Pat was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She attended medical school in Detroit after which she did an internship and pediatric residency at Tampa General Hospital. Board Certified in Family Medicine, Pat, known to colleagues as Dr. Patricia Stewart, has practiced medicine and has directed medical research in her role as worldwide vice president for a leading healthcare company.

A graduate of Aquinas College, she received a M.D. degree from Wayne State University School of Medicine and an MBA from Columbia University. Pat’s former academic affiliations include the University of the Sciences of Philadelphia as Chairman of the Board of Trustees; University of Pennsylvania Dental School, where she was a member of the Board of Overseers and an Associate Trustee of the University; and membership on advisory committees of several universities. She has an Honorary Doctor of Science Degree from Duquesne University. She also is a member of the Board of Directors of the Sarnoff Corporation in Princeton, N.J.

A Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians, Pat is a member of the American Academy of Family Medicine, and a former member of the American Pain Society, Past President of the Drug Information Association, and a former officer of the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

One of six children, Pat has seven children and sixteen grandchildren. Pat and her husband, Dr. Robert Gussin, a renowned medical researcher, divide their time between Longboat Key, Florida, East Hampton, New York, and their vineyard in Marlborough, New Zealand.

Pat is a member of Mystery Writers of America and International Thriller Writers.