About Me

I was working on my doctoral thesis when I first tried acupuncture for fatigue, brain fog, and memory issues. And I fell in love -- not just with acupuncture, but with Traditional Chinese Medicine!

I had never before experienced the sense of well-being that acupuncture sessions gave me, but it was the way TCM explained conditions and their treatment that really captured my imagination. As much as I loved studying sophisticated theoretical and methodological issues (from social psychology to statistical techniques), I fell hard for the combined rigour and responsive flexibility of TCM theory.

And it seems a lot of my research and educational background in health and health systems carries over into my work as a health care provider.

Delivering evidence-based care requires more than a superficial understanding of research methodology and study design, while studying and teaching about provider-patient relations informs and supports my patient-centered approach. Hands-on experience in designing, implementing, and reporting scientific studies makes for more reliable interpretation and application of study findings in integrating TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) with biomedical approaches and treatments. This is particularly important for fertility support.

As a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto, I received doctoral-level training in research methods
Research team member on several large-scale, multi-million-dollar studies of health outcomes and health systems
CIHR research fellow (a Canada-wide competitive fellowship) in Primary Care reform
Member of the CARB (Canadian Alliance of Regulatory Bodies) committee developing the educational standards for accrediting acupuncture schools across all of Canada
15 years of teaching experience in the university classroom, and developed and taught a course for the TCMP programme at Humber College -- the first Chinese medicine clinical training program delivered by a publicly-funded educational institution in Ontario.
I hold a double-major (Honours) in both biological and social sciences from McMaster’s multidisciplinary (and famously competitive) Arts & Science programme, including a full pre-med science curriculum

I have extensive post-graduate education and training in:

Japanese and Chinese diagnostic and acupuncture techniques
TCM Gynecology (fertility, menstruation, pregnancy and post-partum conditions, menopause, IVF/IUI support)
Pediatric TCM (acupressure and herbs -- we don't needle children)
Orthopedic treatment of muscle, joint, and bone conditions; sports injuries
Internal medicine (headache/migraine, digestive issues, insomnia, metabolic conditions, high/low blood pressure, high cholesterol, auto-immune disorders, UTIs and cystitis, chronic conditions)
External medicine (allergies, skin conditions, alopecia & hair loss)
Micro-systems acupuncture
Psycho-emotional conditions (anxiety, stress, depression, ADD/ADHD, and addiction)

I have 10 years of clinical TCM and acupuncture experience treating:

Menstruation, fertility, pregnancy and post-partum care, menopause
Male reproductive health (fertility, varicocele, prostate, urinary)
Chronic UTIs and cystitis
Allergies and susceptibility to colds; chronic sinus issues
Pediatric issues (from infants to adolescents)
Pain (headache of any type, herpetic neuralgia [shingles], neurogenic pain)
Anxiety, stress, depression, mood swings, ADD/ADHD, concentration and memory
Alcohol and smoking cessation, weight management and dietary counselling
Musculoskeletal conditions and sports injuries (sciatica, back/neck pain, knee pain, tendinitis, frozen shoulder)
TMJ, grinding/clenching, jaw pain
Digestive and metabolic disorders (blood pressure, high cholesterol, anemia, diabetes)
Chronic and autoimmune disorders (Lupus, sarcoidosis, mastocytosis, chronic idiopathic thrombocytopenia, alopecia, psoriatic and rheumatoid arthritis, eczema and psoriasis, multiple sclerosis)
Skin and hair conditions (acne, hair thinning/loss, varicosities and broken blood vessels)