Our Staff
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Judith Sachs, Editorial Director, has over 25 years of experience writing and editing books and magazines for different consumer markets. The coauthor of "The Anxious Parent" and "Wanna Be My Friend? How to Strengthen Your Child's Social Skills," she is a widely recognized health expert who appears regularly on national television and radio. She is also the author or coauthor of more than 20 books on preventive healthcare.
She has extensive interactive marketing skills, having served as a behavior strategist at SimStar, Inc. for over 3 years. She developed numerous online marketing tools and oversaw the creation of targeted messaging for consumer Web sites, as well as online patient education and support materials. Judith also served as senior editor-writer at HealthAnswers, Inc., where she created therapeutic online personalized health sites to help patients identify signs and symptoms and teach them how to manage physical and emotional conditions. At the nonprofit breastcancer.org, she served as senior writer, creating content and facilitating live online conferences for women and their families dealing with breast cancer.
Judith and her author husband, Anthony Bruno, have successfully parented one teenage daughter, now a young adult who has recently graduated from Barnard College in New York.
Advisory Board
John Blaber, M.A.
Elizabeth M. Casparian, Ph.D.
Ann Engelland, M.D.
Renée Hobbs, Ed.D., M.A.
Logan Levkoff, Ph.D.
Lisa Machoian, Ed.D.
Andrea Marks, M.D.
Donna Secor Pennington, LMSW
Daniel H. Reirden, M.D.
Martha R. Roper, M.A.
Michael Schwartzman, Ph.D.
Gail Slap, M.D., M.S.
Kendrin Sonneville, M.S., R.D., L.D.N.
Chris Valdez
Anthony E. Wolf, Ph.D.
John Blaber, M.A. teaches Advanced Placement English Literature & Composition, Honors, and College Preparatory Language Arts at Alameda High School in northern California. Prior to becoming an educator, John managed communications for the national headquarters of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America. A fully credentialed teacher, John completed his graduate coursework in education at San Francisco State University. He holds a Master's degree from the University of Pittsburgh, and a Bachelor's degree from Dickinson College. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and daughter.
Elizabeth M. Casparian, Ph.D., is Director of Educational Programs at HiTOPS in Princeton, NJ, where she and her staff provide educational programs to teens and parents throughout New Jersey. Dr. Casparian has spent the last twenty years as an educational consultant providing assistance in the development of sexual health education curricula, videos, lectures, workshops and presentations on all aspects of sexual health, parenting and adolescent development.
She serves on the editorial board of The American Journal of Sexuality Education and is a member of the Board of Directors of the Sexuality and Information Council of the United States (SIECUS).
She is the co-author of "Our Whole Lives: Sexuality Education for Grades 4-6" and "Our Whole Lives: Sexuality Education for Grades 10-12" and is the editor of "Filling The Gaps: Hard to Teach Topics in Sexuality Education" published by SIECUS.
Ann Engelland, M.D. has a private practice dedicated to the primary care of adolescents and young adults in Mamaroneck, NY. As an assistant clinical professor in pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, she teaches interviewing skills to first year medical students. She is the supervising school physician for her district of 5000 students. She contributes regularly to local online and print publications on a range of topics in adolescent health and wellness. She is the proud mother of seven children ages 15-26. You can read more about her at www.AnnEngellandMD.com.
Renée Hobbs, Ed.D., M.A., is one of the nation's leading authorities on media literacy education. She is a Professor of Communication at Temple University's School of Communication and Theater, where she directs the Media Education Lab, a center for research and community service in media literacy. She has created numerous award-winning multimedia curriculum materials, including My Pop Studio for tween girls. Her book, "Teaching the Media: Media Literacy in High School English" (2007, Teachers College Press) provides the first large-scale empirical evidence of the impact of media literacy education on adolescents' reading comprehension and critical thinking skills. Logan frequently appears on television, including E!, Fox News Channel, MSNBC Live, VH1, Oprah, and MTV. Logan is also the spokesperson of Elexa, a new line of sexual health and intimacy products for women by Trojan and is the author of "The Espresso Dating Guide," a joint project by Starbucks and Yahoo!Personals. She lives in New York City with her husband and son. At Harvard, she taught popular courses on girls' and boys' psychosocial development and risk and resilience as well as courses on gender, child, and adolescent development and education. Dr. Machoian lectures and conducts workshops around the country for parents, educators, mental health professionals, and teenagers. She is a national consultant to families and schools. She works as a parenting coach for parents and life coach for teens, both in person and via phone, and also has a private counseling practice. She earned a master's degree and doctorate from Harvard University and lives in Cambridge. Andrea Marks, M.D., has a clinical practice in Adolescent Medicine in New York City and serves as Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Dr. Marks served as President of the Society for Adolescent Medicine in 2004. Dr. Marks is the co-author with Betty Rothbart of "Healthy Teens, Body and Soul, A Parent's Guide to Adolescent Health". In addition, she previously wrote a monthly column, "Ask Dr. Marks," for Cosmo Girl Magazine. Donna Secor Pennington, LMSW, has been a school social worker at the high school level for twenty years and has been an advocate for programs and services for teens and parents. She has served as president of the Board of the Midwest School Social Work Council and of CAUSE, the Michigan Parent Training and Information Center and presently serves on the Executive Committee of the School Social Work Association of America. She has been a consulting editor for the journal Children and Schools, an author of numerous articles and an instructor in school social work practice at the University of Michigan. Her conference presentations include violence prevention, crisis and trauma response with adolescents, working with adolescent ADHD and meeting the needs of GLBT students in our schools. She is the parent of two grown sons, has two grandchildren and lives with her husband (whom she met online) on Muskegon Lake in Michigan. 
Logan Levkoff, Ph.D., received her B.A. in English, her M.S. in Human Sexuality Education from the University of Pennsylvania, and her doctorate in Human Sexuality, Marriage and Family Life Education from New York University. She works with students at many prestigious private schools in Manhattan and designs and executes curricula targeted to address adolescent sexual experimentation. Logan was formerly part of North Shore University Hospital's Peer AIDS Education faculty. She has also developed a comprehensive curriculum for pregnant teens. 
Lisa Machoian, Ed.D., author of "The Disappearing Girl: Learning the Language of Teenage Depression", is a national expert on teenagers, their mental health, psychosocial development, and self-esteem. She has worked with teens and their parents for over 20 years. Dr. Machoian taught at Harvard University, Graduate School of Education, in the area of Human Development and Psychology and in the programs of Risk and Prevention and Gender Studies; she also was director of the Gender Studies Program. 
Daniel H. Reirden, M.D., is an Attending Physician in the Section of Adolescent Medicine at The Children's Hospital in Denver, Colorado, and an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Dr. Reirden received his Bachelor’s of Science degree from Fordham University and his M.D. from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. Following graduation from medical school in 1999, Dr. Reirden completed a combined Internal Medicine-Pediatrics residency program at the University of Connecticut/Connecticut Children's Medical Center. He then pursued fellowship training in Adolescent Medicine at The Children's Hospital Philadelphia, graduating in 2006. Dr. Reirden is board certified in both Pediatrics and Internal Medicine, and is sub-board certified in Adolescent Medicine. His clinical interests are focused on the care of HIV-infected adolescents and young adults, transitioning the medical care of individuals with complex pediatric diseases to adult health care, and the care of sexual minority youth. Current research projects include investigations into sexual behaviors of young women accessing family planning services and current screening practices for sexually-transmitted infections; the effect of gaps in insurance coverage on access to HIV-related care; and evaluating professionalism in pediatric residency training. Dr. Reirden is a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, a Member of the American College of Physicians, a Member of the Society for Adolescent Medicine, and a credentialed HIV Specialist and member of The American Academy of HIV Medicine.
Roper is a breast cancer survivor. Five years after diagnosis, in 1999, she began to compete in the St. Louis Senior Olympics. In June 2003, she won the gold medal in pole vaulting at the National Senior Games (Senior Olympics). In 2004, she won the gold medal in the bench press as well as medaling in golf and weightlifting with her mother in 2005. Michael Schwartzman, Ph.D., is a psychologist and child psychoanalyst in Manhattan and Larchmont, New York. Currently, he is the Consulting Psychologist at The Allen-Stevenson School for boys in New York and serves as Clinical Supervisor at City University of New York, Adjunct Assistant Professor at Teacher's College, Columbia University, and Clinical Instructor at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. Dr. Schwartzman was a Contributing Editor at CHILD Magazine and is the author of The Anxious Parent as well as numerous professional articles. Dr. Schwartzman is a frequent guest on television and radio, including The Today Show, The Sally Jesse Rafael Show, and A Current Affair. Dr. Schwartzman lives with his wife and three children in Larchmont, New York. Gail B. Slap, M.D., M.S. is Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Slap has served as President of the Society for Adolescent Medicine; Chair of the Council on Medical Specialties and Regent of the American College of Physicians; and appointee to numerous committees of the National Institutes of Health. Her research has focused on probabilities in adolescent health outcomes, ways in which adolescents use the healthcare system, and the prevention of adolescent risk behaviors. In addition to her work as an investigator, Dr. Slap has received numerous awards and honors as a clinician (e.g., Best Doctors in America) and teacher (eg, Lindback Award, Parents Choice Award). Chris Valdez is currently the Assistant Principal for Curriculum and Instruction at Marin Catholic High School in Northern California. He has worked in high schools for fifteen years in a variety of capacities including Dean of Students, English teacher, and baseball coach. As the director of curriculum at Marin Catholic, Chris oversees an extensive health education cross-curricular program as well as the school’s co-curricular peer education programs. Chris received his BA in English Literature from UC Santa Barbara and his teaching credential from San Francisco State University. He lives with his wife and two children in San Francisco, CA. 
Martha R. Roper, M.A., has been a teacher since 1970, and a nationally known health and sexuality educator for 25 years. She has a B.S. in Education from Texas Christian University, and a Masters Degree in Family and Community Relations from Columbia University Teachers' College in New York. Her other honors include being listed in Who's Who Among America's Teachers in 1994, 1998, and 2004. In 2005, she was awarded the Missouri Teacher Librarian Collaborator by the Missouri School Librarian Association. 
Kendrin Sonneville, M.S., R.D., L.D.N., is Clinical Dietitian Specialist, Division of Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine and Children's Hospital Primary Care Center, Children's Hospital Boston. She is a member of the Massachusetts Dietetic Association and is affiliated with Harvard University's wellness outreach program. She designs and facilitates teen events on healthy eating and body image. 
Anthony E. Wolf, Ph.D. is a practicing clinical psychologist who has been seeing children and adolescents for thirty years. He is the author of six parenting books including the best selling, "'Get Out of My Life, But First Could You Drive Me and Cheryl to the Mall?' A Parents Guide to the New Teenager". He is married and the father of two ex-teenagers.
