THE NBCC BOARD
The independent standard-setting body for the non-invasive, non-medical body contouring profession — advancing consumer safety, practitioner accountability, and educational integrity.
WHO WE ARE
As body contouring services expand worldwide, the absence of consistent standards has left consumers without a reliable way to identify qualified, vetted practitioners. The NBCC was established to close that gap through rigorous education standards, mandatory practitioner screening, enforceable ethical guidelines, and a verifiable national registry — formalized through the National Board Certified Body Contouring Credential (NBCBCC).
Our Mission
To establish and uphold professional standards that protect consumers and verify practitioner competency in non-invasive, non-medical body contouring services.
Core Objectives
Governance
The NBCC operates under the direction of an independent governing board and advisory council drawn from healthcare, education, business, wellness, and the body contouring profession. This independence is intentional: unlike device-seller certificates issued by companies with a financial interest in equipment sales, NBCC credentialing answers to no manufacturer and serves only the public and the profession.
Commission Responsibilities
Public Protection Is Paramount
The protection of the public is the Commission's highest priority. Whenever the protection of the public conflicts with any other interest, the protection of the public shall prevail.
LEADERSHIP
Meet the Founding Board
The strength of any credential rests on the integrity and expertise of the people behind it. The Commission is governed by an independent board of professionals from medicine, education, technology, and business — none of whom sell devices or hold a financial stake in the equipment practitioners use.
Judy Caspe
Founding Chair, Treasurer & Director of Education
Judy Caspe founded the NBCC after more than two decades building and leading accredited vocational education. As founder and director of an accredited, state-approved vocational institution, she has spent her career developing in-depth training programs and professional standards, bringing institutional rigor and real-world relevance to the NBCBCC.
She is a California-licensed Esthetician, Electrologist, Barber, Cosmetologist, and Manicurist, a Registered Massage Therapist and Associate Trichologist, a California Department of Environmental Health–approved Bloodborne Pathogen Trainer, and an Associate Skin Care Professional. She holds a Master Certification from the Nutrition Therapy Institute and is a Certified Toxicity and Detox Specialist, and is the former host of Spa Talk LA. Her mission is to make affordable, meaningful education accessible — education that leads to lucrative, in-demand careers in the personal services industry.
Igor Risis
Chief Technology Officer & Commissioner of Digital Infrastructure
Igor Risis is a technology leader with over 20 years of experience driving digital transformation, cloud architecture, and AI innovation across healthcare and enterprise environments. He recently led the full technical execution of a major corporate divestment, migrating all infrastructure from a large parent company with zero business disruption while reducing costs and consolidating onto a more efficient cloud platform.
As the Commission's Chief Technology Officer, he leads the credentialing platform, national registry, and verification systems that make every NBCBCC credential digitally verifiable and transparent to consumers. His focus is aligning technology strategy with real-world outcomes: secure infrastructure, AI implemented at scale, and systems consumers and practitioners can trust.
Kathy Palatnik, MD
Chief Medical Officer & Physician Commission Advisor
Dr. Kathy Palatnik is a licensed physician who trained in general surgery and is a Board Certified Wound Specialist Physician (CWSP) based in the Los Angeles area, with more than 15 years of medical experience. Prior to medical school, she worked as head preservationist on the UCLA Heart and Lung Transplant Team, a rewarding role that served as a prologue to her future medical career. A graduate of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, she pursued her general surgery residency at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center and currently serves as Surgical Specialist at Advantage Surgical and Wound Care in El Segundo, California.
As the Commission's Physician Advisor, she provides the medical oversight that anchors NBCBCC standards for contraindications, client safety, and scope of practice in sound clinical judgment — defining the boundary between safe non-invasive practice and the practice of medicine. She speaks English, Spanish, Russian.
Natalia Blandon, MSN, APRN, FNP-C
Commissioner, Clinical Wellness Advisor
Natalia Blandon brings advanced clinical expertise to the Commission as a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner and Registered Nurse based in Miami, Florida. Nationally certified through the American Association of Nurse Practitioners Certification Board (AANPCB) and licensed as an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse in Florida, she specializes in metabolic health, medically supervised weight management, and preventive medicine — disciplines that sit directly alongside the body contouring practitioner's work.
Practicing within a concierge wellness model, she delivers evidence-based obesity medicine, including GLP-1 therapies, alongside individualized plans integrating nutrition, hormone optimization, and behavioral health. As an independent medical voice on the board, she reinforces the Commission's commitment to drawing a clear, clinically sound line between non-invasive body contouring and the practice of medicine.
Daniel O'Brien
Secretary & Commissioner, Accreditation & Compliance
Daniel O'Brien serves as Secretary of the Commission and advises on accreditation standards and institutional compliance. The principal of his own New York-based firm, he brings deep experience in university and vocational school accreditation standards, as well as a background in federal financial aid compliance — helping ensure that the NBCBCC's policies and procedures are structured to withstand scrutiny and meet the expectations of regulators, partners, and the practitioners who hold the credential.