Dr. Stancic is a board-certified physician with expertise in internal medicine, infectious diseases and lifestyle medicine. She is a passionate advocate for change in healthcare by advocating for a shift in how we train physicians, placing greater emphasis on prevention and health preservation rather than solely on disease management.
Dr. Stancic received her M.D. degree from New Jersey Medical School in 1993. She completed an Internal Medicine residency and served an additional year as Chief Medical resident at University Hospital in Newark, NJ. In response to witnessing the height of the catastrophic HIV epidemic while in medical school in Newark, she became very interested in the field of Infectious Diseases. She wanted to be part of the solution to the AIDS health care crisis and went on to complete a fellowship in Infectious Diseases.
After completing her training, she was appointed Chief of Infectious Diseases at the Hudson Valley Veterans Administration Hospital in New York. During those years she treated hundreds of patients with viral hepatitis and HIV as well as other infectious diseases with a multidisciplinary approach to support her patients’ overall well-being.
Beyond her responsibilities as Chief of Infectious Diseases, clinical researcher, and Chief of Infection Control, she directed the MOVE program, a federal VA initiative to encourage healthy lifestyles in veterans.
She later joined the viral hepatology team at Roche Pharmaceuticals and conducted clinical studies for new, more efficacious treatments for hepatitis infections. During these research years, she continued to see patients at the Bronx Veterans Administration Hospital in New York City. She has authored several research papers in peer-reviewed medical journals.
“We must redefine how we practice medicine in the 21st Century in order to meet the needs of a changing healthcare landscape``
In 1995, as a third year medical resident, Dr. Stancic was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. This unforeseen health challenge changed the course of her life, both professionally and personally.
In her own words, Dr. Stancic details her personal journey in this article written in 2014 for the Forks over Knives website and more recently in this article for T. Colin Campbell’s Nutrition Studies.