Symposium Committees
Oversight Committee

Symposium Co-Chair
(Bio)Osher Center for Integrative Health at Northwestern University

Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at Brigham & Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School; Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital
Program Committee

Committee Co-Chair
(Bio)Osher Center for Integrative Medicine at Brigham & Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School; Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital
Scientific Review Committee

Committee Co-Chair
(Bio)GW Resiliency & Well-Being Center, George Washington University
Members Meeting Committee
Attendee Experience & Engagement Committee

Committee Co-Chair
(Bio)North Shore University Health System, University of Chicago
Melinda Ring
Dr. Melinda Ring serves as Director of the Osher Center for Integrative Health at Northwestern University, and Clinical Associate Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Medical Social Sciences at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. She completed her medical training at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, and Fellowship in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona. At Northwestern, Dr. Ring directs medical trainee education and clinical and faculty fellowships in integrative medicine, founded the Cooking Up Health culinary medicine course, and researches nutrition and integrative strategies. She contributes to textbooks, research articles in the field of Women's Health and Integrative Medicine, has published several books on integrative medicine including The Natural Menopause Solution, and is a frequent contributor to news outlets. Dr. Ring also serves as vice-chair for the American Board of Integrative Medicine, on the Steering Committee of the Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine and Health, and on the editorial boards of the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine and Global Advances in Health and Medicine. In 2021 she received the Bravewell Distinguished Service Award, one of the highest honors in the field of integrative health.Scarlet Soriano
As Executive Director of Duke Health and Well-Being, Dr. Soriano leads a multidisciplinary team in systemwide innovation aimed at effectively addressing gaps in our healthcare delivery structures through health and well-being interventions that are grounded on health equity. Dr. Soriano is Co-Chair of the Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine and Health's 2023 Integrative Medicine Symposium. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine (AIHM) and a founding member of its Black, Indigenous and People of Color Committee. Dr. Soriano's work has centered on designing healthcare delivery structures that create conditions for deep personal transformation, grounded on self-efficacy and positive change-making, as the foundation for both individual healing and community transformation. Dr. Soriano is passionate about planetary health and weaving our personal and collective healing with the healing of our planet. She has a special interest in wellness-based group medical visits as critical aspects of healthcare redesign. Dr. Soriano is the former Director for Group Visits and Wellness-Based Healthcare Transformation at Boston Medical Center's Program for Integrative Medicine and Healthcare Disparities, and former Medical Director for the Tanya I Edwards Center for Integrative and Lifestyle Medicine at Cleveland Clinic. In her consulting work, Dr. Soriano supports organizations to rethink healthcare strategies through the lens of equity and whole person-whole community health.Belinda (Beau) Anderson
Dr. Anderson is Associate Dean and Professor of Allied Health at Pace University in the College of Health Professions (NY), and Associate Clinical Professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine (Bronx, NY). She earned her PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Sydney (Australia), her Masters in Higher Education from Teachers College Columbia University, and her Masters in Acupuncture and Chinese Herbal Medicine from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (New England School of Acupuncture). Her recent research focuses on implementing acupuncture in community-based clinics, educating clinicians in evidence-based medicine, and the use of Chinese herbs to treat COVID-19. Dr. Anderson was a member of the NIH National Advisory Council for Complementary and Integrative Health 2018-2021, serves as deputy editor for Explore: The Journal of Science and Healing, and is co-chair of the Research Working Group of the Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine. From 2009-2018 she maintained a Chinese medicine private practice at New York University Fertility Center and is an internationally recognized expert in the use of acupuncture to improve assisted reproductive outcomes. In 2020 Dr. Anderson completed the Duke University year-long Leadership in Integrative Health and Medicine program.Delia Chiaramonte
Dr. Chiaramonte is an integrative palliative medicine physician with extensive teaching experience in both integrative medicine and palliative medicine topics. She has created an inpatient and outpatient integrative palliative medicine program in a community hospital, and spent a decade as the Associate Director and Director of Education for the University of Maryland School of Medicine Center for Integrative Medicine. She currently teaches courses for the University of Maryland palliative care master's degree program, and the University of Maryland integrative health and wellness graduate program. She has authored several text book chapters on topics such as integrative pain management and support for families of ICU patients.Sian Cotton
Sian Cotton, PhD, is a licensed clinical psychologist and founding director of the Osher Center for Integrative Health at the University of Cincinnati at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. A Professor in the Departments of Family and Community Medicine and Pediatrics and the Turner Farm Chair, Dr. Cotton has an active research lab with ongoing clinical studies focusing primarily on mind-body interventions and integrative medicine practice-based research. In 2007, Dr. Cotton was awarded a K23 career development award by the National Institutes of Health to examine the role of spiritual coping and health-related quality of life in adolescents with a chronic illness. A former Board member for the Academic Consortium of Integrative Medicine and Health, she is often invited to speak with community organizations and businesses, healthcare audiences, and academics about mind-body medicine for stress reduction, and preventive and wellness-based approaches to healthcare. Dr Cotton served as Program Co-Chair for ICIMH 2020.Leigh Frame
Dr. Leigh Frame brings nutrition and immunity together through clinical, translational research. Her T-shaped expertise in health, wellness, science, and medicine was developed through her wide-ranging experience in biomedical research (from wet bench to clinical research) and overseeing research and education programs.Dr. Frame is building a GW Integrative Medicine research program while directing the graduate education programs and the Office of Integrative Medicine and Health. She is also co-founder and Associate Director of the GW Resiliency & Well-being Center. Her interests include the role of the microbiome and nutrition in health, the consequences of malnutrition in obesity, vitamin D as an immune-modulatory hormone, research ethics, and social media.
While working at the Johns Hopkins Center for Bariatric Surgery, Dr. Frame earned her PhD in Human Nutrition from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and received a Master of Health Science in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology from the same school. Dr. Frame earned Distinction in Biochemistry from Mary Baldwin College (now University).
Mikhail Kogan
Dr. Kogan received his medical degree from Drexel University, College of Medicine. He completed Social Internal Medicine Resident program at Montefiore, Albert Einstein School of Medicine and Geriatric Fellowship at George Washington University. Currently he serves as medical director of the GW Center for Integrative Medicine and associate professor of medicine in division of Geriatrics and Palliative Care.Dr. Kogan is founder and former executive director of AIM Health Institute, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area that provides integrative medicine services to low-income and terminally ill patients regardless of their ability to pay.
Geeta Maker-Clark
Dr. Geeta Maker-Clark is the Director of Integrative Nutrition and Advocacy at NorthShore University Health System and clinical assistant professor and co-director of the Culinary Medicine program at the University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine, one of the first culinary medicine programs in an academic center in the country. She is fellowship trained in obstetrics and maternal child health, and a graduate of the University of Arizona 2 year Fellowship in Integrative Medicine, under the supervision of Dr. Andrew Weil. Dr. Maker-Clark started the Food is Power program on the South Side of Chicago to empower middle schoolers with the knowledge and expertise around making great food choices, within a curriculum that focuses on decolonizing food and nutrition education. She is also the founder of the Food is Medicine CME symposium that draws over 250 people annually to Chicago to learn the latest in nutritional science as well as food education innovation. Dr. Maker-Clark was selected as one of twelve food justice activists for the Castanea Fellowship 2019-21 and is the 2021 Pollan Food Journalism Fellow at Mesa Refuge in Point Reyes, CA.Darshan Mehta
Darshan Mehta, MD, MPH is Assistant Professor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is the Director of Education for the Osher Center at Brigham & Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Medical Director of the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at MGH, and Director for the Office for Well-Being with the Center for Faculty Development at MGH. In addition, he is the MGH site director for the Practice of Medicine curriculum required of all 1st-year Harvard Medical School students and leads their well-being curriculum. His educational and research interests include curricular development in complementary and integrative medical therapies, mind/body educational interventions in health professions training, and promotion of professionalism in medical trainees.Dr. Mehta received his BA in Biology from Illinois Wesleyan University and an MD from University of Texas-Southwestern Medical School. He completed his residency in internal medicine at University of Illinois-Chicago Hospital. In 2008, he completed a clinical research fellowship in complementary and integrative medicine at the Harvard Medical School Osher Research Center, during which he received a Master of Public Health degree from the Harvard School of Public Health.
Dr. Mehta is active in the Massachusetts Medical Society, and is a member of the American College of Physicians and the Academy of Integrative Medicine and Health. Dr. Mehta is board-certified through the American Board of Integrative Medicine and has completed professional training in mindfulness-based stress reduction at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. He serves as the chair for the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force for the Academic Consortium Integrative Medicine and Health (ACIMH) and is on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Integrative and Complementary Medicine.
Samantha Simmons
Samantha Simmons, MPH is the CEO of the Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine & Health, responsible for the oversight and execution of all operations and strategy of the Academic Consortium. In this role, Ms. Simmons is the key catalyst to building the community of health centers, integrative health programs, scientific and business leaders within the field of integrative health to execute the mission and vision of the Consortium. Ms. Simmons is an accomplished leader in the field of integrative medicine with an extensive background in many facets of promoting transformation in healthcare through collaborative initiatives and strategic partnerships. She is passionate about health policy advocacy and driving utilization of models of whole person care for underserved populations and is the P.I. of the Whole Health in the States (WHITS), a grant initiative geared towards these goals.Megan Voss
Dr. Voss is an associate clinical professor in the University of Minnesota's School of Nursing and the director of education for the Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality & Healing. Her areas of clinical interest include adolescent and young adult cancer survivorship and mental health. Her research focuses on quality of life for patients with fanconi anemia.Anne Weisman
Dr. Anne Weisman is the Director of Well-Being & Integrative Medicine with Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV. She developed wellness and integrative medicine curriculum and workshops for the medical students, faculty and residents. Dr. Weisman earned her B.A., M.P.H. and Ph.D. degrees from University of Nevada Las Vegas. She spent 13 years caring for people living with HIV/AIDS, as well as volunteering and working in hospice. Dr. Weisman trained, certified and is also on faculty with the Center for Mind Body Medicine and uses many of these modalities and approaches in her work & throughout the community. She has taught Mind Body Medicine in the coroner's office, with police, fire, first responders and in elementary schools.Seneca Block
Seneca Block is a program developer and music therapist practicing with Connor Whole Health Institute. As a life long musician, he works to integrate aspects of music into medical treatment cultures, while further advancing both music therapy's evidence base and further uncovering the links between music and health.Susan Carter
Susan D. Carter is the Administrative Director at the Osher Center for Integrative Health at Vanderbilt where she has participated in shared strategic leadership and overseen operations since May 2009. Susan sees her role as helping to facilitate and hold a space for thriving which includes having a healing environment in which to work, resources for growth and development, and an atmosphere that promotes creativity, accountability and respect.Susan is a certified Reiki Master. She received her bachelor's degree in psychology from Wake Forest University and her Master of Management in Health Care from Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management. She is passionate about collective and individual healing and a heart-centered, meaning-based approach to work and leadership.
Tobi Fishel
Dr. Fishel is an integrative clinical and health psychologist and the GME Director of Residency Wellness for USC/LAC+USC at the University of Southern California. She is the co-founder of the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine (Vanderbilt) and co-developed the Distressed Physician Course at Vanderbilt University which incorporates emotional intelligence, narrative medicine and mindfulness. She is a consultant to integrative health centers, teaches integrative health to pediatric residents at USC and developed integrative chronic pain nature-based retreats. Dr. Fishel has a unique clinical practice where she incorporates self-compassion, creative arts, mindfulness, movement, depth psychology, spirituality, body-centered practices and the healing medicine of community, music, and the natural world. The guiding principles in her work are authenticity, meaning, and connection and she encourages a deepening relationship with the innate gifts of one's own soul.Rashmi Mullur
Rashmi Mullur, MD is a board-certified internist, endocrinologist, and integrative health practitioner. She is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the Education Lead for the UCLA Integrative Medicine Collaborative. She is also serves as the Chief of Telehealth at VA Greater Los Angeles where she led her health system in the transition to virtual care during the pandemic. As a yoga instructor and woman of South Asian descent, she has deep respect for the ancient wisdom and cultural heritage of traditional integrative approaches. Her clinical practice focuses on the pairing of mind-body techniques and digital technology in the management of diabetes and chronic disease.Terri Stone
Terri Stone MD, FACP, serves as Medical Director of "Fresh & Savory" Culinary and Lifestyle Medicine Shared Medical Appointment Teaching Kitchen Program at Medstar Institute for Innovation in Washington, D.C. She's a Georgetown University School of Medicine Mind Body Medicine and Creating Caring Communities group facilitator. Terri and teammates provide interactive culinary nutrition workshops for Integrative and Health Sciences Graduate Students, medical students in the Physician Wellbeing elective and HU residents. As a Wellbeing Champion, Terri leads several initiatives throughout the health system. She co-chairs the American College of Lifestyle Medicine Health Equity Achieved through Lifestyle Initiative (HEAL) .Daniel F. Gallego-Pérez
Daniel F. Gallego-Pérez, MD, DrPH, is a post-doctoral research fellow at the Program on Integrative Medicine at UNC-Chapel Hill. His research focuses on Primary Health Care and Health Systems strengthening, evidence and information synthesis and dissemination, and Therapeutic Pluralism (Traditional, Complementary, and Integrative Health and Medicine). He has been a consultant for the Pan American Health Organization / World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO). He was a co-founder of the TCIM Americas Network and the Virtual Health Library on TCIM. He is the current chair of the Integrative, Complementary, and Traditional Health Practices (ICTHP) Section of the American Public Health Association (APHA).Lisa Taylor-Swanson
Elyse Thakur
Dr. Elyse Thakur is a clinical health psychologist at Atrium Health in Charlotte, NC, in the division of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, where she has developed a GI psychology program. She collaborates with her colleagues at Wake Forest, which has recently merged with Atrium Health. She is involved in clinical care, teaching, and research. Her area of interests include psychogastroenteorlogy, integrative medicine, and mind-body therapies. She graduated with a PhD from Wayne State University in Detroit, MI, and went on to complete her predoctoral internship at Baylor College of Medicine and then a fellowship at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center. in Houston, TX. Dr. Thakur is passionate about integrative medicine and thinking creatively how to provide the best care possible for patients.Frances Baxley
I am a family physician with experience providing outpatient primary care services to diverse patient populations. I completed my residency in Family Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco and spent three years working for the Indian Health Service on the Navajo Nation after residency. I worked for 6 years at a Federally Qualified Health Center, where I was medical director and clinical faculty for a family medicine residency program. In my current role as a consultant in Integrative Medicine, I supervise medical students and residents affiliated with the University of Chicago.Irene Estores
Dr. Irene M. Estores serves as Medical Director of the Integrative Medicine Program at the University of Florida. She completed her Integrative Medicine fellowship at the University of Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine, the nationally recognized program of Dr. Andrew Weil, as a Bravewell Fellow. She completed her physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) residency training at the Sinai Hospital - Johns Hopkins Hospital Inter-institutional program in PM&R. She received her initial acupuncture training at the University of Miami Center for Complementary and Integrative Medicine and has applied this to the management of both musculoskeletal and neuropathic pain. She has worked at academic medical centers, federal hospital systems, and at a community outreach clinic. To expand her skills as a physician leader, she completed an Integrative Healthcare Leadership program at Duke University with its Center for Integrative Medicine and Fuqua School of Business. Dr. Estores is a member of the American Academy of Medical Acupuncture, the American Society for Clinical Hypnosis, and a Board Member on the American Board of Integrative Medicine.Her interest in integrative medicine grew out of self-exploration of other healing and belief systems, a spiritual practice of prayer, self-reflection and meditation, and a mindful experience of wanted and unwanted events in her life.. She considers her practice of medicine as a vocation and a spiritual path.
As part of her commitment to nurture her own body, mind, and spirit, she walks, keeps a daily prayer/journaling/ meditative reading practice, enjoys walks and hikes, cooks with her sons, and walks any labyrinth she can find.
Karen Fink
Licensed massage therapist, board certified holistic nurse specializing in medical massage and hospital-based massage providing patient, family, and staff-centered care across the lifespan. She co-creates therapeutic relationships with clients, combining therapies to match individual needs. Presents educational programming for health professionals, students, and the community, co-investigator in research projects, published author, presents at regional, national, international level, active in national professional associations and committees. Core values include prioritizing self-care, role-modeling/educating others about self-care, providing holistic presence, and, utilizing evidence-based modalities, multidisciplinary theories/conceptual models. Her intention is that heath care professionals fill their vessel first, so they can pour forth to others, without depleting themselves.Sonia Sosa
Family physician. Enjoys taking care of patients in all stages of life. Professional interests include integrative medicine, obstetrics, women's health, pediatrics, manual medicine, addiction medicine and care for underserved populations. Believes in providing collaborative, patient-centered care and incorporating evidenced-based integrative medicine. Focus within integrative medicine are nutrition, western herbs, mind-body medicine and manipulative medicine.Focused additional training on women's health and maternity care, pediatrics and integrative medicine. Developed expertise in providing primary care to patients with hypermobility.
A native of Normal, Illinois, enjoys working with ethnically and socioeconomically diverse populations. Speaks conversational Spanish and a smattering of Russian.