Dr. Keith E. Denton is President of the Upper Cervical Research Foundation Board of Directors. Originally from Oklahoma, Dr. Denton graduated from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 1981 and later became a Diplomate of the National Board of Chiropractic Examiners. He had the rare privilege of interning with Dr. Ralph R. Gregory, founder of National Upper Cervical Research Foundation (NUCCA), and was also one of the first certified NUCCA doctors.
Dr. Denton has authored and contributed to a number of publications including the NUCCA Standards of Care and Practice Guidelines and NUCCA Protocols and Perspectives: A Textbook for The National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Association. He also is one of the few people to have co-authored with Dr. Gregory.
Dr. Denton's service and professional involvement with NUCCA during the eighties was exceeded only by Dr. Gregory himself. After the death of Dr. Gregory in 1990, Dr. Denton became editor of The Upper Cervical Monograph, the Foundation’s quarterly publication, and also helped develop and patent the Anatometer II.
He was a NUCCA instructor at Palmer College, and a professor of Post Graduate Education. Dr. Denton has been a lead instructor for NUCCA since 1982 and a member of the Upper Cervical Research Foundation (formerly NUCCRA) board for twenty-six years. He received the prestigious Ralph R. Gregory Achievement Award in 1999, and is a founding member of the Academy of Upper Cervical Chiropractic Organizations.
Dr. Marshall Dickoltz, Sr.
Dr. Dickholtz, Sr. is the founding director of both the National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Association (NUCCA), and the Upper Cervical Research Foundation (formerly NUCCRA), for which he served a long, laudable term as its president. His devotion to and understanding of the Atlas Subluxation Complex, its causes, symptoms and correction are evidenced by his extensive private practice, years of dedicated instruction, numerous publications, and distinguished research projects, many of which he has personally funded. He also has a variety of inventions to his credit including x-ray filter kits, teaching devices and even an upper cervical adjusting table.
Dr. Dickholtz’s recent hypertension study, which shows how the NUCCA correction of the Atlas Subluxation Complex reduces blood pressure, has been the subject of national news coverage including the Chicago Tribune and public television. The complete research project was printed in the Journal of Human Hypertension in May 2007.
He is the recipient of many honors including the 1994 David D. Palmer Scientific Award Medal from Palmer College of Chiropractic, The Achievement Award from the National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Association, The Ralph R. Gregory Achievement Award, and most recently, the National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Association Scientific Research Award.
At 84 years of age he says he is just getting started, and that his wife of 54 years, Mary Ann, is responsible for all his achievements including her invention of the Dickholtz Laser Lights Spinal Analyzer.
Dr. Marshall Dickholtz Jr.
Marshall Dickholtz Jr., is one of only twenty board certified NUCCA doctors worldwide. He practices in Chicago and is an authority on the diagnosis and treatment of adults and children with headaches, musculoskeletal conditions, spinal disc syndrome, back and neck pain, and other neurologically based conditions. Dr. Dickholtz has more than twenty-nine years of experience and has treated more than 8,000 individual cases.
In 1978, Dr. Dickholtz completed his Doctor of Chiropractic degree at Palmer University with awards in radiology and leadership. He continued his education with more than 2,000 hours of NUCCA training, receiving his NUCCA board certification in 1993.
Dr. Dickholtz has appeared as a guest on numerous radio talk shows as well as local and national television programs including the Discovery Health Channel's recent “Impact Stories of Survivial” which highlighted his successful treatment of race car driver Tony Schumacher's devastating injuries.
Dr. Dickholtz is currently the director of the NUCCA certification program as well as the standards committee, and is Vice President of the board of directors for both the National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Association and the Upper Cervical Research Foundation (formerly NUCCRA). As an instructor at NUCCA seminars, Dr. Dickholtz has also authored articles and chapters on various aspects of NUCCA care and certification. He is the recipient of the coveted Ralph R. Gregory Award 2006.
Dr. Michael David Thomas
Dr. Michael Thomas entered the healthcare profession as a registered nurse, and later became board certified as a critical care nurse enabling him to work in various intensive care units and emergency departments throughout the United States. He graduated from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 1990 with research honors, and initially worked with Upper Cervical Research Foundation President, Dr. Keith Denton to better understand the NUCCA work.
Dr. Thomas practices in Belleview, Florida and is the associate editor of the Upper Cervical Monograph, a chiropractic research publication. He is also the editor and a multiple chapter author of NUCCA Protocols and Perspectives: A Textbook for the National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Association, and was a reviewer for Upper Cervical Subluxation Complex, a review of the chiropractic and medical literature by Dr. Kirk Eriksen. Dr. Thomas is the author of numerous papers and articles concerning upper cervical chiropractic.
Dr. Thomas is also a founding member of the Academy of Upper Cervical Chiropractic Organizations, and serves on the board of the Upper Cervical Research Foundation.
Dr. Thomas is determined to preserve, communicate, validate and expand knowledge of upper cervical chiropractic so that generations to come will be able to receive corrective adjustment work.
Dr. Teresa A. (Denton) Palmer, sister of Dr. Keith Denton, graduated from Sherman College of Straight Chiropractic at the age of twenty-one and began an internship with Dr. Ralph R. Gregory a few months later. She became the first woman to be NUCCA board certified in 1985 and is the only female doctor certified by Dr. Gregory.
Dr. Palmer served for a number of years as the final judge in resolving potential NUCCA certification disputes, has contributed to NUCCA research, and co-authored articles in the Upper Cervical Monograph, including the most frequently referenced article: A Clinical Investigation Into Upper-Cervical Biomechanical Stability: Part I (1990). She was also a contributing author for NUCCA Protocols and Perspectives: A Textbook for The National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Association. Dr. Palmer has been a NUCCA instructor since 1980 and continues to set aside time from her practice in Monroe, Michigan to help non-certified NUCCA doctors advance toward full certification. She has been elected to the NUCCA board of directors, and is an appointed member of the Upper Cervical Research Foundation (formerly NUCCRA) board since 1995. Dr. Palmer has the distinction of being the Foundation’s first and only female board member.
Dr. Robert Brooks
Dr. Robert Brooks is the Chairman of the Board for the Upper Cervical Research Foundation and Director of the National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Association. His practice, Brooks Spinal Care located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, has become both a healing and training center: Fifty-four of Dr. Brooks’ patients have become chiropractors; he has trained and coached fifty-three interns to prepare them for their own practices; and has personally cared for more than fifteen thousand patients from the United States and abroad.
Dr. Brooks is a member of Delta Sigma Chi, a Chiropractic professional fraternity, and has served in numerous capacities in the Chiropractic Association of Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Chiropractic Research Foundation, the Congress of Chiropractic State Associations, the International Chiropractors Association, the Palmer College of Chiropractic Alumni Association, and as past president of the National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Association.
He received honorary degrees from Life Chiropractic College and from Sherman College of Chiropractic for his contributions to the chiropractic profession, and has served his alma mater, Palmer College of Chiropractic, in many capacities including Visiting Clinical Professor, and in virtually every office of the college’s international Alumni Association including President and Chairman of the Board. He was honored with the coveted Alumnus of the Year award in 1992.
Dr. Brooks has a seminar company entitled “Taking Care of People” to teach chiropractors and chiropractic students how to create non-toxic environments and serve in the best interest of all patients. He also teaches personal classes as a way of healing psychological and psycho-social wounds. Dr. Brooks’ life reflects his intent to be a student, healer and teacher with dignity, integrity and grace.
Dr. Russell Friedman
Dr. Russell Friedman is a lifetime member of the Upper Cervical Research Foundation, serves on its board of directors, and is a Foundation instructor. He is one of only twenty fully certified NUCCA doctors worldwide and the only one practicing in the state of Georgia. Dr. Friedman developed his practice, Alterna Health Solutions in Atlanta to feature a restorative coaching program to optimize spinal stability.
He graduated from Tulane University in 1982 where he received a degree in Mechanical Engineering, and went on to Life University to become the first student professor of Biochemistry and Dissection. Dr. Friedman was the lead supplemental instructor for two years until he graduated and was then offered a professor position in Chiropractic Sciences. He went on to becoming advanced certified and a board member of Orthospinology, and subsequently pursued the NUCCA procedure and certification in 2005. Dr. Friedman serves as chair board member of the National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Association.
Dr. Jeffrey Scholten
Dr. Jeffrey Scholten has been in private practice in Calgary, Alberta, Canada since 2001 and is a member of the Board of Directors for the Upper Cervical Research Foundation (UCRF) as well as the National Upper Cervical Chiropractic Association (NUCCA).
Originally earning a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology in 1996 from the University of Calgary, Dr. Scholten continued his studies graduating Magna Cum Laude from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 2001. During his time at Palmer College, Dr. Scholten was inducted into the exclusive Vogt Society as recognition for exemplary personal leadership, was awarded with a Certificate of Recognition for Extraordinary Personal Action from the American Red Cross, received a Certificate of Merit for his role as an Anatomy Teaching Assistant and earned a membership in Pi Tau Delta, an International Chiropractic Honor Society.
The idea of being able to positively impact the quality of a person’s life originally led Dr. Scholten to pursue a career in health care. The tremendous patient results seen within his own practice has inspired him to devote significant time and attention to the advancement of upper cervical chiropractic. He is professionally engaged in ongoing clinical research and has had articles published in both Canadian Chiropractor and the Upper Cervical Monograph.
Jim Palmer is Director of Research for the Upper Cervical Research Foundation. He is a physics professor at the University of Toledo where he served as former Chairman of the Health and Human Services Department.
Professor Palmer has published in both chiropractic and academic journals and has specific experience in radiation physics and health physics. He is also editor of the Upper Cervical Monograph, the Foundation’s annual publication.
He is a graduate of the University of Toledo and holds graduate degrees from Eastern Michigan University, Cornell University, and the University of Florida.
