Community Advisory Board

AHP’s Community Advisory Board (the CAB) was established in 1986 to help AHP achieve its mission. The CAB helps AHP by advising us on the needs of the communities we serve and on programs to meet these needs. Board members further assist the agency by increasing community recognition of AHP’s mission, services, and accomplishments and raising funds to support AHP’s activities.

The Community Advisory Board consists of 10 to 20 members from various backgrounds and professions that reflect the community of providers, clients, and donors that AHP serves.

Phil De Carlo, Chair, is a partner at Eagle Partners in San Francisco, involved in investment banking services for middle market companies. Prior to starting Eagle Partners, Mr. De Carlo spent 19 years at Bank of America, most recently serving as Executive Vice President responsible for the middle market corporate finance group. Mr. De Carlo holds an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University, and a BS from California State University, Northridge.

Judy Ahrens, Vice-Chair, recently retired from her position as Vice-President/Owner of Mill Valley Insurance Services, Inc. She has had a long career in the food service industry and has been a long-term volunteer at Marin Abused Women's Services and, more recently, at the Women's Community Clinic. Ms. Ahrens serves on AHP's Art for AIDS and Gala committees. She is also a painter and has donated her paintings to Art for AIDS.

Rick Fallis, Secretary, made a career change nine years ago and began working in the field of clinical research for infectious diseases. For the past six years, he has worked at Gilead Sciences on registrational and post-approval studies for HIV and hepatitis B. Originally from upstate New York, Mr. Fallis has a BA in Social Psychology from Hamilton College and has lived in the Bay Area since 1986.

Doug Case is Senior Vice President and Manager of Wells Fargo's Small Business Marketing, where he oversees national strategic initiatives. Doug has over 20 years of industry experience in marketing, strategy development, advertising and public relations. He holds an MBA from the University of San Francisco and a B.S. from the University of Tennessee.

Dan Dean, JD is senior counsel at the law firm of Fotouhi Epps Hillger & Gilroy in San Francisco. Mr. Dean has been a volunteer support group facilitator at AHP for seven years; co-chairs the Bay Area Lawyers for Individual Freedom (BALIF), the nation's oldest LGBT bar association; and serves on the Board of Governors at USF School of Law. He is the past co-chair of the Minority Bar Coalition, a group comprised of all Bay Area minority bar associations. A fourth-generation San Francisco native, he received his bachelor's degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1988 and his law degree from the University of San Francisco in 1992.

Scott Garcia  Originally from Vermont, Scott graduated from Western New England College with a B.S.B.A. in Finance and a minor in Economics. Joining Advent Software in 1997, Scott is a Senior Support Analyst, involved in product roll out, training, implementation, and support. Prior to moving to San Francisco in 1996, Scott worked in the retail banking and training division of Shawmut Bank, N.A./Fleet National Bank for seven years.

Leah Lau grew up in California and has lived in San Francisco since 1998. A photographer, writer and philanthropist, she has been doing in-depth volunteer work since 1993. She counseled terminally ill AIDS patients at Cook County Hospital in Chicago and trained as a rape crisis counselor in Pittsburgh. Learn about her Cambodian Children's Book Project and see her international online gallery at www.leahlau.com. An editor of financial advice at Charles Schwab, she studied English Language & Literature and Spanish at the University of Chicago and UC Berkeley.

Yan Liu is an in-house corporate attorney at Hewlett-Packard Company. He serves on the board of Pets Are Wonderful Support (PAWS) and is an active member of the San Francisco FrontRunners. Mr. Liu has a JD from Columbia University Law School and a BS in Materials Science and Engineering from M.I.T. He has lived in San Francisco since 1992, except for two years spent in Grenoble, France.

Levi Morgan as been a resident of San Francisco¹s Castro District since 1994, a California resident since the mid-1980s. A CAB member since 2002, he also sits on the Art for AIDS Committee. A consultant in Public Relations, he served as Director of PR for international auctioneers Bonhams, directing media relations for Bonhams & Butterfields’ noteworthy US sales. While living in southern CA he was Interim Director of PR for the LA Gay & Lesbian Community Services Center and was a long-time volunteer there as a Mens Exchange Group Facilitator. His B.S. in Journalism was earned at Boston University, he’s worked for CNN in Atlanta, consulted to City National Bank in Los Angeles and served as media relations director during the hottest San Francisco Gay Pride Parade on record (in 1996)!

Ken Pearce ran several Bay Area psychiatric hospitals until retiring in the mid-1990s. He joined the board of AHP in 1996, serving as Vice-Chair from 1997 to 2000. Mr. Pearce has served on the boards of various other HIV organizations in San Francisco and in Sonoma County. Currently, he is a member of the San Francisco Ryan White Care Council, the San Francisco HIV Prevention Planning Council, and he volunteers for Project Inform's HIV Hotline. Mr. Pearce, a North Carolina native, moved to the West Coast in the mid-1970s, a graduate degree in Seattle, and moved to San Francisco in the early 1980s. He feels fortunate to call this wonderful city his home and is grateful for the support he has received fromreceived AHP in his long-term battle with AIDS.

Charles Schwamlein, Mph, is a consultant to the pharmaceutical industry regarding pharmacoepidemiology. Previously, he had been an Internist in private practice in the Finger Lakes area of NY, then Senior Director of Epidemiology at Abbott Laboratories in Chicago. He has been active in public health matters through teaching and board memberships.

Kate Shumate, Associate Director of UCSF’s Pancreas Cancer Program, began her career in the University of California in 2003 at the UC Berkeley, where she was co-Chair of the Chancellor’s Advisory Committee on LGBT Issues. She has extensive experience in contract and grant management and research administration in higher education. Ms. Shumate has lived in San Francisco since 1993, holds a BS in Biology from the University of San Francisco, is a Certified Clinical Research Professional (SOCRA), and will have a Masters in Public Administration and Health Care Services from USF in 2010. Ms. Shumate has been a member of the AHP CAB since 2004, and since then has participated in the Art for AIDS planning committee..

Sally Van Doren, PharmD, President, CEO and founder of BioSoteria, Inc, a drug safety and risk management consultant company, has worked for the past 20 years in the field of clinical drug research and drug safety for the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to BioSoteria, she held various clinical and drug safety leadership positions at InterMune, Peninsula Pharmaceuticals, Cerus Corporation, Gilead Sciences, and Syntex Laboratories. She has been involved in several early access programs and Food and Drug Administration approvals of HIV and hepatitis B antiviral treatments. She serves on the Board of Visitors at University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, and is an instructor at UC Berkeley Extension Program. A native of Maryland, Dr. Van Doren received her doctorate of pharmacy from the University of Maryland and completed her clinical pharmacy residency at UCSF in 1986. She has lived in the Bay Area since 1985.

Bridget Wagner, MB is a physician in the drug safety department of the pharmaceutical company, Genentech. She has worked with HIV in the United Kingdom and the United States for the last 14 years.