Sue Wagner

Sue Wagner became the official voice of Health in a Heartbeat in March 2004, replacing Polly Anderson. Sue currently serves as director of community relations for WUFT-TV and WUFT/WJUF-FM. She has worked at the public broadcasting stations for more than 30 years and serves as voice talent for program promotion and underwriting credits, fund drives, and special event and other promotional announcements.

Peter Carek, M.D., M.S.

Peter Carek, M.D., M.S., is a medical adviser for Health in a Heartbeat. A professor and chair in the department of community health and Family Medicine at the University of Florida College of Medicine. He received a medical degree and residency training in family medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina. He completed two sports medicine fellowships and has a certificate of added qualifications in primary care sports medicine. He has authored or co-authored more than 80 articles for peer-reviewed journals as well as numerous chapters, monographs and articles for non-peered reviewed journals and has completed more than 140 invited presentations and more than 90 submitted presentations during meetings of national and international medical organizations. Dr. Carek was the 2009 recipient of the Parker J. Palmer “Courage to Teach” Award from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. His areas of interest include graduate medical education, quality improvement in patient care and medical education, care of underserved populations, and sports medicine.

Marvin Dewar, M.D., J.D.

Marvin A. Dewar, M.D., J.D., is a medical adviser for Health in a Heartbeat. He is the senior associate dean at the University of Florida College of Medicine and chief executive officer and chief medical officer of UF Health Physicians, the clinical practice arm of the UF College of Medicine. In this role, he is responsible for clinical practice budgeting, physician practice operations and facilities, as well as ambulatory quality and safety and electronic medical records. Dr. Dewar also directs the UF Continuing Medical Education program. He completed his medical degree at the University of South Florida College of Medicine and his residency in family medicine at USF’s Halifax Hospital. He subsequently received a law degree from the UF College of Law and is a member of the Florida Bar. Dr. Dewar is a member of numerous professional organizations. He previously served as UF College of Medicine director of family medicine residency training and he has held numerous positions within UF Health Shands. He is a frequent lecturer and author on various medical, health law, risk management, patient safety, clinical process improvement and medical ethics topics.

Melanie Fridl Ross, M.S.J., E.L.S., Chief Communications Officer, UF Health Communications/senior producer and managing editor

Melanie Fridl Ross is Chief Communications Officer at UF Health, Senior Vice President/CCO of UF Health Shands and Associate Vice President for Health Affairs at the University of Florida. As senior producer and executive editor of Health in a Heartbeat, she oversees operations for the series and serves as a senior editor for the script production process. Ross joined UF in 1992 from The Tampa Tribune, where she was a reporter. She holds a master’s degree in journalism with a concentration in newspaper administration from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Her bachelor’s degree is in American culture from Northwestern’s Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. She is a past president of the American Medical Writers Association. She also is a member of the Association of American Medical Colleges’ Group on Institutional Advancement, the Association of Health Care Journalists, the Board of Editors in the Life Sciences, the National Association of Science Writers.

Mickie Anderson

Mickie Anderson is associate director for external communications, overseeing UF Health’s news efforts about breakthroughs in scientific research, along with a host of other editing duties. A Florida native, she was raised in Alachua County and was previously an assistant metro editor at The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tennessee and local news editor at The Gainesville Sun. Before that, she covered everything from investigative projects to law enforcement. She is a graduate of UF’s college of journalism and communications and has taught reporting at the University of Memphis and UF.

Kim Rose, Co-founder and Producer Emeritus

Kim Rose has worked in communications for UF Health for over two decades. She’s currently communications manager for UF Health Information Technology. Previously, she was director of strategic communications for UF Health Communications; and before that, she served as assistant director for Shands HealthCare’s Marketing and PR Department. She co-founded Health in a Heartbeat in 2000 and was senior producer for its first four years, assigning and editing the scripts and helping launch and promote the series nationally. Kim is a UF College of Journalism and Communications alum and a past member of the WUFT-TV board of trustees.

Glenn Richards, Producer

Glenn Richards is operations coordinator and local host for Morning Edition on WUFT/WJUF-FM. His background includes more than 30 years of radio in South Florida as an on-air personality, promotion director and morning show producer. He has a bachelor’s degree in communication from the University of Miami, where he was also general manager of the non-commercial college radio station, WVUM-FM. He came to Gainesville in 2006 to pursue a telecommunication master’s degree at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications. Upon his arrival, he worked as an on-air personality at WRUF-FM. One of Glenn’s passions is local music. Since 1990, he has produced and hosted local music programs in South Florida and Gainesville, playing demos and independent releases from then-unsigned artists including Marilyn Manson, Sister Hazel and Matchbox 20.