
Goldstar Longevity and Wellness
Goldstar Longevity and Wellness

Your Source for Effective Weight Loss Solutions
Your Source for Effective Weight Loss Solutions
Allow our clinic to address your and your family’s health and weight concerns. We have highly qualified medical providers to serve your needs.

Weight Loss Clinic You Can Count On
Weight Loss Clinic You Can Count On
If there’s something Goldstar Longevity and Wellness prides itself on specializing in, it’s weight loss. Founded in April 2019, our clinic in Fairbanks, Alaska provides affordable services to help address the health and weight concerns of individuals aged 1 to 100 years. With us, all men, women, and children in the areas we serve can now effectively and safely lose weight and achieve a healthier lifestyle.


Dr. Russell Pierce
Specialty
Weight Management
Family Medicine
Degrees Held
-MD, American University of Caribbean, Saint Maarten, Netherlands Antilles
-MD, University of Wyoming
-BSN, Olivet Nazarene University, Kankakee, Illinois
Certificates, Awards, & Affiliations
-Board Certified in Obesity Management
-Alpha Omega Phi Honor and Service Society
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Associations
-American Academy of Family Physicians
-American Medical Association
-International Society for the study of Women's Sexual Health
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Teal Vinger, ANP-C
Teal Vinger, ANP-C, was born and raised in Fairbanks so she is excited to give back to her community by providing local primary care. She loves to spend time with her family and traveling.
She graduated with her MSN from Frontier Nursing University and is board-certified as a family nurse practitioner with AANP. She has a BA in Biological sciences from UAF and a BSN from Jefferson College of Health Sciences (now Radford University). She has worked as a registered nurse locally for 10 years.
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Mira Lisa Scharff, BA, BS, MCHS, PA-C, MICP
PA Scharff was born in Philadelphia, PA, and was raised on the west coast in New Mexico and Colorado. She has worked in healthcare since 1995, starting as an emergency medical technician, and then paramedic in Las Vegas, Nevada, and later in Southern Callfornia. She first came to Alaska in 2009 to work as a flight paramedic for Guardian Flight based out of Fairbanks. She fell in love with Alaska and adopted it as her new forever home. She subsequently spent over ten years working remote, as a paramedic at Pogo Mine, on the Alaska Pipeline, in Unalaska, and various mine exploration projects throughout Alaska. She has also held technical roles at Alaska Providence Medical Center in Anchorage working in both the emergency department and the Heart and Vascular Center supporting emergency and cardiovascular physicians.
PA Scharff received a Bachelor of Science in Healthcare Administration from California Coast University, and a Bachelor of Art in Psychology from Southern New Hampshire University before pursuing pre-medical studies at the University of Alaska. She went on to receive her Master of Clinical Health Science from University of Washington. She is licensed in the State of Alaska as a physician assistant and is certified by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants.
PA Scharff has a strong interest in social, behavioral, and mental wellness, and is pursuing post-graduate studies in clinical mental health counseling to further enhance her work as a physician assistant committed to helping her patients balance their physical and emotional health.
PA Scharff has held volunteer roles, with the State of Alaska advocating for residential care and nursing home residents as a Long-Term Care Ombudsman in Anchorage and mentoring pre-medical students through the University of Alaska’s Area Health Education Programs.
PA Scharff enjoys spending time with her husband when he is home from his rotation as an underground miner. In her spare time, she enjoys nurturing her creative side as a sketch artist, painter, photographer, and is an aspiring furniture flipper.


Christopher Leccese PA-C
Chris specializes in Family Medicine and Orthopedics. In his spare time, he loves to play hockey and do mushing and skijoring. He also has a great passion for all things Alaska!.

Michaela Craft, MS, LPC
Michaela was born and raised in Fairbanks. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and a Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Southern New Hampshire University. She is licensed in the state of Alaska as a professional counselor, nationally certified with the Commission for Addiction Professionals as a Master Addiction Counselor, and internationally certified through EMDRIA as an Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapist. She has worked in the field for over 15 years with a variety of nonprofits in both Fairbanks and Anchorage, and served the state of Alaska via the Therapeutic Courts and the Department of Health under both the Division of Behavioral Health and Senior and Disability Services. Michaela has maintained a private practice over the past year offering telehealth services to individuals and couples, and is excited to be expanding her practice to offer in person counseling options at Gold Star Longevity and Wellness.
Michaela is also a registered yoga teacher with an emphasis on yoga for mental health, instructor for Vermont State University’s graduate program for Clinical Mental Health, and board approved supervisor for professional counselor licensure. She combines her professional and personal experience with great care to provide well rounded therapeutic services to all she serves. While she specializes in addiction and trauma, she pulls from a wide range of modalities to meet each individual’s needs.
To ensure work and life balance, Michaela enjoys spending time with her brilliant husband Ed, creative daughter Zooey, and two cats Kendrick and Dave. Michaela loves comedy, live music, celebrating her body through movement, and being the favorite aunt to her niece and four nephews.
Certificates, Awards, and Affiliations
Certificates, Awards, and Affiliations
- Board Certified Obesity Medicine
- Primary Care
- Orthopedics