Merrill E. Gershwin AB, MD, MACP., MACR, M.S

Dr.M. Eric Gershwin founded the Allergy and Clinical Immunology Program at UC Davis in 1977. His diverse clinical interests include primary biliary cirrhosis and complementary medicine. He is co-director of the Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine Research in Asthma and Allergy, and became the first Jack and Donald Chia endowed chair recipient at UC Davis in 1994. (Chia family corporations in Hong Kong and Singapore have conducted pharmaceutical research for more than 50 years.) Dr. Gershwin has worked extensively on behalf of patients with immunologic diseases as American Rheumatism Association board member; American Lupus Society, Sacramento Valley Chapter medical-scientific director; FDA nutrition and immunity advisor; and National Institutes of Health General Medicine Study member. He has written more than 500 scientific articles and 25 clinical books, including Taking Charge of Your Child's Allergies: The Informed Parent's Comprehensive Guide and Disease of the Sinuses: A Comprehensive Textbook of Diagnosis and Treatment. He also has conducted immunologic studies of biliary cirrhosis and holds several patents for biliary cirrhosis autoantigens, recombinant cloned antigens, and nonmethylene interrupted fatty acids used as immuno-modulators. Dr. Gershwin is also a world's expert on the role of environment and health, including such issues as mold, allergens and environmental hazards.