Board of Directors

Robert V. Brody, MD

President

Robert V. Brody, MD is a primary care, hospice and palliative care, and pain management physician and Clinical Professor of Medicine and Family & Community Medicine at UCSF.  He has practiced at San Francisco General Hospital for 40 years; he was an original member and then chair of the hospital Ethics Committee for 17 years.  LEARN MORE

Stewart Florsheim

Vice President

Stewart Florsheim has been involved in end of life choice since 2003. He served on the board of Compassion & Choices of Northern California for ten years, including four years as co-chair.  While holding that position, he hired and managed the executive director and was very involved in the passage of the End of Life Option Act.  LEARN MORE

Claudia Comins

Treasurer, Founding Director

Claudia retired after a career in political and non-profit fundraising, branding and strategic planning.  Her professional work tracked her passions for environmental protection, access to educational opportunities for disadvantaged youth, and the advancement of women’s reproductive rights.  LEARN MORE

Adrian Byram

Secretary

Adrian Byram has been thinking about and researching end-of-life decision-making for the last decade.  After retiring from a 40 year career as an entrepreneur and senior executive in the IT industry in 2012, he began a PhD program in neuroethics – a new field combining neuroscience and medical ethics – at the University of British…  LEARN MORE

Lynne H. Calkins, BA, CRNP

Founding Director

Lynne is an Ob-Gyn Nurse Practitioner, retired.  She was a client services volunteer with Compassion and Choices from 2011 to 2018, acting as an advocate and personal support for individuals at end-of-life.  Lynne campaigned vigorously for the passage of California’s End of Life Option Act in 2015 and is eternally grateful…  LEARN MORE

Stephen Poses, MD

Director

Stephen Poses, MD is double Board certified in Internal Medicine and Hospice and Palliative Care.  As a physician in private practice, he has exclusively made house calls to home-bound people in San Diego County since 1999.  Blending Palliative care into ongoing primary medical care, he is able to provide patient-centered, culturally appropriate….  LEARN MORE

Rabbi Suzanne Singer

Director

Rabbi Singer joined Temple Beth El in Riverside, CA as Rabbi and Educator in February of 2008. As the daughter of a Holocaust survivor, she is keenly aware of the need to make our world a better place. She recently served as a member of the Reform movement’s Commission on Social Action, as President of PARR (Pacific Area Reform Rabbis), as a member of the City of Riverside’s Task Force on Police Reform, and as a commissioner for the City of Riverside’s…  LEARN MORE

Judy Neall Epstein, ND

Executive Director, Founding Director, Board ex-officio

Judy Neall Epstein has been engaged in the study of death and dying since the early days of her undergraduate education. She graduated from Oregon State University in Corvallis, OR with a B.S. in Public Health (Health Promotion/Education and Community Health) and a minor in Nutrition Science. She received her doctorate from the National College of Naturopathic Medicine in Portland, OR and completed a residency in integrative...  LEARN MORE