Claudia Craig Marek, M.A., is a medical assistant tutored, trained, and taught on the job by Dr. St. Amand. She has co-written medical papers with Dr. St. Amand and counseled fibromyalgia patients for 20 years.  Ms. Marek has suffered from fibromyalgia and interstitial cystitis since childhood and is the author of Fibromyalgia, the First Year.  She has given lectures all over the world to patients and physicians. She is a member of the NFA's Leaders Against Pain Coalition. Ms. Marek is the editor of The Fibromyalgia Treatment Forum, a bi-monthly newsletter and, with her husband, fine artist Lou Marek, the author of two children's books about FMS.