Overview
The Post-Finasteride Syndrome Foundation is dedicated to facilitating clinical and epidemiological research into post-finasteride syndrome, a condition with no known cure and few, if any, effective treatments. The organization also focuses on generating global awareness of PFS, providing resources for victims and their families, and lobbying drug-regulatory authorities for stricter controls on finasteride.
We understand the devastating and life-altering impact finasteride can have on the sexual, mental and physical health of men. Our primary objective is therefore to work closely with the medical community to spur scientific interest and investigation into PFS, so that underlying biologic mechanisms for persistent finasteride side effects can be found and, hopefully, treatments identified to remedy the condition.
Headquartered in Somerset N.J., the Post-Finasteride Syndrome Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation established in July 2012.
Mission
- Support efforts for achieving medical consensus of post-finasteride syndrome
- Facilitate basic science research to uncover the underlying biologic mechanisms of PFS
- Create awareness among scientists, medical professionals, health care organizations and the media regarding the existence of and need for research into PFS
- Identify potentially effective therapeutic targets and treatment strategies and, hopefully, develop a cure for PFS
Board of Directors
John Santmann, MD, CEO
Dr. John Santmann brings four decades of medical and technology experience to the Post-Finasteride Syndrome Foundation. An emergency department physician by training, he spent two years in residency at Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Va., after completing his internship at Alameda County Medical Center in Oakland, Calif. From 1988 to 1999, he practiced at both community- and academic-based medical centers in Missouri and New Jersey, including the Robert Wood Johnson Medical Center in New Brunswick, NJ. In recent years, Dr. Santmann has worked exclusively in the field of health care information technology. He earned his MD from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and his BA, in biophysics, from the Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Santmann, who was elected CEO of the PFS Foundation in July 2012, resides in New Jersey.
Philip Recchia, President
Philip Recchia is a media veteran who has worked for NBC, News Corp. and Reader’s Digest. He is currently CEO of Jessie Jiang New York, Inc., one of the leading US-based live-stream platforms on the Taobao division of Chinese retailer Alibaba. From 1994 to 1998, he served as director of media relations and special on-air projects for CNBC, conceiving its first-ever documentary, The Story of Wall Street, and creating Student Stock Tournament, which netted $12 million in revenue. He has also worked as an investigative reporter for the New York Post and writer/producer for Fox News Channel. From 2008 to 2011, he was director of programming for BlogTalkRadio, the world’s largest social-radio network. There, he produced a live White House address from Barack Obama on health care reform, marking the first time any US president hosted a podcast. Recchia was elected President of the PFS Foundation in June 2020, bringing extensive news-reporting, digital-media and content-marketing experience to the fast-growing nonprofit. He resides in Connecticut.
Rosemary E. McGeady, MD, JD, General Counsel
Dr. Rosemary McGeady has had the distinction of practicing law and medicine during her 30-year career, bringing expertise in both disciplines to the Post-Finasteride Syndrome Foundation. Currently an attorney with Levinson Axelrod, she specializes in medical-malpractice law. Prior to joining the firm in 2007, she headed her own medical-legal consulting enterprise, Med Law Consulting. Dr. McGeady, whose father, Paul McGeady, was a noted First Amendment attorney, earned her JD from Seton Hall University and was admitted to the New Jersey Bar in 2005. In 1982, she earned her MD from St. Louis University Medical School, then spent three years in residency at Highland General Hospital in Oakland, Calif., before serving as a staff physician in the Emergency and Cardiology departments of Hampton Veterans Administration Hospital in Hampton, Va. Dr. McGeady later became a partner in the New Brunswick Cardiology Group in New Brunswick, NJ. A Fellow of the College of Legal Medicine and the American College of Cardiology, she was elected general counsel of the PFS Foundation in July 2012. Dr. McGeady resides in New Jersey.