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New Frontiers in Creating Families Panelists

  • Jacqueline Harounian, Esq.
    Jacqueline Harounian, Esq.

    Jacqueline Harounian, Esq., Managing Partner of the Law Firm of Wisselman Harounian Family Law is a recognized leader in the field of matrimonial and family law. Her unique multidisciplinary background, including a graduate degree in Behavioral Forensic Psychology and Family Systems Therapy, enables her to adeptly handle - and successfully resolve - complex divorce, custody and support matters in the Family and Supreme Courts on Long Island and New York City.

    Recognized as an AV Preeminent rated litigator, and having tried numerous and complex, high income and asset matrimonial and family law cases, as well as bench trials, and having prepared and argued appeals before the First and Second Departments of the Appellate Division, Ms. Harounian has demonstrated her competence and credibility with judges and adversaries. She nevertheless believes that a negotiated settlement is often the best strategy, especially if there are minor children and co-parenting is desired. Her approach is straightforward, responsive, and client focused. She emphasizes respect and compassion during the divorce process, and guides her clients towards a holistic and cost effective resolution of their matter that is in their best interest.

    Her many exceptional achievements during 25 years of practice, include Martindale Hubbell's highest rating for ethics and professionalism (2021). She was chosen to the Super Lawyers list for seven consecutive years, and also twice selected to its most prestigious list - “Top 50 Women Lawyers” in New York, as the only Long Island matrimonial lawyer. Her research articles, including, "Legal Implications of Religious Divorce", “Fertility Law” and “Intellectual Property in Divorce Matters” have been published and presented at national and state level conventions including AFCC 2020 and the WBASNY 2019 annual conventions.

    Ms. Harounian has a long history of public service, including pro bono work for The Safe Center. She has raised awareness and funds for a range of social and legal causes on Long Island. She served as an Instructor of Family Law at Hofstra Law School for over ten years, lectures regularly to attorneys, judges, mental health professionals, accountants, and women’s groups. She is a sought after speaker for a range of topics including financial and legal empowerment, cultural competency in mediation, fertility law, cyber harassment, intellectual property, negotiating skills, and mental health / addiction issues. She is fluent in Farsi and well versed in the Jewish Gett and Middle Eastern religion and culture.

  • Dr. Mark Sauer
    Dr. Mark V. Sauer

    Dr. Mark V. Sauer is an American physician who specializes in reproductive medicine. He is a clinician, researcher and medical educator best known for his work in the development of egg and embryo donation, fertility care of HIV-seropositive patients, and reproductive bioethics. He currently is Professor and Chairman of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He also serves as the Senior Associate Dean for Women's Health there.

    Sauer was the Chief of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City for twenty-one years, where he was also the program and laboratory director of the Center for Women's Reproductive Care, and a tenured professor and vice-chairman in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University. While at Columbia University he also served on the Medical Ethics Committee of New York Presbyterian-Columbia University Medical Center.

  • Dr. Linnea Goodman
    Dr. Linnea Goodman

    Dr. Linnea Goodman is a board-certified Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility physician at Virginia Fertility and IVF and an assistant professor at the University of Virginia. Dr. Goodman earned her undergraduate degree in Biomedical Engineering with Honors from Columbia University, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. From there she went on to pursue medicine at the University of Vermont College of Medicine where she received her medical degree and was awarded the Charles and Sylvia Schechtman Prize for Excellence in Clinical Care.

    Dr. Goodman completed her residency training in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of North Carolina Hospitals where she received several prestigious accolades including the Golden Tarheel Teaching Award and the American Association of Gynecologic Laparoscopy award for minimally invasive surgery. Dr. Goodman then continued her training in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at the Cleveland Clinic fellowship program. Her research during the fellowship received national recognition earning her research grant funding from multiple distinguished foundations.

    Since graduating from the fellowship in 2016, she has practiced in both private practice and academic settings. With a special interest in cost-effective medicine and incorporating new technology, she continues to be a productive researcher with the goals of excellent patient care and advancing the field of reproductive medicine.

  • Robert Klitzman, M.D.
    Robert Klitzman, M.D.

    Robert Klitzman, M.D., is a Professor of Psychiatry at the College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Joseph Mailman School of Public Health, and the Director of the online and in-person Bioethics Masters and Certificate Programs at Columbia University. He has written over 160 scientific journal articles, nine books, and numerous chapters on critical issues in bioethics regarding genetics, neuroscience, psychiatry doctor-patient relationships, coping with illness and other areas. His books include When Doctors Become Patients, The Ethics Police?: The Struggle to Make Human Research Safe, Am I My Genes? Confronting Fate and Family Secrets in the Age of Genetic Testing, Designing Babies: How Technology is Changing How We Have Children, A Year-Long Night: Tales of a Medical Internship, In a House of Dreams and Glass: Becoming a Psychiatrist, Being Positive: The Lives of Men and Women With HIV, The Trembling Mountain: A Personal Account of Kuru, Cannibals and Mad Cow Disease, and Mortal Secrets: Truth and Lies in the Age of AIDS.

    Klitzman has received numerous awards for his work, including fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, the Russell Sage Foundation, the Commonwealth Fund, the Aaron Diamond Foundation, the Hastings Center and the Rockefeller Foundation. He is a member of the Empire State Stem Cell Commission, and the Ethics Working Group of the HIV Prevention Trials Network, and served on the U.S. Department of Defense’s Research Ethics Advisory Panel. He is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a regular contributor to the New York Times and CNN.

  • Tamara C. Takoudes, M.D.
    Tamara C. Takoudes, M.D.

    Tamara C. Takoudes, M.D., FACOG, is a board certified physician in Maternal-Fetal Medicine, a fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and a co-founder of Boston MFM. She has been practicing high-risk obstetrics at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) from 2004-2015 and was director of the Joslin Diabetes and Pregnancy Program. She is now in private practice and consulting for all of Cape Cod Health Care, South Shore medical care and working at Emerson hospital and AFA Ob Gyn,

    Dr. Takoudes completed undergraduate degree at Columbia College in Art History/Pre-Med in 1992 and the Columbia Medical School in 1997. She then went onto residency at BIDMC,Harvard Medical School (19970-2001) and her Maternal-Fetal Medicine fellowship training at Women and Infants Hospital, Brown University (2001-2004).

    Dr. Takoudes is a clinician and actively cares for all women achieving pregnancy in the Boston Area.