Board of Directors
Roger Wittenberns
Mr. Wittenberns was the Founder and Chief Executive of Lady of America Franchise Corp., a nationwide chain of full-service fitness centers exclusively for women. Lady of America was incorporated in 1989 and went on to create two other highly successful franchise chains: Lady of America Express and Workout Express, a co-ed version of an "express" fitness center. In early 2005 Roger sold the nearly 1,200 Lady of America franchise chain.
Roger began his career in the health club industry in 1975 when he joined a large, 40,000 sq ft Jack LaLanne health club in Fort Lee, NJ. Eventually, he was promoted to a sales position, where he refined his membership recruiting and retention skills. He was subsequently approached by a large competitor, European Health Spas, and was offered the position of vice president, with responsibility for nearly 40 locations. After several years with European Health Spas, Roger opened his own health club. Once its successful operation was established, Roger added more than 300 clubs. He began franchising nationwide in 1989 under the Lady of America trademark. He is recognized today as one of the leading authorities in the franchise industry.
Mark S. Gold, M.D. Director and Chairman of Scientific Advisory Board
Dr. Gold is a Distinguished Professor at the University of Florida College of Medicine and has received the following: Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association (2003), University of Florida College of Medicine 2003 Exemplary Teacher, Underrepresented Minority Mentor (2004), UpToDate's Addiction Medicine Section Editor, American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry (2005; Founder's Award), 24th Annual Nelson J Bradley Career Life Time Achievement Award (2006) and DARE's Public Service Award (2007).
Dr. Gold has worked for 35 years to develop models for understanding the effects of tobacco and other drugs on the brain and behavior. He has developed animal models which have led to new treatments for addicts and also conceptualized hypotheses, which yielded new approaches to treating patients. Under his leadership, the Division of Addiction Medicine at the University of Florida has grown to one of the largest addiction medicine research, education and practice Divisions in the United States with 10 full-time clinical physicians treating drug abuse and dependence and researchers with major funded projects in proteomics, drugs of abuse self-administration, functional imaging, public health, impaired professionals, neurogenesis, obesity, and nanotechnology.
Dr. Gold is a member of the following professional associations: American Association for the Advancement of Science, Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Omega Alpha. He currently serves as a consultant for the Carlyle Group and United Medical Corp. He is also the founder and director of Somerset Valley Bank and Somerset Valley Financial. He currently serves on the board of directors of Viewray, Inc., Axogen, Inc. and Xhale Diagnostics, Inc. Dr. Gold is active in numerous national organizations including the Betty Ford Institute and Columbia University's CASA. He is on the National Scientific Advisory Board for Media Partnership for a Drug Free America, DARE, American Council for Drug Education and PRIDE. He has authored over 900 medical articles, chapters, and abstracts in journals for health professionals on a wide variety of psychiatric research subjects and authored twelve professional books. Dr. Gold received his undergraduate degree from Washington University and medical degrees from the University of Florida and Yale University.
Steve Siegel
Steven Siegel has served as a director of the Company since September 2008. He is currently a Managing Partner at Brookside Consulting and acts as an advisor to numerous private equity funds as well as a director of The Dwyer Group, AIA (Adventures In Advertising), McAlister’s, and It’s Just Lunch. Prior to this, Mr. Siegel served as Executive Vice President, COO, CFO and Chairman of KaBloom, Ltd, a floral chain retailer and franchisor, and also as Executive Vice President, COO, CFO, and General Counsel to Filene’s Basement, the off-price apparel retailer. His franchise experience is vast, including President, CEO and shareholder of a Dunkin’Donuts territory in Boston, MA and Hartford, CT with approximately 35 units and 400 FHU’s, Partner and General Counsel to YCK group, a franchisor with two distribution facilities and over 700 retail outlets located throughout the U.S. and England, and in 2002 became the first franchisee to serve as Chairman of the International Franchise Association. Mr. Siegel has also served as Chairman of IFA Standards Committee and Vice Chairman of the Franchise Relations Committee and currently serves on the Finance Audit and Budget Committee and as Chairman of the Awards Committee. From 1990 – 1996 he was President of the Dunkin’ Donuts Independent Franchise Owners Association. Mr. Siegel graduated Cum Laude from Bowdoin College and New York University School of Law.
Robert Kagan, MD
Dr. Kagan has steadily introduced new technologies and services to Florida's physicians and their patients over the past 25 years. He is responsible for the establishment of the first Nuclear Cardiology laboratory in Florida. Between 1985 and 1987, he opened the first outpatient magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) center in Florida, the first mobile MRI service and the first open MRI center in Florida, all when MRI was still considered an experimental technology. From 1999 through 2002, Dr. Kagan served as President of BodyVision and Medical Imaging Company. Since 1999, Dr. Kagan has served as President of MRI Scan Center, Inc., a medical imaging company located in South Florida. Since 2002, he has also served as President of Sunshine Reads, Inc. Dr. Kagan also previously served as the Medical Director of Nuclear Medicine at Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale and Clinical Assistant Professor of Radiology at the University of Miami. He is Board Certified in Clinical Pathology, Nuclear Medicine and Hyperbaric Medicine.
Dr. Kagan has published many papers in peer reviewed medical journals and has been an invited lecturer nationally and internationally in Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Nuclear Medicine. He is a member of numerous medical societies including the Radiologic Society of North America, the Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, the International Society of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, the Institute for Clinical PET American College of Nuclear Physicians, the College of American Pathologists, Society for Clinical Magnetic Resonance Imaging, and the American Roentgen Ray Society.
Dr. Kagan received his medical degree from Georgetown University School of Medicine. His postgraduate medical education included a medical internship at the University of California San Francisco and residency training programs in Pathology and Nuclear Medicine at the National Institute of Health. He completed fellowships in MRI at UC-San Francisco and Huntington Memorial Research Laboratories in Pasadena. He has held professional offices in several organizations, including President of the Florida Association of Nuclear Physicians and Chairman of the Board of the Nuclear Medicine Resource Committee of the College of American Pathologists.
Benjamin Gettler ESQ
Mr. Gettler is a graduate of Yale University and holds a JD with a specialization in tax and business planning. Benjamin has served on various public and private boards and has advised publicly traded companies, charitable organizations and law firms. Benjamin oversaw the rollout of a multimillion investment fund targeting undervalued assets in South Florida and currently is a founding partner and officer in an investment firm and asset management company, managing over $300,000,000 in assets. He is an active member of his community as a philanthropist and volunteer.
Andrew Barnett
Throughout his career, Mr. Barnett has been engaged in various aspects of the financial services, health care and real estate industries. Prior to joining Diversified Health & Fitness, Mr. Barnett served as Executive Vice President of Corporate Development of NMI Finance Inc, a fully diversified real estate company. Mr. Barnett was responsible for the signing of Letter Intents to acquire four mortgage companies and a title company to create $4.6 billion in loan volume, $118 million in revenue, and $18 million in net income. Prior to NMI Finance, Mr. Barnett served as Vice President of Corporate Development of Dental Partners, Inc., a dental practice management company. At Dental Partners, he was responsible for establishing a $15 million bank line of credit, making $30 million of acquisitions, and selling the company. Mr. Barnett held a similar position at Trident Medical Concepts, Inc., a physician practice management company. At Trident, Mr. Barnett assisted in raising over $20 million through a private placement and assisted in $60 million of acquisitions. Prior to Trident, Mr. Barnett served as Executive Vice President and Director of Metropolitan Health Networks, Inc. (MDF:AMEX). Mr. Barnett received a B.S. degree from Pennsylvania State University.
