Steven D. Knope, M.D., is a board-certified internist and sports medicine expert and has served as Chief of Medicine, Chairman of the Department of Medicine, and Director of the ICU in the Carondelet system in Tucson, Arizona. A pioneer in the field of concierge medicine, Dr. Knope opened one of the first concierge practices in America in December 2000 and has since received local and national media attention for his work as an uncompromising patient advocate and opponent of the HMO industry. In his fight against a local HMO, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and inventor of the cardiac defibrillator, Dr. Bernard Lown, praised Knope as "courageous" and "deeply principled." Knope has served as the official internist for the Colorado Rockies baseball team during their spring training in Tucson and has been a member of the editorial board of The American College of Sports Medicine's Health & Fitness Journal. He is a highly regarded national speaker on the subjects of obesity, fitness and exercise, and is the author of The Body/Mind Connection.