MEET THE speakers for our 2026 conference
Wisdom, Heart, & Health
Welcome to a gathering of expertise and empathy. Our presenters bring a unique blend of scientific rigor and deep respect for Jewish values, ensuring each session offers clarity, empowerment, and warmth. Discover the professionals dedicated to supporting your journey through every season of health and life.
Keynote Speaker
Aliza Bixon
Co-founder of Healthy on the Beach (@healthyonthebeach) and The Absolute Collagen (@theabsolutecollagen). An integrative nutritionist, she focuses on promoting a balanced and sustainable approach to health and wellness, with particular sensitivity to the needs of the Orthodox Jewish lifestyle. Through her teaching, recipe development and online presence, Aliza shares practical guidance on clean eating, mindful nutrition, and wholesome cooking, helping families incorporate healthy habits in a way that is both realistic and consistent with Torah observance. Her work emphasizes that maintaining physical well-being can be fully integrated with demands of family life, community involvement, and religious commitment.
Based in Miami Beach, FL, Aliza has been married to Rabbi Donald Bixon for 33 years. Together, while serving the Miami Beach Jewish community, they raised their five children and remain actively involved in communal leadership, education, and outreach.
Dr Daniela Hermelin
Medical Director & Pathologist
Is the Chief Medical Officer of ImpactLife and an Assistant Professor of Pathology at Saint Louis University School of Medicine. She is a transfusion medicine specialist at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital and SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital. Her clinical and academic work focuses on advancing transfusion practices, cellular therapies, and blood systems optimization. Dr. Hermelin is deeply committed to education and is passionate about teaching and mentoring learners at all stages of training. Outside of her professional work, she enjoys spending time with her family and raising her children, ages 11 to 20.
Dr Lisa Fruchter
Breast Radiologist
Lisa (Mogil) Fruchter, a St. Louis native, is an attending breast radiologist at Washington university/Siteman cancer center, where she interprets mammograms, ultrasounds, and MRIs, and performs image-guided biopsies and localizations.
After competing undergraduate and medical schools in New York, she and her growing family returned to Washington University for a 4-year radiology residency, followed by a 1 year fellowship in breast imaging at Siteman Cancer Center.
Lisa enjoys teaching residents and fellows, the daily diagnostic puzzle, and providing clear, compassionate care to her patients.
Her most meaningful role and greatest joy, however, is raising her four children with her husband, Rabbi Jonathan Fruchter.
Esther (Biel) Chulsky
Nurse Practitioner
Is a Board-certified Adult-Gerontological Primary Care Nurse Practitioner and certified Transforming Touch® Practitioner, now functioning as a functional medicine health consultant and coach. She began her career as a bedside nurse at St. Louis University Hospital for 3 years, after which she completed a Master’s degree at Columbia University. She then worked in private practice for 6 years as a primary care provider, seeing patients in the field of adult general medicine in Englewood, New Jersey. After a 5-year transformational journey living with severe Long-COVID and recovering, she became passionate about helping others find meaning in their own journeys and partnering with them to reverse their chronic symptoms. Since 2022, she has been practicing Transforming Touch®, a somatic-based modality that improves nervous system regulation, and currently sees clients in person and remotely in this capacity. Around this time, she also discovered functional medicine and enrolled in a 3-year certification program. She works one-on-one with clients over Zoom, utilizing a functional medicine approach to uncover and address root causes of disease and develop personalized recommendations. Interventions often include lifestyle modifications, detailed education about principles of healing, pharmaceuticals and lab analysis, as well as targeted supplement counseling. She and her husband Tzvi, live most of the year in Jerusalem, Israel and they spend summers in Alaska, running their family hospitality business, AllSeasons Campground Corp.
Polina Vorobeychik
Dietitian/Nutritionist
Is a Registered dietitian with a Master’s in Public Health from the University of Michigan. She’s worked in dialysis care, helped create healthier school lunch programs, and has guided clients toward balanced eating—especially when managing chronic conditions like diabetes. She currently works at the Washington University ALS Clinic, supporting patients with specialized nutritional needs.
Fun fact: her family recently got a pet hamster for the kids… and she’s found herself surprisingly attached to it.
Elisa Travis
Physical Therapist/Co-founder of Empowered Nurturer
Is a Physical therapist with over 30 years in the field in various settings and locations including Maryland, New York, Jerusalem and Cincinnati. She currently specializes in pelvic floor health for women. Through her private practice, HomeCore Physical Therapy LLC she evaluates and treats pelvic floor dysfunction in clients’ home. Her passion is the pregnancy and postpartum population. Elisa is the mother of eight daughters and a son and a bunch (bih) of grandchildren.
Dr Betty Sonnenwirth Ozar
Psychiatrist
Is a Psychiatrist specializing in psychoanalysis, psychodynamic psychotherapy and medication management. She sees adults with depression, anxiety, relationship problems, work issues, trauma and personality difficulties. She received her BA and MD at the University of Missouri at Kansas City and her certificate in psychoanalysis from the St Louis Psychoanalytic Institute, and has been in private practice for 40 years. Dr Ozar is the proud mom of 5 children and 25 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren (BIH!!!)
Dr Ayelet Gottesman
Clinical Psychologist
Is a Clinical Psychologist specializing in psychodynamic therapy with individuals of all ages. She earned her BA from Yeshiva University, Stern College for Women, and her doctorate in School and Clinical Child Psychology from the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology at YU. In addition to her private practice, Ayelet works as the consulting school psychologist at Esther Miller Bais Yaakov. Ayelet is the mother of 2 beautiful daughters.
D’vorah Miller
Rebbetzin/Author/ Educator
Brings over 35 years of experience facilitating Torah learning and personal growth for children and adults through varied Jewish day schools, organizations and institutions across four continents. D’vorah and her husband, Rabbi Shmuel Miller are the blessed parent of eight great kids and many grandkids, Baruch Hashem! D’vora currently serves as the principal of Kadimah High School.
Chaya Rosenberg
Co-founder of Empowered Nurturer
Brings a diverse background shaped by resilience and a commitment to personal growth. Born and raised in Brazil, moving independently to Israel at the age of 14, being placed in a leadership role in the corporate world as a director of product development by the age of 20. Relocating to the US, Chaya met her husband and together they facilitated Kiruv Shabbatons for college students in Corvallis and Eugene, Chaya led mothers on a Momentum trip to Israel, managed a catering business, and currently works at the Kollel facilitating Torah learning, coordinating programs for the community. A wife, mother of six, daughter and proud daughter in law, friend, a corporate and tech savvy and a deep thinker. She is passionate about cultivating genuine relationships and intuitive living. Her work and life experiences inform her approach to coaching others to rewire perceptions, remain calm, focused, and connected amidst the challenges of daily life.
Sarah Maddali
Author/Writer/Educator
Sarah Maddali’s academic and professional background is in Biomedical Research (neural stem cell) but her most prized roles are being a Bat Torah, Bat Israel, mother, wife, daughter, sister, aunt, etc. she’s had the pleasure of starting her own (and HaShem's) publishing company for children, HaShem's Gems Publishing Co., authored over a dozen Jewish children's books (including "The Special Secret”, “The One and Only", "My First Aleph Beis Book", "Modeh Ani: I Thank HaShem"), is a Parsha columnist on Aish.com, the founder of MamaChizuk.com and co-author on the newest release From Freeze To Flow.
Chanie Wasser
Rebbetzin/Educator
Is a parent and teacher coach dedicated to helping Jewish children and families thrive. With 16 years as Director of TPEC and broad teaching experience from elementary to middle to high school and adult education, I help parents and educators build confidence, connection, and intention. I teach middle school girls at EHA and live in Chesterfield, where my husband is part of MTI. I’m a proud mother and grandmother.
Raya Avrutsky
Yoga instructor/Educator
Shalom, I’m Raya. I have been practicing yoga for over 20 years, and about 12 years ago I completed my Yoga teacher training in a small village in the Himalayas, surrounded by wild mountains and the beautiful creation of HaShem everywhere you look; each evening I would return to the local Chabad house with my husband and friends, connecting my yoga to the Jewish realm and to the harmony between body and Neshama.
I offer soft, slow, mindful yoga that brings gentle awareness to body and breath, adapting to the changing seasons of life and to a woman’s many cycles.
On a daily basis, for as long as I can remember, I am an educator who loves working with children—helping them grow, thrive, and find their own shining selves.
Originally from Israel, I came to St. Louis for my son’s medical care and feel deeply grateful to HaShem for the warm community that embraced us here.
Continue the Conversation
Join our community and support our mission to empower every woman. We look forward to connecting with you and fostering a space of shared growth and medical integrity.