Dr. Liz Twardon

Dr. Liz Twardon practices at Twardon Family Care in Asheville. Twardon grew up in a Polish immigrant family in Detroit, Michigan, speaking both Polish and English at home, in a household where nobody had gone to college but education was always prized.

Before medicine, Twardon spent years as a reporter for the Detroit News, starting as a shy 21-year-old intern when women were still rare in the newsroom. The beat ran from police coverage to housing and suburban sprawl, eventually front-page features, and it taught Twardon to talk with anyone, from children to Presidents.

A Rotary scholarship then sent Twardon to Calcutta, India for a year, a trip that changed everything. Volunteering at Kalighat with the ill and dying, and in a street clinic for the homeless, Twardon learned wound care from nurse volunteers and found that even a little focused attention could make a real difference in someone's recovery.