Our Team and Staff

Ingrid L. Edstrom, FNP, M.Ed., CTT

Ingrid Edstrom is the President and Author of Proactive Breast Wellness LLC, and has become a thought leader in the pursuit of breast cancer prevention. Ingrid developed and has been providing the Proactive Breast Wellness program for her patients on a one to one basis since 2006. She also created and owns Infrared Breast Health LLC based in Eugene, Oregon. Ingrid became nationally certified as a Clinical Infrared Thermography Technician, CTT in 2007.

Ingrid’s clinical practice has established a correlation between toxic exposure to herbicides/ pesticides/ bovine growth hormones resulting in abnormal Thermography scans.

She presented infrared PowerPoint presentations to local health departments and county commissioners concerning women exposed to toxic herbicides that showed changes in breast tissue. (Please view the presentation in the “Protect Your Breasts” section). Ingrid was instrumental in halting the roadside herbicide spraying in Lane County Oregon and endeavors to alert the public and medical professionals as to the dangers of estrogen mimickers and their affect on rising cancer rates.

Ingrid has been nationally certified as a Family Nurse Practitioner since 1978 following her Bachelors in Nursing from the University of Rhode Island in 1974 with a minor in clinical nutrition. She is not a stranger to being in a pioneering role as one of the early nurse practitioners or as an infrared thermographer. In the seventies, nurse practitioners started to legitimize and clarify the roles and duties of their profession. Documentation was created to show the society’s great need for primary services. The Nurse Practitioner role has now become part of the backbone of the health care delivery system.

She is skilled in business and community networking and has an extensive health teaching background. Ingrid was awarded a Masters in Health Education from Boston University in 1981.

Ingrid has long-term experience in Mind-Body and Preventive Medicine. During the early 1990’s she pursued various clinical training programs at the Mind Body Medical Institute through Harvard/Deaconess and the Beth Israel Hospital in Boston under the direction of Herbert Benson, MD.

Ingrid has established four medical business ventures during her 35 year career as a nurse practitioner that extended past her earlier allopathic duties within various MD clinics and later within a large HMO in the Boston area for over 12 years. Her other accomplishments include “Inner Journeys Healing”, her clinical practice for patients with chronic pain, stress or who were preparing for surgery.  The “Waves of Serenity” relaxation CDs and DVDs was developed as a companion tool for her Mind-Body practice. “Chill Out Naturally” is an educational program that she created and implemented in six high schools in Western Massachusetts. She also created “ Foot Care Nurses”, which was a nursing podiatry practice in rural western Massachusetts which provided care to seniors covering 15 towns and included more than 250 home bound elders.

Smita Deshpande
B.A. Economics, M.A. Public Administration, MBA

Smita Deshpande is a skilled and innovative professional with extensive experience over 11 years in General Administration and Human Resource Management

She has interacted with positive decorum to meet the standards and needs of 40 different nations of the world and has a flair to understand culture and connect with people from diverse background.

Mackenzie England, BA Digital Arts, Multimedia
Graphic Artist and Audio Engineering

Mackenzie joined the PBW team in the fall of 2006 at first as the primary web master for Infrared Breast Health. Working together with Ingrid they redesigned  the entire site and branded both Infrared Breast Health and the Proactive Breast Wellness Program. Since then Mackenzie has been doing graphic design projects for Ingrid as well as ever expanding the web sites plus recording and audio engineering the audio section of the Proactive Breast Wellness Program. As of 2012 Mackenzie had to step down from some of his duties with PBW due to full time professional commitments at Hewlett-Packard taking precedence. Currently Mackenzie is working on the audio portions of the program and consulting only.

Mackenzie has attained an Associate’s degree in Multimedia from Lane Community College and has attained a Bachelor’s degree in Digital Arts from the University of Oregon in 2011.

Mackenzie is currently employed by Hewlett-Packard as a graphic designer where he designs photo and branded products for use on HP Photo Kiosks and Snapfish.com. These products are sold nationwide as well as globally. He has designed approved products for Disney, Disney/Pixar, Sesame Street Workshop, Dr. Seuss, and DreamWorks. He’s also worked with licensed content from Getty Images, National Geographic, NASA, Nickelodeon, Marvel, and Warner Bros.

A musician at heart, he and his wife Brittany have released two albums under their band ” Voice to Spirit”.  Some of his favorite pastimes are spending time with good friends, watching movies, riding bicycles, listening/creating music and playing the drums.

Consultants

Max Chorowski, MD, FACOG

He is  an Assistant Clinical Professor of Gynecology and Clinical Instructor of Psychiatry at the Tufts University School of Medicine.

Dr. Chorowski is a Board Certified Gynecologist leading the Counseling & Gynecology Group staff, fellowship trained in behavioral gynecology and human sexuality. He is one of the first gynecologists in the country to integrate traditional and alternative therapies for gynecologic problems. He has written and lectured on PMS, sexual counseling, and menopause.

Dr. Chorowski’s expertise in office gynecology was recognized by his leadership of the Wesson Women’s Clinic at Baystate Medical Center from 1980 to 1985, and he remains on staff at BMC & Mercy Medical Center. Dr. Chorowski was recently recognized by Baystate Medical Center and Tufts University of Medicine for 30 years of service.

Jim Paoletti, Pharmacist, FAAFM, FIACP, FACA

Jim Paoletti is Clinical Consultant and Educator in private practice. Jim has over 27 years of experience with bio-identical hormone therapies in clinical practice in retail pharmacy and as a consultant. Jim served previously as Director of Provider Education for ZRT Laboratory, Beaverton, Oregon, and as consultant and Education Director for Professional Compounding Centers of America of Houston, TX.  He is a graduate and former faculty member of the Fellowship of Anti-Aging and Functional Medicine. Jim has lectured extensively and internationally on all aspects of BHRT to medical practitioners and consumers, and has several articles published on BHRT and compounding pharmacy issues.

Robin Klemm, Ph.D.
Owner Optimus Consulting

Robin earned a doctorate in Managerial Science and Applied Economics from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.  Her dissertation on financing emerging companies established the thread that would continue throughout her career.  Following a faculty position at Wharton, Robin partnered in founding Optimus Consulting, a strategic consulting firm specializing in innovative and entrepreneurial challenges.

Robin has been the visionary in turning around several organizations including the Global Interdependence Center, a financial think tank, and the Austin Family Business Program at Oregon State University.  While at OSU, Robin served on the faculty as the Coleman Chair in Family Business Management.

One of Robin’s passions is helping women’s businesses succeed.  To that end, she was advisor to Wharton Women Association, founding investor in the Women’s Venture Capital Fund, board member to several women’s business forums, and angel investor and advisor to countless woman-owned companies.  Today, Robin leads a food company that is out to change the way America snacks—creating health with each bite.

Robin has served as the President of the Philadelphia Council for Economics, been a board member of the Seattle Economics Council.  She served on other non-profit boards including the Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet, Philadelphia Korean School, Windermere Corporation, and Corvallis Chamber of Commerce.

In addition to her doctorate, Robin received a BA in history and an MA in Art History from the University of Rochester.  She also earned an MBA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Gordon Enns, MD

  • University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in 1976
  • General medical practitioner for 36 years, working in college health and emergency medicine
  • Emergency Medicine Staff, Ashland Community Hospital, Ashland, Oregon
  • First editor and proofreader of the Proactive Breast Wellness program

 Nutritional and Lifestyle Phone Consultations Available to Improve Your Health

To ensure your success with this comprehensive program we provide personalized phone consultations with a PBW Nutritional Therapy Practitioner and also Lifestyle Coaching in certain states. Carrie Janes, Nutritional Therapy Practitioner can guide you towards nutritional health while following the PBW protocol. Our PBW staff Lifestyle Coach, Wendy Loren, is an Herbalist with a Masters in Health Education with nutritional background and who has taught at local colleges in Oregon. Send us an e-mail of interest for these services, noting which state you live in: Contact@ProactiveBreastWellness.com and they will contact you directly.

Carrie Janes, Nutritional Therapy Practitionerphoto-6

Carrie Janes has a Bachelor’s Degree in Healthcare Administration from Bowling Green State University in Ohio and a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner certificate from the Nutritional Therapy Association in Olympia, Washington.  As a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner, Carrie focuses on creating an  individualized dietary and lifestyle plan with her clients to meet their needs; there is no one-size fits-all nutrition plan!  Her work also emphasizes the idea that our bodies want to heal and be in balance, and if we are able to identify weaknesses and imbalances within the body and subsequently provide  the proper “information”, our bodies will achieve a better, more optimal balance.  Clients are encouraged to take responsibility for their own health. 

Carrie’s studies include a deep respect and understanding of more traditional, nutrient-dense diets-ones that actually sustained civilizations for thousands of years.  She truly believes it is our modern diet that has brought with it the drastic increased incidents of our modern diseases-heart disease, cancers, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, chronic fatigue, learning disorders, allergies, etc.  As a concerned woman, wife and parent it is her goal to provide people with the information needed so that they can make educated decisions about their health and wellness. 

She joined with Ingrid in 2013 to help promote and support individuals through the Proactive Breast Wellness program. Contact Carrie to schedule a 15 minute free consultation at Carrie@ProactiveBreastWellness.com

Samantha ChirilloBreastCancer Prevention Health Wellness Cryoablation

M.S. in Biology, Master of Public Administration, B.S. in Microbiology with Minor in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Samantha is currently the Outreach Coordinator, creating social media and contacting health practitioners, businesses, nonprofits, and interested individuals. Samantha joined the team during her successful battle with breast cancer to increase access to thermography and cryoablation to other women facing breast cancer.

A graduate from the Academy of Scottish Herbalism in 2017 with a clinical internship and apprenticeship at the apothecary Mrs. Thompson’s in Eugene, Samantha received a grant for her herbal business Erba Vitale (“Vital Herb”) in 2018 from the Neighborhood Economic Development Corporation (NEDCO). As a licensed real estate broker and Realtor, Samantha enjoys helping people find healthy homes and properties suitable for growing food and herbs.

Previously, Samantha worked in biomedical research for eight years at the Mayo Clinic, National Institutes of Health, and SmithKline Beecham, publishing two peer-reviewed articles. She moved to Eugene in 2002 for graduate school at the University of Oregon and then spent several years as a community organizer. She met Ingrid through her forest conservation work to raise awareness about clearcutting and aerial herbicide spraying and currently sits on the Board of Our Forests. Samantha’s hobbies include gardening, beekeeping, and permaculture.

Special Thanks and Gratitude

I am eternally grateful to the  Staff and our Consultants and I wish to personally thank them for their dedication, tireless efforts to persevere, to detail oriented editing, proof reading, photography, sound studio creations and business guidance. Without all your skills and expertise, PBW would not be available to the women who have been waiting…… Through your efforts as the “PBW Team” you have helped to replace “Fear” with “Empowerment” and  “Concern” mobilized into “Action”. The PBW Team has provided  education and “Support” for the women & daughters as well as for the partners and families that love us.

I thank all of you for believing in this project. For wanting to make a difference and participating in the process. I wish to personally thank all my patients who I have been privileged  to have participated in their journey towards health.

I have appreciated your input and suggestions on how to improve the PBW program  over the years and all the networking to help spread the word among other women and organizations. My “Sticky note” collection on what to follow up on, is enviable……

Besides my amazing staff both past and present, I want to thank my daughter Kristin for cheering me on through the process.She recently remarked to someone that “Her mother had become an activist at 60”…. better late than never.

I am also grateful for “IRIS” my infrared camera for changing my medical view point. Through her lens you can see the present and have a glimpse of the future as well as to monitor progress and the environment you reside in.

My gratitude to all of you for your support and believing that “Prevention is the Cure” ……. Ingrid Edstrom