical education in local symposiums, formal presentations as well as one on one, webinars, and phone consults.

SelectWell has provided an opportunity for Susan to continue her focus on cardiovascular disease prevention by providing one on one personalized clinical education regarding specialty blood tests. This education includes test description, associated risks, and considerations including specific lifestyle changes.

Amy has always had a strong personal interest in health and wellness and a desire to utilize lifestyle medicine for disease management. She has practiced as an outpatient pharmacist for the last 25 years with specific interests in managing hypertension, obesity, and diabetes. Clinical practice recommendations for these conditions and others continuously recommend initial treatment begin with lifestyle modification. Despite the expert guidelines and overwhelming evidence that lifestyle is the best way to treat chronic disease, she has observed first-hand the lack of its application in practice.

Throughout the last 25 years, she has also noticed a huge increase in medication costs with sadly very little return on investment. In terms of chronic disease, the American population is less healthy now than before; health care costs are rising yet favorable health outcomes are declining. The current methods where physicians typically spend less than fifteen minutes with patients, diagnose them and prescribe medications is very effective for acute infections or injuries. However, managing chronic disease conditions requires much more.

With a desire to change this and to better serve her patients, Amy chose to study wellness coaching, an upcoming field dedicated to generating effective, sustainable change for those who seek it. After training through Duke University’s Integrative Health and Wellness Coach Program, she became nationally board-certified and is devoted to promoting lifestyle medicine as the optimal course of action for chronic disease management. She is passionate about helping patients recognize the benefit of positive daily choices and the astounding effects they can have on health. She deeply believes that everyone is capable of change and hopes to assist many in their path to wellness. Of course, many patients will continue to need medication therapy along with behavior change to achieve optimal health. Amy’s experience with medication therapy management in combination with her coaching skills positions her as an excellent resource for patients with chronic diseases.

At SelectWell, she hopes to incorporate Integrative Wellness Coaching into the corporate model for disease prevention. She recognizes the value of coaching as an effective means to produce actual results in terms of employee well-being and employer cost savings. SelectWell® hopes to offer coaching services as an added benefit of our inclusive wellness plan.