Friday, May 13
The Siruno Stroke Education Center will sponsor the 2nd Stroke Prevention Conference, Friday, May 13 from 8:00 am – 4:00 pm at the Caribou Inn and Convention Center. The conference is designed for healthcare professionals.  The conference will feature an outstanding panel.

Michael Ozner, M.D. 
Doctor Michael Ozner is the Medical Director of Wellness and Prevention at Baptist Health South Florida, and medical director of the Cardiovascular Prevention Institute of South Florida.  He is a speaker at prestigious medical symposiums worldwide.  Dr. Ozner has appeared widely in every venue, including newspapers such at the New York Times, (where he was featured in a two-part series on heart disease and prevention in January, 2009), Miami Herald, USA Today and the Washington Post.  His current book titles include the Miami Mediterranean Diet, and the Great American Heart Hoax.  He is symposium director of the Cardiovascular Disease Prevention, and annual international meeting highlighting advances in the field of preventive cardiology.  This meeting has become one of the most prestigious and widely attended meetings on heart disease prevention worldwide. 

Dr. Ozner is the recipient of the 2008 American Heart Association Humanitarian Award, and has been recognized by the Consumer Council of American as one of the top Cardiologists in America.  Dr. Ozner will address the topic of Stroke Prevention through a Mediterranean nutritional approach.

Jackie Mayer Townsend
Miss America, 1963, Jackie Mayer Townsend suffered a major stroke On Thanksgiving in 1970.  She has spent her life traveling throughout the nation sharing both the sorrows and victories of surviving a stroke.  She speaks to healthcare professionals about the important relationships between the healthcare provider and the stroke survivor.  In 1984 she became one of the founding board members of the National Stroke Association, where she served as national spokesperson from 1987 – 1996.  She has testified before congress and won numerous awards.  She was inducted in the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame and received an honorary doctorate in Public Service from Lourdes College in Sylvania, Ohio.  The Providence Hospital in her hometown of Sandusky, Ohio dedicated a wing to her in 1997, the Jackie Mayer Rehab Center.

Walter Newberry Kernan, MD
A key aspect of the Siruno Stroke Education Center is prevention.  Florentina Siruno, the wife of the late physician for whom the center is named, has a mission to prevent other families from having to go through what her family did following his tragic stroke.  Dr. Walter Kernan, is professor of medicine at Yale University.  Educated at the Harvard College and Dartmouth Medical School, he completed his internship and residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital. After Fellowship training at the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program at Yale, he joined the Yale faculty in the Section of General Internal Medicine.  In addition to practicing general internal medicine, Dr. Kernan's work has included educational administration and clinical research on topics at the interface between internal medicine and cerebrovascular disease.  In the area of cerebrovascular disease, Dr. Kernan's research has included clinical trials of new therapies for prevention of recurrent stroke (estrogen, thiazolidinediones), cohort studies of prognosis, case control studies of risk factors and cross-sectional examinations of quality of care.  He is currently the principal investigator for a multi-institutional trial funded by the National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to test the effectiveness of PPAR gamma agonist therapy, compared with placebo, for prevention of recurrent stroke and myocardial infarction among non-diabetic persons with a recent ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack and insulin resistance. 

Daniel M. Louder, BS
Daniel Louder is the Project Manager – AMI and Stroke Systems of Care for the Maine CDC Cardiovascular Health Program.  She will discuss the baseline data specific to stroke quality of care throughout Maine.  She will also present current state-wide stroke system improvement efforts, and she will identify strategies to further enhance stroke systems in the Aroostook Region.  Daniel is a graduate of the University of Maine and is the recipient of the Isabel Murray Science Award, a National Merit Scholar, and earned a PSC Presidential Scholarship.  She serves as the Coordinator of the Maine Stop Stroke Advisory Committee, and the state wide Stroke Care in Maine workgroup.

Registration cost of the May 13 Professional Education Program is $90 (includes lunch), nursing students $25.  Pre-registration is required not later than May 11.  Register on line here for the Friday May 13 Stroke Prevention Conference.  Questions please contact Kim Parent in the Public Relations Office at Cary Medical Center 207-498-1112 or email Kim at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Saturday, May 14
Doctor Michael Ozner and Jackie Mayer Townsend will present a Community Health Education Program focusing on Nutrition and Stroke Prevention.  This program is designed for the general public and will be held at the Caribou Inn and Convention Center from 10:00 am – 12:00 noon. Dr. Ozner will discuss the Mediterranean Diet and the prevention of vascular disease.  Jackie Mayer Townsend will address the life of a stroke survivor, overcoming obstacles, how her family and she coped, what stroke survivors and their families need to know plus helpful suggestions she has learned from other stroke survivors.  Cost for the program is $15 which includes lunch.  We invite stroke survivors, family members and care givers to attend this important community health education program.  Copies of Dr. Ozner's Book, the Mediterranean diet will be available for sale.  Questions should be directed to Kim Parent at Cary Medical Center by calling 498-1112 or by email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .