Our Team

Lillian Mehran, MPH, CHES

Senior Consultant, Education and Outreach
Pronouns: she/her

646.580.4387

Lillian Mehran has nearly fifteen years of experience in public health, including community outreach and needs assessments, program development and implementation, and ethical oversight of research studies. Her work has served diverse populations including solo seniors, LGBTQIA+ patients, individuals with chronic health conditions, intimate partner violence survivors, and older adults in under-served communities.

She has worked with a variety of organizations including academic medical centers, colleges, community health centers, advocacy groups, research foundations, and national professional organizations. She has a BA in Psychology and Women’s/Gender Studies and a Master of Public Health in Community Health Education. She is also a Certified Health Education Specialist, and is a PhD candidate at the CUNY School of Public Health, focusing her dissertation on end of life healthcare experiences in diverse communities.

Judith Schwarz, PhD

Clinical Director
Pronouns: she/her

212.252.2015

Judith Schwarz is an expert on ethical issues relating to patient self-determination and informed end of life decision-making. She has published numerous articles in peer-reviewed professional journals. Judith is a nationally recognized expert on the option of voluntarily stopping eating and drinking (VSED) as a means for capacitated and suffering patients to control the circumstances and timing of death. She has spoken at local and state nursing conferences, and in 2014 she co-presented a workshop about VSED at the Management and Leadership Conference of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Program. She earned a PhD in nursing research from New York University, a MSN from Lehman College, and an RN from St. Luke’s School of Nursing.

David C. Leven, JD

Senior Consultant, Policy & Advocacy
Pronouns: he/his

914.907.6156

David C. Leven was the Executive Director of End of Life Choices New York from 2002 until July 1, 2016. A leading advocate for patients and an expert on advance care planning, patient rights, palliative care and end-of- life issues, David has played a key role in having legislation introduced and enacted in New York to improve pain, palliative and end-of- life care, including the Palliative Care Information Act. David lectures frequently to diverse professional groups, students and the general public, and is a regular guest lecturer at College of New Rochelle School of Nursing and Fordham Graduate School of Social Service. A graduate of the University of Rochester and Syracuse University College of Law, he is the recipient of numerous awards including the Public Interest Law Award of the New York State Bar Association, Public Interest Law Committee.