The certification curriculum is developed and led by board-certified physicians who use peptide protocols in active clinical practice — not career lecturers. Meet the faculty behind the credential.
Every level of the certification is built on curriculum developed by practicing, board-certified physicians — the same standard behind Empire's live course catalog since 1998.
Lead Instructor
Dr. Joseph B. Beavers, MD
Board-Certified, Family Medicine
Residency, Mayo Clinic — Rochester
20+ Years in Clinical Practice
Dr. Beavers is the creator of Empire's multi-part peptide video curriculum — the detailed, module-by-module foundation that anchors Level I of the certification program. He earned his medical degree at Ross University School of Medicine and completed his Family Medicine residency at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.
Before medicine, he trained at the United States Air Force Academy and the University of Florida, where he earned both a BS and an MS in Applied Physiology — a background that still shapes how he teaches peptide science: physiology first, protocols second. He brings more than 20 years of clinical experience to the program. Full faculty profile →
Instruction for each cohort session is delivered by Empire faculty; the developing faculty member may differ from the live instructor.
Peptide Therapy Faculty
Dr. Valerie F. Civelli, MD
Board-Certified, Family Medicine (ABFM)
Board-Certified, Functional & Regenerative Medicine (ABAARM)
Chief Resident, UCLA-Affiliated Residency
Dr. Civelli is double board-certified — in Family Medicine through the American Board of Family Medicine, and in Functional & Regenerative Medicine through ABAARM. She earned her MD at Windsor University School of Medicine and completed her Family Medicine residency at UCLA-affiliated Rio Bravo, where she served as Chief Resident.
Her research on chronic disease and innovative therapies has been published in peer-reviewed journals including Oxford University Press and the Journal of Investigative Medicine. She has served on multiple executive health and community boards, and her honors include being twice named "Outstanding Physician of the Year" and receiving the Hans Einstein Award. A physician, educator, and researcher, she bridges conventional medical rigor and innovation — with a mission to educate and empower clinicians through personalized, scientifically sound care.
Instruction for each cohort session is delivered by Empire faculty; the developing faculty member may differ from the live instructor.
Chief Medical Officer, Empire Medical Training
Dr. Chris Croley, MD
Board-Certified, Anesthesiology
Board-Certified, Critical Care Medicine
20+ Years of Clinical Experience
As Chief Medical Officer of Empire Medical Training, Dr. Croley oversees the medical standards behind every Empire program — including this certification. He is board-certified in Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, trained at Rush and Northwestern, with more than 20 years of clinical experience.
His role in the certification program is the standard itself: ensuring the curriculum, assessments, and clinical protocols meet the bar Empire has held its training to since 1998. Full faculty profile →
Instruction for each cohort session is delivered by Empire faculty; the developing faculty member may differ from the live instructor.
Director of Anti-Aging, Empire Medical Training
Dr. Betsy Greenleaf, DO
Board-Certified, Obstetrics & Gynecology
Board-Certified, Urogynecology
Two Decades in Women’s Health
Dr. Greenleaf is Empire’s Director of Anti-Aging and the first board-certified female urogynecologist in the United States. She teaches Empire’s hormone pellet therapy and medical weight loss programs — the two areas where clinicians most often meet peptides first.
That work maps directly onto this curriculum: the metabolic and weight-management module, the hormone–peptide interface, and the longevity protocols where hormones and peptides have to be coordinated rather than stacked blindly. Full faculty profile →
Instruction for each cohort session is delivered by Empire faculty; the developing faculty member may differ from the live instructor.
Founder, President & Medical Director, Empire Medical Training
Dr. Stephen Cosentino, DO
Board-Certified, Family Medicine
Founder of Empire Medical Training, 1998
22+ Years in Aesthetic Medicine
Dr. Cosentino founded Empire Medical Training in 1998 and still keeps daily, hands-on oversight of what it teaches. He earned his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine at Nova Southeastern University and completed his Family Practice residency at Mt. Sinai in New York.
Every Empire credential carries his standard, and this one is no exception: he signs off on what the program claims, what it assesses, and what a graduate is entitled to say they can do. Full faculty profile →
Clinical oversight; the live instructor for a given session may differ.
Faculty Roster Growing
Guest faculty announced through Fall 2026
The founding-cohort faculty roster is expanding as the program approaches launch. Additional guest faculty — practicing clinicians across the advanced Level II modules — will be announced through Fall 2026.
Priority list members hear every faculty announcement first.
Empire's faculty are practicing clinicians first. They see patients, run protocols, and bring what works — and what does not — straight into the curriculum. Empire's job is everything around them: production, program operations, and the platform that puts its faculty in front of the profession.
Empire's developing faculty appear across the program's webinars, interviews, and conference stages, and each cohort session is delivered by Empire faculty — clinicians whose work is public, published, and accountable.
Curriculum developed by board-certified physicians in active clinical practice
Faculty-led live webinars and virtual Q&A sessions throughout the program
Empire promotes its faculty — interviews, webinars, and conference appearances — so you learn from clinicians whose work is public and accountable
Empire handles production, accreditation infrastructure, and operations — faculty focus on teaching
