Mark Mengel, MD, MPH. Dr. Mengel received his M.D. degree from Harvard Medical School in 1981 and completed an internship and residency in Family Practice at Madigan Army Medical Center, Fort Lewis, Washington (1981-83). He was chief resident during his last year of his Family Practice Residency Program at Central Maine Medical Center, Lewiston, Maine (1983-84). Dr. Mengel completed a second residency in Preventive Medicine at the University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Seattle (1984-86) and also received a Master of Public Health degree.

In 1986, Dr. Mengel was appointed Assistant Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Oklahoma. From 1991-1993 he was Associate Professor of Family Medicine and predoctoral director on the faculty at the University of Texas Medical School, Houston.  In 1993, Dr. Mengel became the founding program director of the Family Practice Residency Program at Beverly Hospital, a community hospital near Boston. The program became formally affiliated with Boston University in 1999 and Dr. Mengel was promoted to Clinical Professor. In 2000, Dr. Mengel became Professor and Chair of the Department of Community and Family Medicine at Saint Louis University where he built the Department’s research and clinical programs.  In 2008, Dr. Mengel accepted the position of Vice-Chancellor for Regional Programs and Executive Director of the Area Health Education Center network for the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.

Dr. Mengel is author or co-editor of numerous articles and books in his field, including the Handbook of Family Medicine, entering its 5th edition, and a textbook entitled Fundamentals of Clinical Practice: A Textbook on the Patient, Doctor, and Society.  He is a Residency Program Solutions (RPS) consultant for the American Academy of Family Physicians since 1998. His research in the area of community and family medicine has been funded by NIH, the CDC and by private foundations and institutions. In 2001, in conjunction with the Missouri Institute of Mental Health and Marketing Works, Inc., Dr. Mengel and his team received a $1,053,259 grant from the Association of Teachers of Preventive Medicine and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta to design, implement, and evaluate a media campaign targeted at African American women in the City of St. Louis, designed to increase their knowledge about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, (FAS), and the dangers of drinking during pregnancy. In 2002, Dr. Mengel and his team, including members from the University of Missouri-Columbia, Missouri Institute of Mental Health, and St. Louis ARC, were awarded a $794,606 grant from the Association of Teachers of Preventive Medicine and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta to form the Midwest Regional Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Training Center, (MRFASTC). MRFASTC is charged with developing and integrating FAS curriculum into medical schools and allied health professions schools at Saint Louis University and University of Missouri-Columbia and training physicians and other health care professionals in FAS recognition, diagnosis, treatment, and management of children and adults with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. A second 3 year cycle was awarded in 2005 to continue MRFASTC’s work.

Rick Martin, MD. Dr. Martin received his Masters degree in Genetic Counseling from the University of California, Berkeley in 1980. After working as a Genetic Counselor at the University of Utah for three years, he returned to medical school and received his MD degree from the University of Utah School of Medicine in 1987. He completed an internship and residency in Pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego in 1990. He stayed at the University of California San Diego after his pediatrics training and completed a fellowship in clinical genetics and dysmorphology in 1992 under the mentorship of Dr. Kenneth Lyons Jones, where he had the opportunity to evaluate many children exposed to alcohol in utero. He has maintained his interest in Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and now has 15 years of experience in the assessment of children maternally exposed to alcohol. He is currently a Professor of Pediatrics at Saint Louis University, Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital, St. Louis. Dr. Martin is the Chairman of the Governor appointed Missouri State Genetics Advisory Committee, serves on the Editorial Board of the American Journal of Medical Genetics and was recently elected to the American College of Medical Genetics Board of Directors.

Melinda Ohlemiller is the Director of Prevention Services for the St. Louis Arc, a metropolitan agency that serves and advocates for persons with developmental disabilities and their families. Melinda leads the agency’s efforts on disability prevention, supported parenting, and early childhood intervention. Melinda holds a master’s degree in clinical-developmental psychology and has received post-graduate training in developmental disabilities.

Melinda serves as co-chair of the Expert Panel of the FASD Center for Excellence at the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and served a 4-year appointment to the National Task Force on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome at the Centers for Disease Control. Currently, she is a collaborator/consultant on two CDC funded projects on aspects of prenatal alcohol exposure.  In addition, she is active in educating pediatric residents in her role as Assistant Adjunct Professor, Department of Pediatrics, at St. Louis University. 

Melinda is a founding member and co-chair of the Missouri Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Action and Care Team, a coalition of government officials, community providers, and university faculty who promote prevention and intervention activities. In addition, she is the family advocate for the Missouri FAS Center at the University of Missouri. Melinda speaks extensively to the community regarding the consequences of alcohol use in pregnancy and is an experienced advocate for early intervention services, family resource development, and community education.

Dr. Rudeen established a successful research program investigating the effects of maternal alcohol consumption on neural development and received a Research Scientist Development Award from NIAAA. Dr. Rudeen is one of the ‘architects’ of the very successful Problem-based Learning (PBL) curriculum initiated in 1993 in the School of Medicine, which is also used in the School of Health Professions. He has extensive experience in case development and facilitation in various educational & workshop settings.

Dr. Rudeen is a board member for the Mid-Missouri Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association, and the Eldercare Center Community Advisory Board. Dr. Rudeen has published more than 130 scientific manuscripts, book chapters and research abstracts. He has been an invited speaker throughout North America, Europe, Asia and South Africa and has received several teaching awards. He is active in the Association of Schools of Allied Health Professions and is on the editorial board for the Journal of Allied Health. Dr. Rudeen serves as an essential link to the allied health professions community on the MRFASTC project.

Danny joined the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine in 1991 as Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Missouri Institute of Mental Health (MIMH). His primary responsibility is providing oversight and direction for MIMH, a university research and policy center serving the mental health community in Missouri.

Danny’s research interests include international health, mental health policy, the portrayal of mental illness and addictions in films, and large scale community education projects designed to alter attitudes about mental illness and substance abuse. In addition to his work on the MRFASTC project, Danny has recently been collaborating with colleagues in the Department of Community and Family Medicine at Saint Louis University to develop a media campaign designed to reduce the incidence of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome in the Saint Louis region.

Danny is the author/editor of ten books including Current Psychotherapies, Behavior and Medicine, The Neuropsychology Handbook, Screening for Brain Impairment and Movies and Mental Illness.

Learn more at Danny’s home page.