Medical Specialists Consultants: 72

Dr. Thomas J. Berger was board certified in 1981 as a cardiac surgeon by the American Board of Thoracic Surgery and has been involved, as an expert, in over 300 medical malpractice cases. Most of this experience has been since 1998, when his firm, Heart of the Matter Expertise, began to gain recognition, within the legal community, as the premier expert witness service for cases involving cardiac surgery and cardio-thoracic disease.

Areas of Expertise:

• Cardiovascular Surgery
• Cardiology
• Surgery - General
• Thoracic Surgery

Mission Statement

To see that the truth about every case, in which an associate of Heart of the Matter Expertise becomes involved, is uncovered and understood, whether this means assuring justice for a poorly treated patient or protecting the precious reputation of an unfairly accused physician.

Expert Witness: Retained in Washington, D.C., and over 25 states as an expert in hospital administration who could render opinion after assessing medical records, hospital policies and procedures, medical staff bylaws and regulations, JCAHO standards, depositions, etc. Served as Expert Witness for Plaintiff and Defense. 

Consultant: Has assisted hospitals and health systems with accelerating their performance improvement efforts. Speaks, writes and consults on ethical issues in health care. 

Background Highlights:

• Consultant, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the health system.
• Executive Director of two academic medical centers: Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, Stanford University Hospital and Clinics at Stanford.
• Past chairman of the national advisory board for the University of Chicago’s Center for Clinical Medical Ethics.
• An author of over 175 publications, he has written articles for USA Today, Health Management Quarterly, Trustee, Health Progress, the Journal of Health Administration Education, Frontiers of Health Services Management, Bioethics Forum, Modern Healthcare, the Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics, Stanford Medicine, and Healthcare Executive among others.
• Co-editor of Management Mistakes in Healthcare: Identification, Correction, and Prevention, published by Cambridge University Press in 2005.
• Co-editor of Managing Ethically: An Executive's Guide, published by Health Administration Press in 2001, and a second edition, Managing Healthcare Ethically: An Executive's Guide was published in 2010.
• Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, a past member of its Leadership Advisory Committee, and a consultant on health care management ethics since 1994.
• Served as a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at Stanford University’s Center for Biomedical Ethics.
• Recipient of American Hospital Association's Award of Honor in 2009 and an Albert Schweitzer Leadership Award in 2012.
• Faculty appointments held at Harvard, UCLA, Stanford, Emory, the University of California, and Seton Hall University.
• Bachelor of Science, Master of Public Health, and Doctor of Public Health degrees are from the University of California, Berkeley.

Spine Surgery and Spine Medicine Consultant

An evidence-based practice features the best available information translated into patient care. Critical thinking in medicine, and the combined infusion of traditionally designed spine studies and the data mining models of machine learning, create the current state of spine knowledge.

William H. Dillin, MD, is a spine surgery and spine medicine consultant at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic. He has been exclusively devoted to clinical spine, interventional spine, and spine surgery practice. He has performed over 7,000 spine operations/interventions and performs a wide range of technical spine procedures. The Kerlan-Jobe physicians serve as consultants to the Los Angeles Dodgers, Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Kings, Los Angeles Sparks, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Anaheim Mighty Ducks, Los Angeles Rams, Loyola Marymount University, and USC Trojan Football.

Litigation Support - For over 35 years, Dr. Dillin has traveled to refine and acquire the technical skills invested in Spine Surgery and Spine Interventions. His expert witness activity is embodied in his Harvard Capstone, "The Trial of the Medical Expert Witness." Dr. Dillin offers Independent Medical Evaluations and/or Medical-Legal Review, thorough reporting, depositions, and trial testimony as needed.

Areas of Expertise:

Dr. Jane K. McNaught, PhD is a locally and nationally recognized Psychological Forensic Expert with an extensive background in Clinical Psychological issues. Dr. McNaught works with both adults and children. She specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Divorce related issues. 

Dr. McNaught has treated numerous adult and child victims of sexual and physical abuse. She has also consulted on cases for both the plaintiff and defense regarding the reliability of child and adult statements about sexual assault. She also consults on cases involving delayed reports of sexual assault as well as standard of care regarding interviewing alleged victims of sexual assault. 

Dr. McNaught also specializes in criminal cases where sexual assault is alleged as well as mental health issues that may impact sentencing. In the area of Family Law, Dr. McNaught has a long history of providing custody evaluations in high conflict cases that involve personaltiy disordered parents, allegations of physical and sexual abuse, allegations of Factitious Disorder of Self and Others, and cases involving Parental Alienation. Dr. McNaught also works with adults who are experiencing depression, anxiety, and going through life transitions. Throughout her career, she has also treated children who are experiencing behavioral, academic, and social difficulties. 

Clinical Areas of Expertise:

Dr. McNaught has presented her work at national conferences for psychologists, social workers, physicians, attorneys and judges. Her presentations and workshops have been requested by such organizations as the Criminal Justice Institute, International Symposium on Child Custody Evaluation, Trial Lawyers Association, and many others. Dr. McNaught was one of a few psychologists chosen to be an invited Expert on the Minnesota Supreme Court Task Force on Visitation. She has also been invited to participate in State and County Policy Making Boards related to sexual assault as well as divorce custody issues. She is highly regarded as a state and national expert in the areas of: Sexual Assault, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Parental Alienation, Factitious Disorder by Proxy, and Divorce related issues.

View Dr. McNaught's Expert Witness Profile.

With a diverse background in the financial markets, real estate, and health care, I discovered that my true passion and satisfaction is helping others to uncover and achieve financial dreams and build a legacy. I understand the financial markets and the importance of individualized risk management and portfolio planning.  

Jeffrey A. Sugar, MD has been a practicing Psychiatrist for over 25 years. Board certified both in Child and General Psychiatry, Dr. Sugar is the Director of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Trauma Program at the University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine in Los Angeles, CA.

Dr. Sugar is Attending Psychiatrist in both Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Adult Psychiatry Outpatient Clinics at USC. He teaches child and general psychiatrists-in-training and medical students on topics ranging from Trauma, Adversity, and Dissociation to Psychotherapy theory and methods.

Dr. Sugar was the founding director of the Hathaway Children’s Clinical Research Institute where he performed funded research on the effects of interpersonal child trauma. Dr. Sugar has presented at national and international meetings on child and adolescent Trauma and Dissociation.

Consulting Services Include:

• Effects of Trauma and Adversity on Child Development
• Chronic Physical, Sexual or Emotional Abuse
• Psychological Trauma in the Workplace
• Date Rape / Internet Seduction
• Post-Traumatic Loss, Grief and Depression
• Psychological Effects of Injury to the Body or Brain
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Professional Organizations:

View Dr. Sugar's Expert Witness Profile.

Bankole A. Johnson, DSc, MD, MBChB, MPhil, FRCPsych, DFAPA, Dip-ABAM, Dip-ABDA, FACFEI, is a leading Neuroscientist and respected global authority in both Psychiatry and Neuroscience. His considerable education and expertise dates to the 1970s, when he received his first general studies diplomas.

Dr. Johnson earned his Medicinae Baccalaureum et Chirurgiae Baccalaureum (an M.D. equivalent) from the University of Glasgow in Scotland. He also received his UK Board Certification in Psychiatry from the Royal College of Psychiatrists, his Master of Philosophy in Neuropsychiatry at the University of London, his Doctorate in Medicine from the University of Glasgow (coursework at the University of Oxford). He also received a Doctor of Science from the University of Glasgow, the highest doctoral degree that can be awarded by a British university.

In addition to these qualifications, Dr. Johnson has also received United States certifications from both the American College of Forensic Examiners Institute, the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, and the American Board of Addiction Medicine.

Today, Bankole Johnson is a board-certified psychiatrist and physician throughout both Europe and the United States. He serves as a respected collegiate authority in his field at a leading university in the United States. Dr. Johnson is a leading authority on the effects of abused drugs including alcohol on the brain and how this affects behavior, especially that related to the commission of a crime. He is a national expert on the treatment of opioid addiction as well as on assessing medical malpractice and insurance claims. Dr. Johnson also is a national expert on the effects of diseases of the brain, mental illness, mental disorder, and aberrant behaviors on testamentary capacity. He also is a national expert on assessing disability as a result of mental disorder, mental illness, and alcohol and drug abuse.

Along the way, Bankole Johnson has also been the recipient of numerous high-profile awards in his fields and industries of specialty. In 2001, he received the Dan Anderson Research Award for his research contributions focused on “the scientific knowledge of addiction recovery.” He won the 2002 Distinguished Senior Scholar of Distinction Award from the National Medical Association and a 2006 Distinguished Lecturer Award from the American Psychiatric Association. In 2008, Dr. Johnson became a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. From 2010, he has been a Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. Dr. Johnson won the prestigious NIH Jellinek Award in 2013 for his scientific advances and discoveries in the field of addiction medicine. He is also the Editor of one of the largest and most comprehensive textbooks in the field: Addiction Medicine: Science and Practice, published by Springer.

View Dr. Johnson's Expert Witness Profile.

Joseph W. Burke, MD, board certified, actively participating Diagnostic Radiologist with over 18 years of experience. Dr. Burke has practiced for the last 16 years at Reading Health system which has one of the busiest Emergency Departments on the East Coast and is a Level 2 Trauma Center.

Dr. Burke is a frequent presenter at weekly Tumor, Trauma, Thoracic, and Gastrointestinal Conferences. He served as Chief of the Ultrasound department for several years and currently sits on his group Board of Directors. He offers teaching services, educating radiology technology students, medical students, and residents.

Litigation Support - Dr. Burke provided Medical-Legal forensic case review for attorneys in numerous cases. He has extensive experience in the interpretation of Neurologic and Body Imaging studies and has read in excess of 250,000 images including MRIs, X-Rays, CT Scans, and ultrasounds. Dr. Burke's services are available to counsel representing plaintiff and defendant and include medical record review, written reports, deposition, arbitration, and trial testimony as needed.

Radiology and Diagnostic Radiology Areas of Expertise:

Current Memberships and Affiliations:

• American Medical Association
• Pennsylvania Medical Society
• American College of Radiology
• Radiological Society of North America
• Eastern Radiological Society
• Pennsylvania Radiological Society

Kevin Kucko, MAPT, ATC is a licensed Physical Therapist with over 23 years of experience. His specialty areas include Work-injury Reduction, Outpatient Services Development, and Physical Rehabilitation. 

Background Experience - Mr. Kucko began his career as an athletic trainer working with athletes from college through the NFL. He quickly focused on accelerating recovery times while rehabilitating orthopedic injuries. In 1995, he completed his Masters’ degree in Physical Therapy. Since that time, he has served as Department Director at various rehabilitation facilities throughout the east. 

Litigation Support - With over 13 years of experience performing Functional Capacity Evaluations, Mr. Kucko has helped hundreds of clients resolve cases with the best possible outcome. He provides services to attorneys representing both Plaintiff and Defense. Kevin Kucko offers meticulous review of medical records in preparation for trial and depositions. For cases where therapy and physical rehabilitation are involved, he sets the foundation by explaining medical conditions and interventions in a clear and concise manner that jurors understand. Mr. Kucko has been deposed and/or testified 14 times since 2010. 

Areas of Expertise:

Rouzbeh R. Taghizadeh, PhD, has been researching, developing, and bringing to market Cellular and Tissue based Products and Medical Devices for clinical use – as a researcher, scientist, entrepreneur, innovator, and key opinion leader. Dr Taghizadeh is a Scientist, Entrepreneur, Innovator and Subject Matter Expert offering Business Consultant services in the following areas:

Dr. Taghizadeh's research has focused on developing aand patenting a new method to increase the number of hematopoietic (blood forming) stem cells (master cells that produce working cells for the lifespan of an organism) ex vivo (outside the body) for treatment of patients afflicted with blood disorders and cancers. He has investigated various sources containing blood-forming stem cells, including umbilical cord blood, bone marrow, and mobilized peripheral blood.

Dr. Taghizadeh also co-founded a biotechnology company that pioneered the processing and banking of umbilical cord tissue for clinical use. He's worked with various groups including umbilical cord blood & tissue banks, organ procurement organizations (OPO), academic, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, contract manufacturing and medical device groups. Due to the diverse nature of the groups that he has worked with, he has experience in developing, manufacturing and innovating cellular therapeutics, regenerative medicine, allografts (tissue products developed from different donors & recipients), bioengineering, cellular and  tissue engineering products.

View Dr. Rouzbeh R. Taghizadeh's Expert Witness Profile.

Joel L. Kent, MD, is an expert in all realms of Pain Medicine and has focused expertise in the prescribing and oversight of opioid analgesics. His specialties include acute and chronic pain management, opioid analgesics, interventional pain management therapies, spinal cord stimulation, intrathecal drug delivery, RSD/CRPS and low back pain.

Dr. Kent has provided expert case reviews and testimony for over twenty years.  The majority of his expert work has focused on the standard of care in the practice of Pain Medicine and the use of opioid analgesics.  Dr. Kent has provided expert case opinions in Federal and State civil courts.  He has provided defense support to the US Department of Justice in two cases.  He has served as an expert witness and case reviewer for both Maryland and New York State.  Dr. Kent assisted the District Attorney of New Jersey in prosecuting a case of unlawful prescribing of controlled substances.  He has provided expert case review and litigation support to health insurance carriers seeking restitution for fraudulent expenses related to opioid therapy.  

Over the course of his career, Dr. Kent has developed particular expertise surrounding the use of opioid analgesics.  He has provided over 50 lectures to other physicians regarding the safe and proper use of these medications.   He has been recognized as an expert in both State and Federal Court in cases related to opioid therapy.  He has served on advisory boards helping craft regulatory policies related to opioid medication.  All these accomplishments attest to Dr. Kent’s high level of expertise in the complex and evolving realm of opioid therapy. 

Primary area of expertise: Pain Medicine

Expert consulting experience:

• Authored over 50 expert case reports
• Participated in over 25 depositions
• Testimony experience in civil trials and professional hearings
• Provides litigation support and expert testimony in plaintiff and defense cases

Professional experience:

• Over 25 years of experience in Pain Medicine
• Triple Board Certified
• Practice Director of University Multi-Disciplinary Pain Management Practices from 1998 to 2017
• Program Director of a Multi-Disciplinary Pain Management Fellowship Training Programs from 1998 to 2015
• Professor of Anesthesiology, Palliative Care, and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at University of Rochester School of Medicine
• Lectures extensively and published 

Howard M. Kipen MD, MPH, is Board certified in Internal Medicine and Occupational Medicine. Dr. Kipen earned a BA from UC Berkeley, MD from UCSF, and MPH from Columbia University. He currently serves as Director of the Clinical Research and Occupational Medicine Division and Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health at Rutgers University. Dr. Kipen’s research focuses on clinical and epidemiological studies of the health effects of Indoor and Ambient Air Pollution. His research uses both controlled exposure models with ozone, fresh aerosols, and diesel-enriched on-road exposures, primarily with drives on the New Jersey Turnpike. A new EPA study examines health benefits of portable air cleaners for reducing indoor air pollution levels. Biomarker outcomes presently emphasized are exhaled breath oxidative stress and invasive and noninvasive measures of vascular function. Dr. Kipen has published morethan 200 articles on environmental / occupational health. Scholarly Activities:

• Former Chair, NASA Human Research Program’s Advanced Environmental Health / Advanced Food Technology Standing Review Panel
• Member, National Academies Standing Committee on Medical and Epidemiological Aspects of Air Pollution on U.S. Government Employees and their Families, 2016
• Chair / Member Multiple Ad Hoc Grant Review Panels (e.g., NIEHS, Department of Defense)
• Governor’s Appointee, Public Employee’s Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission, New Jersey Department of Labor
• Member, Public Health Scientific Advisory Board, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection

Litigation Support: Dr. Kipen has 35 years of litigation experience. He has expertise in various Toxic Torts including asbestos, benzene, mold, air pollution, occupational and environmental cancers, and other diseases. He also has expertise on "Multiple Chemical Sensitivities" (MCS). Dr. Kipen has particular experience as an asbestos plaintiff's expert and both plaintiff and defense experience with other toxic torts. His services include medical record review, thorough reporting, depositions, and trial testimony as needed.

Dr. Mayer is an independent consultant and scholar that (for identification only) holds the position of Visiting Fellow in Human Flourishing,  Harvard University. He has been a full-time tenured professor with recent appoints in statistics, biostatistics, epidemiology, biomedical informatics, public health and medicine (psychiatry). He held various titles including, Professor (Part-time), Bloomberg School of Public Health and School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Affiliated Professor, Mayo Clinic/ASU joint program in Biomedical Informatics, a member of the Research Staff at Mayo Clinic, and Professor at Arizona State University. 

Dr. Mayer continues to do research and mentor young physicians and medical students while doing a limited amount of consulting in epidemiology, biostatistics, statistics, observation studies and clinical trials. His consulting projects often focus on model development, execution and inferences. He is one of the few MD/PhD epidemiologists. He led a  group of 6000 physicians and epidemiologists that reviewed the science of COVID-19 

Joseph B, Marzouk, MD, FACP, has been in clinical practice exclusively in the field of Infectious Disease since 1982 and has consulted and treated thousands of patients. He has more than 35 years of experience in the medico-legal aspects of Infectious Disease and has provided numerous objective reviews and testimonies for defense and plaintiff’s attorneys. 

Degrees / Licenses: MD (Licenses: AZ, CA), American Board of Internal Medicine, Infectious Diseases; Certification Board of Infection Control. HIV Specialist. See CV on Website for more details.

Areas of Expertise:  Infectious Disease in all medical specialties: 

• HIV/ AIDS
• Infection Control
• Food Poisoning
• Hepatitis

William Santoro, MD is Board Certified in Addiction Medicine and board eligible in Family Medicine. His professional consultant services are utilized by Pharmaceutical companies to educate doctors on why and how to use medication for substance use disorders. Dr. Santoro also gives talks and seminars to groups on all aspects of addiction medicine.

In addition to being the Chief of the Section of Addiction Medicine at Tower Health System, he was the Medical Director at the Reading Hospital & Medical Center detoxification and rehabilitation program for 36 years. He was also the Medical Director for a Methadone Treatment facility for 22 years where he was responsible for all admission physical examinations and for prescribing methadone to approximately 950 opiate dependent patients.

Dr. Santoro is the Addictionist on staff at The Reading Hospital & Medical Center within the Department of Family & Community Medicine. He is consulted by hospitalists to care for patients admitted to the hospital with addiction complicating their condition. Dr. Santoro runs an outpatient program utilizing buprenorphine and naltrexone maintenance for over 300 patients. With a special interest in Sports Medicine, in 2001, he served as a volunteer physician for the U.S. Olympic Training Team in Lake Placid, New York. 

Professional Services:

• Consultant speaker for Forrest Pharmaceuticals. Responsible for teaching physicians about using Campral for alcohol dependence, 2005 to 2007
• Consultant speaker for Indivior (formerly Rickett-Benckiser). Mentoring program to teach physicians how to appropriately use Suboxone and Sublocade  for opioid use disorder, 2005 to present
• Consultant speaker for Pfizer Labs. Responsible for teaching physicians how and why to use Chantix for tobacco addiction, 2007 to present

View William Santoro's Expert Witness Profile.