Scientific Advisory Board, Inner Reach
Board Member Director
Medical Director Emeritus, Oklahoma Blood Institute

Expertise: transfusion medicine, hematology, internal medicine and oncology
Ronald O. Gilcher, M.D., F.A.C.P, is a hematologist, internist and transfusion medicine physician. After serving in the military in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, Dept. of Hematology, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Washington, D.C. from 1968 to 1971 as a Major in the U.S. Army, Dr. Gilcher joined the Central Blood Bank of Pittsburgh as Assistant Medical Director and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Division of Hematology, as an Assistant Professor of Medicine. Following these appointments, in 1979 he became the President, CEO, and Medical Director of the Sylvan N. Goldman Center, Oklahoma Blood Institute (OBI) in Oklahoma City, OK until December, 2006 when he retired and became Medical Director Emeritus of OBI.

Dr Gilcher has served in academic appointments early in his career at the University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine in Pittsburgh, and then as an Adjunct Professor of Pathology and Clinical Associate Professor at the College of Medicine of the University of Oklahoma, appointments which continue today. He is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine for Internal Medicine and the American Board of Internal Medicine for Hematology.

The recipient of numerous honors, he was appointed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to serve on the Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability; elected and served for four years to the Hematology, Blood & Blood Products Expert Committee by U.S. Pharmacopoeia Council of Experts; awarded the Thomas F. Zuck Lifetime Achievement Award by America’s Blood Centers for the year 2003 and the recipient of the Bernice Hemphill Award of AABB for Outstanding Blood Center Administrator 1995; and the Centennial Award presented by Oklahoma University College of Medicine, Department of Pathology for Dr. Gilcher’s many years of dedicated service to pathology and patient care in the State of Oklahoma.

The Association of Donor Recruitment Professionals (ADRP) created an award in honor of Dr. Gilcher. The award is given to those demonstrating outstanding support and commitment to donor recruitment. In 2004, Dr Gilcher was selected as the Award of Merit Winner in the Professional Health Care category of Champions of Health Awards sponsored by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Oklahoma, the Oklahoma State Medical Association, the Oklahoma Hospital Association and the Oklahoma Osteopathic Association. And perhaps one of his most beloved honors was receipt of The Don F. Rhinehart Medical Service Award received at the Oklahoma County Medical Society Inaugural Dinner in February, 2007 and named for his, now deceased, dear friend, colleague, and mentor, Don F. Rhinehart, M.D.

Dr. Gilcher holds a B.S degree in Chemistry from the University of Pittsburgh (1960) and a Doctor of Medicine degree from The Jefferson Medical College of Philadelphia (1963). Postgraduate medical education included a Straight Internship in Medicine and Internal Medicine Residency at the University of Pittsburgh, Health Center Hospitals and a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Research Fellowship in Hematology at the University of Pittsburgh. He holds active medical licenses in the states of Oklahoma and California and inactive licenses in Pennsylvania and Maryland.

Dr Gilcher serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of Inner Reach and continues to assist other medical and scientific boards and committees in hematology, transfusion medicine, stem cell research, and health areas. Dedicated to the health of humanity, Dr Gilcher continues his work as a champion of public health, health preservation, and disease prevention and delay.

Expertise: Integrative Medicine, Psychiatry, Leadership Coaching, Health & Wellness, Non-conventional healing modalities

Manya Arond-Thomas, M.D., is a psychiatrist, leadership coach specialized in working with physician executives, wellness coach and organizational development consultant.

Dr. Arond-Thomas holds a B.A. from Harvard University in Social Relations, an M.D. from the University of Massachusetts, with post-graduate medical training from Brown University and the University of Michigan. She is a Certified Business Coach and Planned Change Facilitator, and a Certified Master Trainer. She speaks on issues of leadership and team development and health as a function of physical, psychological and spiritual well-being. She has been a contributor to various healthcare journals, including the Michigan Health & Hospital Association, and The Physician Executive.

After obtaining a B.A. from Harvard University in Social Relations and Psychology, Dr. Manya became fascinated with the interaction of mind, body, and spirit in the healing process. Recognizing the value of bodywork as a vehicle for healing to address imbalance and dis-ease in the system, she became a Certified Massage Therapist and had a successful massage therapy and healing practice in Boston for nine years.

Through the work with her massage therapy clients, and her understanding of the value of an integrative and holistic approach for optimal patient diagnosis and treatment, she undertook medical training and got an M.D. so she could more effectively educate practitioners and patients about how to utilize the best of both non-conventional and conventional treatment modalities.

After she got her M.D. in 1991, she practiced General Adult Medicine and later, Psychiatry, both with an integrative perspective. She helped manage two medical centers as the Medical Director and Associate Director, as well as delivering professional services in health care. As a member of the American College of Physician Executives, she served for several years as the Regional Coordinator for the Detroit Regional Network.

Years of clinical practice focused on diagnosing pathology led her to an increasing desire to focus on wholeness, health, and well-being both for individuals, groups, and organizations as it became increasingly clear to her that one can not look at the individual without looking at the systems of which they are a part and likewise, the health of an organization is a reflection of the individuals that comprise it.

In 1999 after receiving certifications in Planned Change and subsequently in Business and Leadership Coaching, she formed her own executive coaching and organizational consulting business with a focus on executive leadership, organizational development and well-being, and process improvement. She has demonstrated expertise in psycho-spiritual development, organizational development, emotional intelligence and resilience, integrative medicine and wellness, advanced communication skills, leadership development, and executive leadership coaching. While her specialty is coaching health care leaders, she has also coached a wide range of leaders and professionals, in both the for-profit and not-for-profit sectors. She has the ability to work with a wide range of professionals and leaders, individually and in groups, while creating safe, innovative, and accelerated learning environments.

Her approach to leadership training and development draws on a variety of disciplines that bridge psychology and adult development, health and wellness, executive and business coaching, and organizational development.

She has worked in multiple industries in addition to health care, including pharmaceuticals, manufacturing, IT, and consumer products. Clients include Ford Motor Company, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Microsoft, General Dynamics, Detroit Medical Center, Ohio Permanente, Trinity Health, St. John Health, Oakwood Hospital, Mercy Health Partners, Rockwell Automation. Other non-profit and public sector clients include the University of Michigan, Stephen M. Ross School of Business, Center for the Education of Women, Shriners Hospital, Genesys Hospital, Washtenaw Community College, Washtenaw United Way, and the Michigan Disability Rights Coalition.

Dr. Manya Arond-Thomas currently serves as a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Inner Reach. She provides the Inner Reach Board of Directors with her guidance and insights related to Psychiatry, Integrative Medicine practices, along with Health & Wellness Coaching in corporations and private practice settings.

Expertise: Oriental Medicine, including Chinese and Korean Medical Methods; Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine; Chi Gong Infusion; Tae Kwon Do Master
Background: Holding a national license in Acupuncture in the United States, Myung Chill Kim is a Doctor of Oriental Medicine (diploma, California, USA) specializing in acupuncture and acupressure; Chi Gong infusion with or without the use of acupuncture needles; Oriental Dietary Therapy; Oriental Herbology; and the training of the mind and body to function at optimal levels through Chi Gong self-care.

Born in Korea, Dr. Myung Chill Kim is the 37th generational Doctor of Oriental Medicine in his family. He has lived with and studied various forms of Oriental Medicine and Martial Arts during his entire life. His work has taken him to numerous countries and states within the U.S., including Fayetteville, North Carolina; Cambridge and Belmont, Massachusetts; and Portsmouth, Virginia where he worked in private practice and to Oklahoma City (his current practice); and to places such as Anchorage, Alaska and Seoul, Korea where he worked alongside Western medicine physicians in various settings.

In 1995, Dr. Kim founded the Oriental Medicine and Cancer Research Center in Cambridge Massachusetts where he explored general theory of Oriental Medicine with emphasis on qi (chi) energy theory and his new discovery of some causative factors of cancer in modern times.

Education: Dr. Kim holds a Doctorate of Oriental Medicine from the Samra University of Oriental Medicine in Los Angeles, CA with proficiencies in Cancer and Acupuncture Theory (Diploma 1968). He graduated from Emperor’s College of Traditional Oriental Medicine in Santa Monica, CA (Oriental Medicine, Diploma 1984). In 1981 his studies included the near completion (1 semester remaining) of work towards a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from New York City Technical College, Brooklyn, New York. Master Kim was a student under the Buddhist priest, Master Song with whom he studied and trained in Korean Classical Martial Arts. In 1965, Master Kim became a Close Combat instructor for the famed Korean Tiger Division (맹호사단) during the Vietnam War. Feared by the enemy, the Korean Tiger Division was a very impressive and fearless group.

Languages: Dr. Kim is fluent in English, Korean, and Spanish. He studied Chinese and Japanese at New York University in Manhattan, New York City, NY., and to this day he is quite capable in the reading and speaking of a smattering of Chinese and Japanese.

Author: Dr. Kim is the author of 3 books: “Chi Gong: Medicine From God” (1999); “Oriental Medicine and Cancer” (1998); Acupuncture for Defense” (1971). Additionally, he has authored multiple articles on the subjects of Oriental Medicine and Tae Kwon Do Close Combat, as well as classical martial art techniques for military Special Forces.

Seminars and Lectures: For decades, Dr. Kim has provided seminars and classes on subjects such as Chi Gong, Theory of Oriental Medicine, Acupuncture, Oriental Herbs, and Kung Fu at various organizations in the states where he worked and at colleges including Samra University in California and The New England School of Acupuncture in Boston, MA; and for government agencies, including the Veterans Hospital in Brookline, MA.

Licenses and Certifications: Dr. Myung C. Kim is a Diplomat in Acupuncture certified by the National Certification Commission of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine; as well as a licensed acupuncturist certified by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Committee on Acupuncture. Early on, he was trained and certified by the New York City Police Department Police Academy in the City and State of New York in the position of a “Ports and Terminal Peace Officer and Inspector”, a criminal investigator for the Ports and Terminal Department.

Currently, Dr. Kim practices acupuncture, Chi Gong infusion, and herbal medicine at the Myung Chill Kim Acupuncture and Chi Gong Clinic in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. He serves as a member of the Inner Reach Scientific Advisory Board, providing the Inner
Reach Board of Directors with his guidance and insights into Oriental Medicine research, practices, and delivery systems including both historical and current day methods.

Expertise: Cancer, Psychiatry, Integrative Medicine
Specialties: Behavioral Oncology, Autonomic Pharmacology, Cancer; Cell Science, WellnessCare Medicine; Preventive Recurrence

James Arond-Thomas, M.D., a Belleview trained psychiatrist and behavioral oncology physician and autonomic pharmacologist served as a member of the Inner Reach Scientific Advisory Board for 10 years (2008 to 2018). During that time, he particularly undertook the framing of the Inner Reach cancer wellness program. Dr James has had an impressive career. It has been a privilege working with him.

Dr James specialized in person-centered approaches to the treatment and recurrence prevention of all types of cancers, with particular emphasis on breast cancer in both genders. In addition to his 35 years as a clinician, Dr. James was a scientist with in-depth knowledge of cell science, genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics. He and Dr Constance Fitzpatrick, CEO of Inner Reach worked together for more than a dozen years on their mutual areas of specializations. They coauthored numerous papers together on various topics including genomics, health psychology, cancers’ causes and treatments, panic disorders and the autonomic nervous system, ways biology affects biography, and personalized medicine.

From 1984 to 2009, Dr James was the Medical Director of the Center for Contemporary Medicine in Ann Arbor, Michigan where he practiced behavioral oncology. Dr. James pioneered the development of unique behavioral oncology self-assessments and treatment strategies for various types of cancers to prolong remission and life based on a biopsychosocial medical model. From 2009-2011 he was the Medical Director of the Medical Services Division at the Beatrice State Developmental Center in Beatrice, Nebraska.

From Ohio State University College of Medicine & Public Health, Dr. James received a B.Sc. in Psychology (1966), a Master of Science degree in Psycho-Pharmacology, and Doctor of Medicine (1970). He was awarded a Lederle Fellowship at the Karolinska Institute in the autonomic laboratory of Ulf von Euler, autonomic research. His studies included Bellevue Hospital and New York University Medical Center Psychosomatic Internships (1971) and a two year Residency in Internal Medicine at the Detroit Medical Center concurrently with his tenure as a Professor in the Pharmacology Department at Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, MI (1974-1984).

Dr James was delighted that he was a Research Associate at the Laboratory of Clinical Science, National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in Bethesda, MD), in the autonomic laboratories of Irwin Kopin and Julius Axelrod (who shared the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1970 with Dr. von Euler and Sir Bernard Katz). He has retired in Ecuador surrounded by his favorite things - stacks of books, research and a beautiful environment.