Ask the VBF Experts

Dr. Stuart Nelson, VBF Co-Medical Director and International Port Wine Stain Laser Specialist
Dr. Nelson will answer your questions concerning the diagnosis and treatment of Port Wine Stains.

 

Dr. Gregory Levitin, Hemangioma and Malformations Surgeon, NYC and LA
Dr. Levitin will answer your questions regarding the surgical treatment of all vascular birthmarks and tumors.

 

Dr. Robert Rosen, Vascular Lesions of Arms and Legs Interventional Radiologist
Our expert for all non-brain AVMs and vascular lesions of the arms and legs, Dr. Rosen welcomes your questions.

 

Dr. Roy Geronemus, NYC and International Laser Specialist
If you have a question or concern about laser treatments in general, contact Dr. Geronemus.

 

Dr. Aaron Fay, Hemangioma and Malformation Eye Surgeon
Dr. Fay will answer your questions about orbital birthmarks.

 

Corinne Barinaga, VBF Family Services Director
Corinne Barinaga, our Administrative Director, will answer emails concerning family advocacy, treatment questions, or physician referral.

 

Dr. Martin Mihm, VBF Co-Medical Director and Research Director
Dr. Mihm is coordinating and directing research regarding vascular birthmarks and tumors.

 

Dr. Darren Orbach, Pediatric Neurointerventionalist for AVMs and PHACE
VBF is proud to welcome Dr. Orbach!

 

Dr. Anne Comi, Sturge Weber Syndrome Specialist
One of the leading experts on Sturge Weber Syndrome, Dr. Comi will be responding to your questions concerning this syndrome.

 

Dr. Alex Berenstein, Malformations and AVM Interventional Radiologist
Ask Dr. Berenstein your questions regarding interventional radiology.

 

Dr. Kami Delfanian, KTS Treatment Specialist
Send your questions concerning KT Syndrome to Dr. Delfanian.

 

Dr. Barry Zide, NYC Hemangioma and Malformations Surgeon
If you have a question or concern about hemangioma and vascular malformation treatment in general, contact Dr. Zide.

 

Basia Joyce, VBF Insurance Appeals Specialist
Please send your questions regarding your appeal or request for out-of-network treatment to Basia.

 

Dr. Joseph Edmonds, Lymphatic Malformations Surgeon
Ask Dr. Edmonds your questions related to Lymphatic Malformations.

 

Anna Duarte, M.D., Florida Expert
Ask our expert Dr. Duarte, your questions about receiving treatment in Florida.

 

Dr. Orhan Konez, Interventional Radiologist
Questions regarding reading and interpreting films and treating malformations with sclerotherapy or embollization can be sent to Dr. Orhan Konez.

 

Dr. Jason Mouzakes, Airway Surgeon
Email Dr. Mouzakes with questions regarding airway hemangiomas and other vascular lesions in the airway (throat area).

 

Dr. Steven Fishman, Internal Lesions Surgeon
Ask Dr. Fishman your questions about liver and other internal vascular lesions.

 

Dr. Calil, Lymphatic Malformation Surgeon
Dr. Calil will answer your questions about Lymphatic Malformations.

 

Elissa-Uretsky Rifkin, M.Ed. CMHC Midwest Developmental Specialist
A trained developmental specialist and is on the board of VBF. Send questions concerning hemangiomas and this topic to Elissa.

 

Dr. Stavros Tombris, European Surgeon
Fr. Tombris treats all forms of hemangomas, port wine stains and malformations.

 

Dr. Stevan Thompson, Military (Tricare) Surgeon
Dr. Stevan Thompson has joined us to answer questions concerning the treatment of vascular birthmarks in the military.

 

Dr. Helen Figge, Pharmacist
If you or your child has a vascular birthmark and you have a question regarding a prescription drug, please ask Doc Helen Figge.

 

Dr. Linda Rozell-Shannon, VBF President and Founder
Dr. Linda Rozell-Shannon is the leading lay expert in the world on the subject of vascular birthmarks.

 

Lex Van der Heijden, CMTC Foundation
If you or your child has CMTC, please contact Lex with your questions.

 

Leslie Graff, East Coast Developmental Specialist
Leslie is a trained developmental specialist. Send questions concerning port wine stains and this topic to Leslie.

 

Linda Seidel - Make-up Expert
Ask Linda Seidel your questions about make-up.

 

Nancy Roberts - Make-up Specialist
Ask our expert Nancy Roberts, Co-Creator of Smart Cover Cosmetics (www.smartcover.com), your questions about make-up.

 

Eileen O'Connor, Adult Living with PWS

 

Laurie Moore, Make Up Expert from Colortration
Laurie Moore, from www.colortration.com will answer makeup related concerns.

 

Alicita, Spanish Expert
Ask our expert Alicita, your questions in Spanish.

 




 

What Our Families Are Saying About Us

 

"We relied on the Vascular Birthmarks Foundation to provide us with the information, the contacts, the resources, and the support that we needed to get through this difficult time. Their theme, "We are making a difference" couldn't be more accurate. For us, it was all the difference in the world."
Jill Brown

 


Hi Linda
Just a note to say how wonderful I found the interview of you and Capital 9 news. Thanks so much for your devotion.
Gina

 




VBF Launches 2nd Annual Day of Awareness Olivia’s Walk for Birthmarks at Tyler State Park in Pennsylvania


VBF is excited to announce that our 2nd Annual Olivia’s Walk for Birthmarks will be held on Saturday, May 18th, 10:00am, at Tyler State Park, Newtown, PA. Last year this event was a huge success with well over 200 walkers in attendance!

 

This walk is named after a local 5 year old girl, Olivia who has a port wine stain. Olivia’s mother, Andria sought help from VBF. Olivia has received numerous laser treatments and her birthmark has lightened considerably. Andria recently joined the VBF Board of Directors and is an important member of our team.

 

Olivia before treatments   Olivia after treatments

Olivia before treatments and Olivia today

Please join our walk. You can register on-line by going to the links below. Please consider organizing a team to walk in honor of someone with a birthmark (ie: Team Olivia).

 

You can also create your own personal fundraising page (JOIN ME) page. Click here to create a JOIN ME account and webpage for your own personal fundraiser for this event.

 

We are hoping for at least 10 “birthmark” teams to walk in this year’s event and 5 JOIN ME individuals. If you or a loved one has or had a vascular birthmark, put a team together and join us or create a JOIN ME page for you so that you can invite your friends from all over the world to sponsor you in our walk/run event. You can create a personal fundraising page, where people can donate through your page or a team fundraising page. With a team fundraising page, you can have people sign up to walk on your team and their names will appear on your page and/or you can have people donate through your team page. You can tell your own story, set your own goal and you can also include a photo if you wish. The page only supports one jpeg. If you would like to use more than one photo (ie: before and after), you must combine them into one jpeg. If you are not able to do this yourself, you may email the photos to our web mistress, Missy at birthmark.org@gmail.com. She will email the combined photo back to you. NOTE: Missy can not access your JOIN ME page and can not download the photo for you. If you have questions regarding creating your JOIN ME page, please contact Basia Joyce at basiajim99@nycap.rr.com. This is a great way for you to help us reach this year’s goal of $20,000.

 

If you would like to read Olivia’s Story or sponsor her team, please click here.

 

****To register online to attend this event, please click here.

 

****To register by mail, click here to download a printable registration form.

 

Bring your friends, family, office, club, and classmates. Everyone is welcome. As always, thank you for helping to make a difference for families affected by a vascular birthmark.

 

For questions regarding this event, please contact event organizer, Andria Gottsabend at andria248@yahoo.com or (267)616-9232

 
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