The
Live Light Live Right team is comprised of leading experts in their field,
including certified nutritionists, trainers, and physicians specializing
in pediatrics, cardiology, endocrinology, and adolescent medicine.
The leadership team includes:
Sarita Dhuper, M.D., Program founder and Executive Director
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Dr. Dhuper is the director of pediatric cardiology at Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center. She uses her expertise and experience in clinical science to integrate effective and culturally sensitive interventions to improve the quality of health and well being of children with obesity and cardiometabolic risk. Her focus has been risk prevention which has been a challenge within a health care system geared to treating, rather than preventing, disease. Her passion inspired her to establish the program in 2001 upon conducting a chart review of 1,000 children in one of the most underserved communities in the nation and finding a disproportionately high rate of obesity. She and her staff volunteered their time for many years while building the program which has since become a model of sustainable change which can be replicated to larger and more diverse populations. Dr. Dhuper is currently clinical associate professor of pediatrics at SUNY Health Science Center of Brooklyn and is a fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Cardiology, and a member of The Obesity Society. She also serves as a medical consultant for ABC news on childhood obesity. In addition to addressing childhood obesity, her other specialized interest is treating children with congenital heart disease.
Sherry Sakowitz, M.D., Associate Program Director
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Dr. Sakowitz is the program director for the pediatric residency program at Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center. She received a Bachelor of Science degree from Tulane University and went on to complete her medical degree from Ross University School of Medicine located in the West Indies. Dr. Sakowitz completed her Pediatric Residency Training at Brookdale in 2006 and now uses her personal experience as a resident to make many positive changes to the program. She is passionate about educating and motivating both her patients and her residents.
Susan Blech, Director of Operations and Patient Affairs
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Susan Blech is the director of operations and patient affairs and serves as an incredible inspiration to all participants and staff. Without surgery, she lost over 200 pounds through an intense focus on diet, exercise and emotional and spiritual transformation. She is the co-author with her sister of the book Confessions of a Carb Queen, a memoir highlighting her struggle along with high-spirited health advice and recipes. She uses her personal experience to encourage and counsel Live Light participants and their families. She also serves on the NYC Food and Fitness Partnership task force and works with the NYC Board of Education on school cafeteria nutrition issues and on physical fitness programs. She is a dynamic motivational speaker on her personal story as well as the larger issue of the obesity epidemic in America. Her earlier career included 15 years as a senior corporate and securities paralegal.
Rena Sooknanan, Senior Community Care Coordinator
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As Senior Community Care Coordinator, Rena is a familiar face to all Live Light children and their families. She helps to coordinate the childhood obesity clinic and organizes community programs. She has been a long time resident of Brooklyn. Rena graduated from Kingsborough College with an associate degree in community health and earned a Bachelor’s of Science in health administration from St. Joseph’s College. Prior to Live Light, she served as an outreach worker with the Caribbean Women’s Health Association and Case Manager with the maternal and children’s health program. Rena is originally from the the Republic of Trinidad , West Indies.
Judy E. Marshel, Ph.D., M.B.A., R.D., C.D.N., Senior Nutritional Consultant
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Dr. Marshel has been a health professional for over three decades. For the first 14 years of her career, Dr. Marshel served as the senior nutritionist to Weight Watchers International where she oversaw the development of the company’s weight-loss and maintenance programs, exercise and self-management plans, and all health-related material. In 1990, Dr. Marshel began her own health-consulting business. In addition to counseling Live Light patients and families, she has a private practice and specializes in facilitating work-life seminars and health lectures at corporations. She is the co-author of several women’s health books and is a free-lance writer for health journals.
