Pediatric Scalp Care Specialists is a nonprofit, charitable organization founded in Los Angeles by Hair Fairies, a private well-established head lice treatment service provider, in order to bring free head lice treatment education and services to lower-income children and families. Through multiple mobile treatment vans, PSCS gives particular focus to serving public schools in under-served areas in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and other districts throughout Los Angeles County.

PSCS is led by an experienced management team committed to treating the head lice problem to help kids stay in school. All of our staff are certified providers of head lice treatment services and receive extensive training, and undergo law-enforcement background checks as required by law when working with children and in public schools. The policies and practices of PSCS are overseen by an advisory board that includes pediatricians, school nurses, and parents of children who have been successfully treated.

Medical Advisory Board

The following physicians and medical professionals oversee the policies and practices of Pediatric Scalp Care Specialists.

Dr. Suzanne Rosenfeld
West End Pediatrics, P.C.
450 West End Avenue
New York, NY 10024
(212) 769-3070

Dr. Caroline Close
Santa Monica Bay Physicians
2001 Santa Monica Blvd. #370W
Santa Monica, CA 90404
Telephone 310 586-9001
Fax: 310 586-9051
http://exchange.smbp.com/patients/about_our_doctors/dr_name/close_caroline.htm

Dr. JJ Levenstein
Boulevard Pediatrics Medical Group
16550 Ventura Boulevard, Suite 414
Encino, CA 91436
Tel: (818) 783-3110 • Fax: (818) 783-3115
www.boulevardpediatrics.com

Dr. Peter Waldstein
Valley Pediatric Medical Group
5353 Balboa Blvd. Suite 307
Encino, Ca. 91436
(818)789-7161

Dr. Sheila Phillips
2021 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 612E
Santa Monica, CA 90404
(310) 829-3525
California Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics

Deborah Davenport, RN, M.S.
Area Health Officer
Los Angeles County Department of Health Services
5300 North Tujunga Ave.
North Hollywood, CA 91601
818 487-0028
ddavenport@dhs.co.la.ca.us

Leadership Team

Maria Botham – President
Maria was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She is an entrepreneur who has successfully developed many projects including several with a strong social mission. She is currently the founder and CEO of Future Fishies private Swim School and Hair Fairies The Head Lice Helpers.

As a native Angelino, Maria saw the need for in home swim lessons and developed a business model to meet this need. For thirteen years, she has managed a strong team of instructors whom facilitate children and adults to learn to swim effectively in both the clients’ home and at their location. Her success is due in part to a specific technique that Maria developed and successfully trains her employees to execute daily.

Maria developed Hair Fairies The Head Lice Helpers in 1999. She recognized the need for a service that remedied head lice without completely relying on a product due to head lice developing a strong resistance to many prescriptions and over the counter products.

After six months of research and development, Maria developed a three-step manual process as well as a non-toxic product line that together systematically remedy children and adults of this problem. This process has been implemented successfully in the salons for six years.

Maria currently has a location in West Hollywood and most recently opened her second location in Manhattan.

Maria has also developed Pediatric Scalp Care Specialists, a non-profit organization. The mission is to serve the entire community without having the financial burden of committing to a private service. Her goal is to help keep children in their classrooms, parents at work, and relieve school nurses of this task so that they can focus on more pertinent issues.

Pediatric Scalp Care Specialists has developed a relationship with Harvard University in which they will provide the university with live specimen in order to better understand the parasite as well as the behavior issues that follow.

In addition PSCS is currently developing a relationship with the Rainbow Room, a non-profit organization. Their mission is to supply under privileged children with the necessities of day-to-day living. The Rainbow Room has asked PSCS to potentially provide product to help the families that are under their care fight the battle against lice.

David Rice – Director
David Rice is the founder and principal of Strategic Policy Concepts (www.policyconcepts.com) – an independent, non-partisan consulting firm specializing in public policy research, analysis and strategy on behalf of think tanks, government agencies, nonprofit organizations and lobbying firms in the U.S. and abroad. He is also an Adjunct Professor of International Relations at Suffolk University and Fitchburg State College; an Adjunct Scholar at the Center for American Progress – a think tank in Washington, D.C.; and a Tutor of International Affairs at Harvard University’s Kirkland House.

Prior to founding Strategic Policy Concepts, David was the Senior Research Analyst for the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and several Asian-Pacific island nations for the World Markets Research Centre (WMRC) – a London-based global business intelligence service providing a wide variety of corporate and government clients with country-level risk analysis. Before WMRC, he was a Senior Project Manger for the World Economic Forum in Switzerland – an international affairs think tank and the organizer of the annual summit of global leaders in Davos – where he specialized in geopolitical risk assessment.

Before joining the WEF, David completed a Master's degree at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. He has also served two U.S. governors – Republican Bill Weld of Massachusetts and Democrat Howard Dean of Vermont – and was a Senior Fellow at the Snelling Center for Government at the University of Vermont. David served in the U.S. military upon being awarded a full, 2-Year Army ROTC college scholarship.

In addition to his professional experience, David has served a variety of community and nonprofit organizations including as co-founder of the Cushing's Support and Research Foundation-an international not-for-profit corporation. He was one of the founders of the Vermont Association of Nonprofit Organizations, served on a number of nonprofit boards, and obtained a graduate-level certificate in nonprofit management from Case Western Reserve University's Mandel Center for Nonprofit Organizations.

David has published papers and articles on a wide variety of public policies including global security, terrorism, international trade, U.S. political affairs, and e-government. He has been interviewed by a number of print and broadcast media including Cox News, National Public Radio, CBC Radio Canada, ABC News Australia, and Fox News. David was also a featured contributor to the 2003 President Dwight D. Eisenhower National Security Series in Washington, D.C., sponsored by Harvard University, the U.S. Department of Defense, and the U.S. Army War College.

David speaks French and has traveled extensively for work to Central and South America, South Asia, Western Europe, Cuba, the US and Canada. For his humanitarian work in Honduras, he was granted Honorary Citizenship in 1999 by then-President Carlos Flores and awarded a commendation by Rotary International.

Staff Leads

Mona Chang
Mona is an associate at Strategic Policy Concepts where her primary project is researching the Los Angeles County School District for Pediatric Scalp Care Specialists where she leads research on the district’s education policies and the intersection with the health needs of the student population.

Mona is a recent graduate of Harvard Graduate School of Education, where she obtained a master’s degree in administration, planning, and social policy. Her graduate studies focused on the evaluation of education policies, the development of assessment tools, and the analysis of foundation effectiveness. She is also currently a research assistant for the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project sponsored by Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Prior to Strategic Policy Concepts, Mona was an activity therapist at a San Francisco healthcare facility that mainly serves the elderly. She had also taught music to underprivileged children at two community music centers in the SF Bay Area and freelanced as a violinist for local orchestras. Mona holds a BA in music and sociology from the University of California, Berkeley.

Bernard Parham
Bernard is a research associate at Strategic Policy Concepts; his current project with the non-profit organization Pediatric Scalp Care Services, specializing in clinical research, medical practice, and insurance policies with respect to head lice. Bernard is a Harvard College undergraduate concentrating in English and American Literature. After graduation a doctoral candidacy in Comparative Literature or Film is planned.

Bernard’s previous employers include the Democratic National Committee: with whom he campaigned in the 2004 presidential election. Before his tour of duty on the campaign trail, Bernard worked with Harvard’s American Repertory Theatre during a season that saw internationally acclaimed staging of “Oedipus” and Pinter’s “The Birthday Party.”

David Stearns
David is a research associate at Strategic Policy Concepts, where his current work consists of providing information on the Los Angeles County School District for Pediatric Scalp Care Specialists. He is a sophomore at Harvard College, where he is concentrating in government. David's studies center around American government and the American political system. He has also performed extensive research on the AIDS crisis in South Africa, and the United States' strategy for intervention. David grew up in New York City. He has worked for various newspapers including the East Valley Tribune in Phoenix, AZ, the New York Press, and New York Resident. In addition, David is an Editor for Harvard's student newspaper, The Harvard Crimson, and is a junior varsity baseball player.