About Us

John J. Ghaznavi

Chairman, Board of Directors

After earning a degree in Engineering from West Virginia University, John worked in the public and private sector for six years, but had entrepreneurial aspirations. By the early 1970’s, Mr. Ghaznavi had developed a string of small businesses in trucking, leasing, and warehousing: the first of many successful endeavors. In 1988, Mr. Ghaznavi formed G & G Investments after acquiring and consolidating several struggling glass companies in North America. In 1996, Mr. Ghaznavi was awarded Entrepreneur of the Year in the Master’s category by Ernst and Young, NASDAQ Exchange, USA Today and the Kauffman Foundation. Under his leadership, G & G became one of the largest glass companies in the world with over 10,500 employees. Since these beginnings, Mr. Ghaznavi has developed and managed 23 companies and 32 partnerships worldwide, in sectors ranging from real estate, manufacturing, transportation, and the international distribution of medical devices, oil and gas, raw materials, agricultural commodities, and LED lighting solutions. He has served on the board of many charitable and non-profit organizations, including Carnegie Melon University.

Monica Nasiri-Bray, PhD

Board of Directors

Monica Nasiri has a PhD in Political Economy and Public Policy from the University of Southern California, MA in Economics from the University of Southern California, and a BA in Sociology from the University of California, San Diego. Most recently, she was the Associate Dean of Graduate Programs (MBA and MS Finance programs) for the College of Business at the University of Oregon. Ms. Nasiri started her academic career in 2006 as an Assistant Professor of Economics and Research Methods at California State University, Monterey Bay, where she taught finance and accounting for the Executive MBA Program. While at CSU Monterey Bay, she also served as the Director of the Master of Public Policy Program, in collaboration with the Panetta Institute for Public Policy. She was also the Director of Career Services at USC Price and an Adjunct Professor of Finance at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. She has founded Silk Road Coaching where she has developed an innovative hybrid model of success coaching and consulting to help purpose-driven individuals and organizations solve their problems and level-up their futures.

Farbod Nicolas Rahaghi, MD, PhD

Board of Directors

Dr. Rahaghi received his M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego. His thesis focused on signal processing and time-series analysis from blood glucose data in animals and humans. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Duke University Hospital. He subsequently completed his clinical fellowship in the Harvard Combined Pulmonary and Critical Care fellowship. He is currently a research fellow at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard School of medicine. His research focuses identifying imaging biomarkers of pulmonary vascular disease including pulmonary arterial hypertension Specifically he is working with a team of physicians and computer scientists to validate metrics developed from 3D reconstruction of the pulmonary vasculature and identify specific changes in the morphology of these vessels in disease. Dr. Rahaghi brings his experience in medicine and rare diseases to our organization.

Franck Rahaghi, MD, MHS, FCCP

Founder, Medical Consultant

Dr. Franck Rahaghi graduated from the University of California San Diego Magna Cum Laude with a degree in biomedical engineering. He subsequently attended the University of California San Francisco where he obtained his doctorate in medicine. He also concurrently attended University of California Berkeley to obtain a degree in public health and health administration. Dr. Rahaghi completed his internship at the University of Minnesota and in his medical residency at the University of Illinois in Chicago. He completed his pulmonary and critical care fellowship at the Weil-Cornell campus of New York Presbyterian Hospital. He has since been serving as staff attending and clinical researcher at the Cleveland Clinic in Florida. He was named the Scholar Physician of the Year at the Cleveland Clinic Florida and is an Associate Professor of medicine at the Cleveland Clinic/case Western Reserve Lerner College of Medicine. He holds the positions of Director of Advance Lung Disease Program, Director of the Alpha-1 Foundation Clinical Resource Center and the Chairman of the Department of Pulmonary and Critical care. He is a published researcher and lecturer. His fields of interest include AATD, ILD/IPF, Scleroderma, Sarcoidosis and Pulmonary Hypertension. His desire to leverage technology and education of patients and clinicians formed the framework of our approach.

Christine Bexley, MSMIS

Chief Information Officer

Christine received a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and a Masters in Management Information Systems from the University of South Florida. She was also a Luce Fellow in the University of Notre Dame Computer Science Graduate Program, with a focus on computer vision. Her previous work involved the development of multiple types of content delivery and e-commerce systems, as well as web development for non-profits, including her work for the Durham Literacy Center during her time with America Corps. Her experience with content management and online promotion will help in the decimation of the information provided by this website.

Starlet Harrimon BSN, RN-BC

Starlet graduated with a Bachelor of Science with a major in Nursing from Texas Woman’s University. She also earned her Board Certification in Ambulatory Care Nursing. Since 2015 she has served as the Advanced Lung Disease/ Pulmonary Hypertension Coordinator for Cleveland Clinic Florida. She has a passion for patient care through teaching, providing direct education, and creating educational resources for patients and her peers. Her knowledge and experience with specialty medications, specialty pharmacies & payors is a valuable resource.

Nydia Martinez Galvis, MD

Consultant

Dr Martinez is the co-director of the FSR/ WASOG Certified Sarcoidosis Clinic and Cleveland Clinic Florida, Weston. She received her medical education at Universidad del Rosario Bogota, followed by internship and residence at the Cleveland Clinic Florida at Weston, and her fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Miami-Jackson fellowship program. She is now consultant for our sarcoidosis related contents.

David Zisman, MD

Consultant

Dr. David Zisman is a board certified, fellowship-trained pulmonary critical care specialist with expertise in diagnosis and treatment of interstitial lung diseases and pulmonary fibrosis. Dr. Zisman earned his medical degree from the Universidad Central de Venezuela. A native of Caracas, Venezuela, Dr. Zisman moved to the United States to complete his Internal Medicine Residency at the University of Texas in Houston and his Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI. Afterwards, he obtained a Master of Science in Clinical Research at UCLA in Los Angeles, CA.

He founded and directed the Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) Program at the University of Pennsylvania and later directed the clinical and research operations at the UCLA ILD program. He is a well-known expert in diagnosing and treating ILDs including pulmonary fibrosis, connective tissue disease associated ILDs (e.g. rheumatoid arthritis-ILD, scleroderma-ILD, myositis-ILD, and others), vasculitis lung disease and sarcoidosis. He has authored several high-impact scientific publications as well as book chapters. He is a national and international lecturer on idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and other ILDs.

In addition to providing patient care, Dr. Zisman is also an active member to various medical associations such as the American Thoracic Society and the American College of Chest Physicians. Dr. Zisman is our consultant for ILD and IPF pages.

Roger Alvarez, DO

Consultant

Director of CTEPH Program at the Cleveland Florida, Weston and a member of the pulmonary hypertension clinic. He specializes in the care and study of pulmonary vascular diseases, including pulmonary hypertension and pulmonary embolism. He was trained in Internal Medicine at Emory University in Atlanta, GA, as well as Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at UPMC in Pittsburgh, PA. He is our consultant for pulmonary vascular pages.

Samuel Gurevich, MD

Consultant

He obtained his Medical Education at Brown University School of Medicine. He then underwent his residency in the Yale University Campus in New Haven, CT. Dr. Gurevich joined the pulmonary and critical care fellowship at Jackson Memorial Hospital – University of Miami School of Medicine. He is now the director of the respiratory department at the Cleveland Clinic Florida, Weston Hospital. He is also part of the Alpha-1 Foundation Certified Alpha-1 Antitrypsin Deficiency Clinic. He is our consultant for the upcoming Alpha-1 pages and our pulmonary rehab/oxygen pages.