Introducing Myself
Acupuncture has been an aspect of my academic and hospital-based medical practice (pediatrics, pediatric anesthesiology and critical care, complex pain management) since earning my Master’s Degree from the New England School of Acupuncture (1996). My initial motivation to pursue acupuncture education came in part from a desire to provide additional pain and symptom relief for the many HIV-1 infected and seriously ill children and adult AIDS patients served by what was then Boston City Hospital.
That same desire, to better understand and treat especially the neurological complications of HIV-1/AIDS, led to a mid-career research training fellowship at the Bethesda Maryland campus of the National Institutes of Health (2000-2007). I then came to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (2007-2012) to study how HIV-1 and other triggers of neuroinflammation affect special populations of brain and nerve cells.
I established a private practice of acupuncture after leaving academic and hospital-based medicine in 2012. My continuing acupuncture education has included: completing the 300-hour International Structural Acupuncture Course for Physicians sponsored by Harvard Medical School (2015) with advanced training in structural approaches (2015-2016); a 12-month course in Classical Japanese Acupuncture sponsored by Tri-State College of Acupuncture (2016-2017); serial online courses on Kiiko Matsumoto Style Acupuncture (2023-2025); and continuing medical education seminars for physician acupuncturists sponsored by the American Academy of Medical Acupuncture.
Although my academic clinical medical work was predominantly with pediatric patients, my office-based medical acupuncture patients are adults of all ages, from younger individuals in late adolescence to those approaching their ninetieth birthday. It has therefore been essential for me to complete continuing medical education courses (in person and online) covering topics in Internal Medicine and specialty areas particularly relevant to the range of disorders affecting my patients.
Additional information on my professional background and publications are available by clicking the following link to my curriculum vitae. I am a licensed physician (MD433698) and acupuncturist (PAK000115) in Pennsylvania.