Charmaine Vierra is a plant-based lifestyle educator, therapeutic massage therapist, certified Raw Vegan Chef, author, and health coach with more than 20 years of experience supporting individuals in whole-person wellness. Her work integrates metabolic health, inflammation reduction, lymphatic enhancement, plant-based nutrition, and psychosomatic mind–body restoration informed by a faith-based understanding of human wholeness.

She co-founded The Upward Way Homestead, a 159-acre wellness retreat in Northern California offering:

Whole-food & raw vegan culinary instruction

Lymphatic enhancement therapy

Therapeutic massage and MediCupping

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy

Infrared & red-light therapy

PEMF, ozone, and hydrotherapy

Nature-based metabolic restoration

Mind–body practices including her Soul Engraving Psychosomatic Writing Guide

Charmaine is a two-time cancer overcomer who recognized her own recurrence early. Her long-term personal and professional experience allows her to support others with compassion, practical tools, and evidence-informed lifestyle guidance.

She is also the author of a children’s activity book teaching the eight principles of health with plant-based recipes and interactive wellness lessons. In addition, she founded M.O.R.E. — Moms Organized for Raw Eating, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit helping families adopt vibrant plant-forward habits through hands-on education and nutrition-centered programming.
📎 https://greatnonprofits.org/org/m-o-r-e-moms-organized-for-raw-eating

Charmaine’s mission is to help individuals activate the body’s natural healing systems, release psychosomatic stress patterns, practice restorative nutrition, and build plant-based lifestyle rhythms that support long-term metabolic and emotional well-being.

Dr. Jeff Pierce is passionate about using a whole food, plant-based diet and other lifestyle medicine modalities to help people get healthier, get off of medications, and live longer, fuller lives. His goal is to meet his patients where they are, and work with them at their pace to improve their health, one day at a time. He is board certified in both Family Medicine and Lifestyle Medicine and is licensed to see patients in California, Florida, and Texas. Dr. Pierce is currently accepting new patients at the amazing nationwide telemedicine practice, Lifestyle Telemedicine (lifestyletelemedicine.com). He lives in Northern California, where he and his family grow the majority of their fruits and vegetables.

Marc Debay, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D. is a Health Sciences Clinical Professor of Family Medicine for the University of California, Riverside School of Medicine.

Debay received his M.D. from the Université Libre de Bruxelles, Faculté de Médecine (Free University of Brussels), Belgium and a master’s and a Ph.D. in public health from The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. He completed residencies in family medicine at the Glendale Adventist Medical Center and in preventive medicine at Loma Linda University. He is board certified in both family medicine and preventive medicine.

Debay was previously an associate professor in the School of Medicine and in the School of Public Health at Loma Linda University and director of the Primary Care Physicians Services Project, a partnership between the San Bernardino County Department of Public Health and the Loma Linda Faculty Medical Group. He served as an attending physician in the departments of preventive medicine and family medicine and as a physician in the VA Loma Linda Healthcare System. He also focused on training physicians and other health professionals for primary care research and global health service.

His extensive international public health expertise includes reproductive, maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases, behavior change communication, and health systems strengthening. He has broad experience in program design, implementation, and evaluation at the community, district, national and international levels with a variety of government, academic and private organizations. He has served in more than 30 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

Among his many volunteer activities, he served as faculty advisor and supervisor to the Loma Linda University Street Medicine Outreach, a student-run volunteer medical group providing transitional care to the homeless of San Bernardino. He has also worked with a multitude of international aid organizations such as World Vision International and Doctors Without Borders.

He is a member of several professional organizations, including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the American College of Preventive Medicine and the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine.

He is fluent in both English and French and also speaks Spanish.

His interests include comprehensive patient-centered primary care, program evaluation and quality improvement, and global health education of physicians and other health professionals.

Dr. Rakesh Jotwani, aka Dr. Rak (“rock”), became passionate about helping others make lifestyle changes after his own health dramatically improved with lifestyle changes. Dr. Rak completed his undergraduate degree in neuroscience at Duke University, his medical degree from the University of Chicago, and his internal medicine residency training at the University of California in San Francisco.He is dual board certified in Internal Medicine and Lifestyle Medicine. He has worked in direct patient care for over a decade, first as a hospital physician, then as a primary care physician. He previously served as the Director of Lifestyle Medicine for a large community hospital in San Francisco.  
Dr. Rak has an avid interest in how we can effectively change our habits, and regularly speaks about this subject to other healthcare providers across the United States.Dr. Rak is also an active member of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine’s subgroup HEAL (Health Equity Achieved Through Lifestyle). Dr. Rak is married and has three kids.  Outside of work, he enjoys spending time cooking and enjoying plant-based meals, hiking, and strength training.

I am a board certified internal medicine physician, with a focus in lifestyle medicine, including nutrition, activity/exercise, sleep, and mindfulness. 

Dr. Jennifer R. Chevinsky is a double-boarded preventive and lifestyle medicine physician. Her passion is partnering with her patients in a judgment-free zone to develop holistic individualized plans that focus on wellness and chronic disease reversal – including reversing high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, and other lifestyle-related conditions. She enjoys working with a diverse panel of patients from different cultures, religions, sexual orientations, genders, physical abilities, and backgrounds. She will collaborate with your primary care physician to provide extended visits to delve deeper into your health and wellness.
She completed her honors undergraduate studies at the University of Connecticut as part of the competitive BS/MD program. She majored in bioethics, which has shaped her career focus on providing the most ethical and moral care for her patients. She studied medicine at the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine as part of the innovative Scholarly Excellence Leadership Experiences Collaborative Training (SELECT) Program. After receiving an award for the best intern in her Lehigh Valley Health Network residency program, she went on to Loma Linda University’s Preventive Medicine residency.  
At Loma Linda, Dr. Chevinsky was trained in a blue zone – one of the 5 areas in the world and the only in the United States where people live the longest and the healthiest. Her scholarly training included plant-based nutrition, physical activity, sleep, stress management, spirituality, and relationship management. Upon graduation, she received an award as a “Rising Star in Preventive Medicine.” She has multiple first-author publications and has presented around the world. 
Dr. Chevinsky believes that there are no one-size-fits-all plans. If you want a doctor who will truly listen to you, take their time, and who prioritizes your health and wellbeing, Dr. Chevinsky is currently taking patients.