Robert Schneider

Robert Schneider, MD, FACC, is Dean of the College of Integrative Medicine, Executive Director of Master of Science in Integrative Medicine and Ayurveda with Fellowship, Co-Director of PhD in Physiology and Health Program, Director of the Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention, and Professor of Physiology and Health. Dr. Schneider is an internationally recognized physician-scientist-educator and a leader in mind-body medicine and integrative medicine. He is a specialist in preventive medicine and preventive cardiology and is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology.

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He did his postgraduate training in internal medicine and hypertension at the University of Michigan Medical School. Beginning in 1984, Dr. Schneider was one of the first physicians in the United States to practice, teach and research Maharishi AyurVeda, an ancient and comprehensive system of prevention-oriented natural medicine. Over the past 30 years, Dr. Schneider had directed or co-directed more than $25 million in grant support from the US National Institutes of Health and other government agencies for clinical research on mind-body medicine, aging, and cardiovascular disease. The results of these studies have been published in 150 peer-reviewed articles, including those published by the American Heart Association, American Medical Association and featured in more than 1,000 television, radio, magazine, and newspaper reports, including ABC’s 20/20, CNN Headline News, the Discovery Channel, the New York Times, Washington Post, Newsweek, Wall Street Journal and Time magazine.

He has been a consultant to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Presidential Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine and the US Congress’ Prevention Coalition. Dr. Schneider is a frequent lecturer at academic medical centers, professional societies and public forums on four continents.

Based on his groundbreaking research and clinical experience, he authored the popular book: Total Heart Health: How to Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease with the Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health published by Turner Publishers in 2006.

Currently, Dr. Schneider is Professor and Director of the Institute for Natural Medicine & Prevention and Dean of the College of Integrative Medicine at Maharishi International University. He is Medical Director at the award-winning Raj Ayurveda Health Spa in Maharishi Vedic City, Iowa USA.

See the list of research studies conducted by Dr. Schneider and other members of the Institute for Natural Health and Prevention.

Paul J. Morehead

Paul J. Morehead, PhD, is an educator and practitioner of Maharishi AyurVeda. Dr. Morehead helped develop the undergraduate programs in physiology and health at MIU and taught many of the courses, including Self-Pulse Reading, Maharishi Yoga Asanas, Diet Digestion and Nutrition, Prevention, Human Physiology and Veda in Human Physiology. After completing his PhD in Physiology, Dr. Morehead began developing the MS in Maharishi AyurVeda and Integrative Medicine, working with leading Ayurvedic physicians from India. Curriculum Vitae >

Robert Keith Wallace

Dr. Robert Keith Wallace received his PhD in Physiology from the University of California at Los Angeles and did his postdoctoral research at Harvard Medical School. His seminal papers published in Science, the American Journal of Physiology, and Scientific American, showed that the Transcendental Meditation® technique produced a fourth major state of consciousness different than waking, sleeping, or dreaming. Dr. Wallace was the founding President of Maharishi International University and established the first Maharishi AyurVeda clinics in the United States. He is the author of Gut Crisis, The Rest and Repair Diet, The Coherence Code, and Total Brain Coaching. He is a professor and the Chair of the Department of Physiology & Health.

Liis Mattik

Liis Mattik, PhD, is a natural, holistic, preventive health care practitioner-educator-scientist. She has been teaching, training, educating, overseeing curricula, and consulting people in methods of Maharishi AyurVeda for more than 30 years in university and public sectors. Professor Mattik has been giving individualized recommendations for maintaining or improving health by utilizing pulse diagnosis, diet, digestion, nutrition, herbs, minerals, essential oils, color therapy, yoga asanas – body postures, pranayama – breathing therapies, prevention of disease, seasonal purification programs including panchakarma and the Transcendental Meditation® technique. She has been overseeing and developing the curricula for Maharishi AyurVeda Wellness Consultant Training.

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Professor Mattik loves to interact with students and teach them life-altering wisdom of our ancestors which has become scientifically verified in this age of modern science and technology. She enjoys seeing how students are benefiting from Maharishi AyurVeda – the Science of Life, and growing in happiness and health in their personal lives. Students have given her two awards for her efforts. Curriculum Vitae >

Carol Paredes, MS, is an integrative health coach, yoga teacher, and educator. She became a certified health coach after working more than 30 years in technology as a senior level engineer. Now she is responsible for managing the operations of the Department of Physiology and Health and assists in the development of the curriculum for the MS in Maharishi AyurVeda & Integrative Medicine and the MS in Aromatherapy and Ayurveda in addition to working on her PhD in Physiology in Health. Carol has a passion for helping clients, students, and staff integrate and benefit from the knowledge and practices of Maharishi AyurVeda.

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Carol graduated from Kaplan University with an A.A.S. in Computer Information Systems, (summa cum laude) and a B.S. in Software Development (summa cum laude) and an MS in Maharishi AyurVeda & Integrative Medicine from MIU where she was designated "Outstanding Student" within her graduating class. During her career as an engineer, she also became a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE), a Microsoft Certified Database Administrator (MCDBA), a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT), and a Certified Document Imaging Architect (CDIA).

Malte Hozzel

Dr. Malte Hozzel was born in Germany and received his PhD from Heidelberg University in comparative literature and linguistics. His interest in self-knowledge via meditation led him to study and research essential oils. Over the last 30 years, he has organized and participated in international Aromatherapy conferences and speaks about holistic aromatherapy at international conferences and seminars. He has published numerous articles, blog posts, and books on holistic aromatherapy.

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Dr. Hozzel's interest in the essential nature of plants took him on many journeys through numerous countries around the world, meeting with traditional healers and the greatest practitioners of Ayurveda. As a result, he founded the Ayus Essential Oils International company in Germany with the OSHADHI Aromatherapy line and then founded the Aromatherapy Seminar Center, Orto de Prouvenco, in High Provence/France in 1992.

Dr. Hozzel has also lectured on the TM programs in various European and overseas countries since 1972, established several TM-Centers and TM-Retreat-Academies in Germany, France, and Belgium, and published several articles and books on the collective transformation of modern society.

Sanjeev Kalra

Vaidya Sanjeev Kalra (BAMS, MD in Manas Roga), is an Ayurveda Medicine Physician and Specialist in Neuro-Psychiatry who has over 15 years of experience in Ayurveda clinical practice. He post-graduated from Sri Dharamsthala Manjunatheshwara College of Ayurveda and Hospital in Hassan, India. He also earned a master's degree in Hospital Management and Finance. He served as principal in several leading Ayurveda medical colleges in India where he taught master’s level students. He has been associated with the Maharishi AyurVeda Clinic and Hospital in New Delhi as Chief Consultant and also at Vidyasagar Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences in New Delhi.

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He was a visiting Senior Ayurveda Consultant at the Greek Institute of Ayurveda in Greece for many years. He is one of the few Ayurveda Neuro-Psychiatrists in India with a special interest in doing research on the effects of treating with Transcendental Meditation children who have autism, ADHD, or learning disorders. The treatment and research are conducted at his advanced Centre for Special Abled Children and Neuro-Psychiatry, called “Niramaya”, in Noida, India.

Amandeep Kaur Negi

Vaidya Amandeep Kaur Negi is an Ayurveda Physician whose practice includes Panchakarma and Marma therapy treatments. She has over 12 years of clinical and teaching experience. She earned her BAMS degree from a prestigious government college in Punjab, MHA (Masters in Hospital/Health Administration) from RGUHS, Bangalore, Karnataka; Post-Graduate certificate course in Panchakarma from Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India, and currently is pursuing a PhD degree from Maharishi International University. She has been practicing Maharishi AyurVeda since 2017. Currently, she is working as an Ayurveda Physician at the Integrative Wellness Center at MIU and teaches Maharishi AyurVeda in the Department of Physiology and Health.

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Over the past 12 years, she has been treating patients with diseases of acute to chronic nature, with detailed analysis through Naadi Vigyaan (Pulse Diagnosis). She has been successfully treating cases with metabolic disorders (like diabetes), skin disorders, musculoskeletal disorders, gastrointestinal disorders, mental health, pain management, etc. with Ayurvedic approaches including Herbs, Panchakarma, Agni Karma, Marma therapy, etc. She has a firm belief in a holistic approach to treating the body, mind, and soul.

She has been giving lectures, training sessions, and seminars throughout her career on promoting Ayurveda into the daily lives of many in residential societies, corporations, and schools in India. She has also been providing the public with basic Ayurvedic lifestyle recommendations and Ayurvedic management of diseases. She has been a visiting Ayurveda Physician in many Ayurvedic clinics in India, Europe, and the USA. Vaidya Amandeep's mission in life is to spread Ayurvedic wisdom around the world.

Roxanna Medeiros

Roxanna Medeiros, MS, spent 3 years as a senior graduate instructor and clinical mentor for students of the online MS in Maharishi AyurVeda and Integrative Medicine at MIU. As an academic, she has a deep love for learning and teaching others the value of this systematic and consciousness-based approach to health. For over a decade she cultivated her skill and passion of putting Ayurveda to practical use as an Ayurvedic counselor/practitioner, building successful practices in Santa Cruz, CA, and in Boulder, CO, where she was a lead consultant and spa director.

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Roxanna is continuing her own education with MIU at the doctoral level writing a thesis on Maharishi AyurVeda and its benefit to patients with cardiovascular disease in collaboration with the College of Integrative Medicine.

Sanford I. Nidich

Sanford Nidich received his BA Interdisciplinary Studies in Human Development, MA Interdisciplinary Studies in Human Development, and EdD in Educational Psychology, all from the University of Cincinnati. He has published more than 60 peer-reviewed articles. Curriculum Vitae >

Sangeeta Sharma

Dr. Sangeeta Sharma is the mother of two children, wife of a physicist, an Ayurveda Vaidya, MD (Ayurveda), PhD in Panchakarma, researcher, and academician. She comes from a rich Vedic cultural background and inherited strong values like sincerity, self-discipline, kindness, and gratitude. Her father inspired her to pursue Ayurveda, the holistic science of life and kindled the dream of representing Ayurveda at an international Level. Vaidya Sangeeta is a dedicated professional with 15 years of experience in practice and 5 years in teaching during postgraduate studies and a PhD in Ayurveda.

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She specialized in Panchakarma and successfully treated patients with a variety of ailments, including metabolic and lifestyle disorders. She is also certified in nutrition and health education and astromedicine and uses a holistic approach, including all the modalities of Maharishi AyurVeda. She is an avid learner and has attended many workshops and conferences to update herself on new developments and different approaches to treating disorders.

In her endeavor to share knowledge with others, she co-authored the first book exclusively on Vamana Karma (therapeutic emesis) in 2018 and has presented many papers and published many articles. She is passionate about giving back to society and has done a lot of work with NGOs and community development. She has conducted many camps and awareness programs to educate people on the Ayurveda way of living.

She has done her BAMS (Graduation) from Dr. BRKR Govt. Ayurveda College, Hyderabad, India, and was at the top of her class. Later she pursued her MD (Ayurveda) and PhD from National Institute of Ayurveda, Jaipur, India. She was All-India 4th Rank in post-graduate studies and All-India 2nd Rank in PhD entrance. She has done research on dyslipidemia in her MD (Ayurveda) and Hypothyroidism in her PhD. She is a Guinness Book of World Records holder for being the trainer and key participant in the “Largest number of people receiving Nasya therapy” during RAYM held at the National Institute of Ayurveda, Jaipur, on September 15, 2017.

Before joining Maharishi International University, she worked as Research Head for Vaishnavi Welfare and Charitable trust, an NGO in India, working on the management of malnutrition through Ayurveda, and as a Panchakarma Consultant in Guna Ayurveda, Hyderabad. She has a number of articles published both in India and International Journals and has presented many papers and talks on health to corporations.

At present, she is Director of Clinical Training for the MS in Maharishi AyurVeda and Integrative Medicine and Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology and Health at Maharishi International University and Consultant Vaidya at MIU's Integrative Health Center. Curriculum Vitae >

Dinesh Gyawali

Dinesh Gyawali, BAMS, PhD is a classically trained Ayurvedic Physician(Vaidya) and NAMA certified “Ayurvedic Doctor (AD)”. He earned his BAMS (Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery) from Tribhuvan University, Nepal in 2006 followed by a master’s in medical Anthropolpgy from the same institution in 2012. With a post graduate diploma in Social Health and Counseling from Macaquarie University, NSW, Australia, Dr. Gyawali earned the best research award for his outstanding PhD dissertation at MIU in the year 2017. Beloved by his students, Dr. Gyawali is also a recipient of “Excellence in Assessment Faculty Award” for three consecutive years from 2017 till 2019.

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With over 2 decades of experience in Ayurveda practice, education and research in countries like India, Nepal, Australia and the US, Dr. Gyawali is an eloquent speaker and true example of a ‘modern day healer’. An advocate of “Evidence-based Ayurveda”, Dr. Gyawali has published multiple peer reviewed articles in national and international publications. Dr. Gyawali has been featured as speaker in various forum of Ayurveda and Integrative medicine globally. He is one of the board of directors of National Ayurvedic Medical Association (NAMA) and an past-board member of National Ayurvedic Medical Association Accreditation Council (NAMAAC).

Michael Olmstead

Dr. Michael Olmstead has been professionally involved in health care for over 50 years, with an educational background in Anatomy & Physiology, Neuroanatomy, Histology, Microbiology, Embryology, Biochemistry, Organic & Inorganic Chemistry, and Physics. He also has a strong understanding of alternative health modalities, including certifications in Maharishi Ayurveda, Cranial Sacral (a branch of Osteopathy), and Maharishi Marma Therapies. He holds a Doctor of Dental Surgery Degree with Honors and has completed hundreds of hours of continuing professional development courses. He is licensed to practice in New Zealand, California, Iowa, the Pacific Islands, and is eligible by credential in 46 US States.

Anita Misra

Anita Misra is the chief consultant for the Doshi Center for Integrative Medicine in Los Angeles and Adjunct Professor of Physiology and Health. Anita is a vaidya. This designation is given to one who studies Ayurveda, the science of life, a branch of Atharva Veda. Anita completed her Bachelor in Ayurveda Medicine and Surgery in India and her Master’s in Integrative Medicine in the United States. She has been a sincere advocate of TM and yoga because on the level of consciousness, we are all one and our inherent potential is supreme health.

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She is the founder and director of the Nature Natural Ayurvedic Life-Care Wellness and Panchakarma Center in Bhubaneswar, India. She also has a line of organic products comprising herbs, oils, spices, cereals.

Anita currently lives in Folsom, California with her husband, 2 young daughters. She enjoys hiking the Sierra mountains and loves her garden with succulents, herbs and flowering plants.

Abraham Bornstein

Dr. Abraham Bornstein, a board-certified interventional cardiologist and Fellow of the American College of Cardiology, currently holds a faculty appointment as an adjunct professor of integrative medicine at Maharishi International University where he is working to reconcile the principles of allopathic medicine with the essential fundamental teachings of integrative medicine, and specifically Maharishi Ayurvedic Medicine. Prior to this, he was an Assistant Professor of Science Education at Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine, a newly established medical school with a unique experimental medical curriculum.

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His educational area of interest includes the use of multimedia to enhance medical education, content development, medical curriculum development, and medical education research. Before that, he formerly held the position of Assistant Professor of Public Health and Assistant Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College.

As a specialist in preventive cardiology, valvular heart disease, and adult congenital heart disease, as well as health information technology, he developed telemedicine-based applications in order to improve healthcare delivery and practical personal health education for underserved medical communities in the New York tri-state area. This included medical education geared toward the members of the lay population that may find themselves functionally illiterate when it comes to healthcare and/or health (medical) terminology.

At Weill Cornell Medical College, he had been extensively involved in many areas of graduate medical education including training the pediatric house staff, medical house staff, and cardiology fellows. During this time, he also taught the Problem Based Learning (PBL) course, the Medicine, Physicians and Society (MPS) course for the first year and second-year medical students, as well as evidence-based medicine as part of the Public Health educational curriculum for medical students at Weill Cornell Medical College. He has also served on the board of evidence-based medicine at the New York Academy of Medicine.

Dr. Bornstein earned his medical degree at Tufts University School of Medicine, graduating Cum Laude in 1973. From 1973 to 1978, he went on to do his subspecialty training in Internal Medicine, followed by a Cardiology Fellowship, at The Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts. After formally completing his cardiovascular training, he did an extra year of cardiovascular research in the areas of electrophysiology, pacemaker insertion, and congenital heart disease, spending time on the pediatric cardiology service as well.

Upon completion of his training, Dr. Bornstein joined Cardiology Associates of Fairfield County PC, a private practice consultative cardiology group, where he became a principal partner and practiced invasive/interventional cardiology for 20 years, from 1978-1998. During that time, he was instrumental in the establishment of the Heart Institute at St. Joseph Medical Center in Stamford, CT where he was appointed Associate Director. While in clinical practice, he served as a member of the Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield Medical Advisory Committee. He also served as a member of the Connecticut Hospital Association Panel of Clinical Excellence in Cardiology, where he was intimately involved with the establishment of clinical guidelines and other quality of care initiatives.

After leaving private practice, Dr. Bornstein trained in cardiac positron emission tomography (PET) at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in 1999, and Nuclear Cardiology at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center in 2000. He has more than 30 years of clinical practice experience in both the private practice setting, as well as in the academic environment. Throughout his career, he has participated extensively in the medical education process, believing this to be the cornerstone for achieving ongoing clinical excellence. He has been the recipient of numerous teaching awards.

In recent years, he has focused on the use of information technology to facilitate medical education, patient care, and to provide access to medical information at both the professional and lay levels. He has also developed content for the medical school curriculum, as well as for CME and teleconferencing. Yearly, he is responsible for the entire Adult Congenital Heart Disease curriculum for the Cardiology Fellowship Training Program at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York City. He also has expertise in invasive/interventional cardiology as well as noninvasive cardiac imaging, including nuclear cardiology, cardiac positron emission tomography, cardiac ultrasound, cardiac CT and MRI. He has published papers in peer-reviewed journals as well as chapters in textbooks in his areas of expertise.

Kenneth Walton

Dr. Walton’s interest in research on “the chemistry of life” began in high school. He went on to complete a bachelor’s degree in zoology with a minor in chemistry at the University of Georgia where he developed an interest in the chemistry of brain function. In 1970 he completed doctoral training in Molecular Biology at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee (Major Advisor, Sidney Fleischer) investigating the relationship between energized transport and morphological changes in mitochondria. This was followed by postdoctoral training in Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience in the laboratory of Paul Greengard, Department of Pharmacology, Yale University School of Medicine.

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This research training focused on the mechanism of effects of hormones on transport of ions across biological membranes. His second postdoctoral training experience, in Psychobiology, mentored by Ross Baldessarini at the Psychiatric Research Laboratories, Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital, focused on possible relations between neurotransmitter-stimulated cyclic-AMP generation, functional neural development, and psychiatric health.

Before joining the faculty of Maharishi International University in 1979, Dr. Walton was Instructor in Psychobiology at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Cell Biology Laboratory at McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts. Research during these years involved the development of cyclic nucleotide mediated functions in brain tissue from fetal rodents and in brain cell cultures derived from the fetal rodent brain.

At MIU, Dr. Walton established the Neurochemistry Laboratory and was founding chairman of the Department of Chemistry. Research in the Neurochemistry Laboratory centered on changes in hormones and neurotransmitter metabolites related to stress and on the effects of the Transcendental Meditation technique on these changes. Some of these hormonal changes relate to risk factors for heart disease and stroke.

In 2000, Dr. Walton joined the Center for Natural Medicine and Prevention at MIU and fulfilled a five-year program as Senior Postdoctoral Researcher focusing on clinical studies of components of Maharishi Ayurveda for cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Dr. Walton is currently Associate Research Professor (Adjunct) in the Department of Physiology and Health at MIU where he advises graduate dissertation research, and Senior Investigator in the Institute for Prevention Research. His latest focus is on metabolic effects of the Transcendental Meditation and TM-Sidhi programs and on gene expression effects related to aging, stress, and disease. Dr. Walton lists over 100 scientific publications and presentations.

Charlotte Bech

Charlotte Bech graduated as a medical doctor from the University of Copenhagen. She has worked as a surgeon in Gentofte Amtssygehus in gastrointestinal surgery, and as a medical doctor in the area of hematology at the most renowned referral hospital in Denmark (Rigshospitalet), and in the field of internal medicine/obstetrics in Tennessee, in the USA. She taught at a medical school in Copenhagen for several years and is currently managing a private clinic in Copenhagen, Denmark, supplementing modern medicine with Maharishi Ayurveda, and has given more than 30,000 ayurvedic consultations.

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She writes as a columnist in several national magazines and is the author of several books on topics of ayurveda. She is a presenter to the government in Denmark and has been selected as the foremost representative of ayurveda from Denmark to India where she has collaborated with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She is Vice President for the European Ayurveda Medical Association (EURAMA) and has been awarded the PANACEA international excellence award from Vanaushadhi Vidyapeetha, International Conference on Ayurveda and Holistic Healing, from Government of Maharastra, India.

Charlotte teaches courses for other medical doctors on Maharishi Ayurveda. She holds the degree Doctor of the Science of Creative Intelligence and has taught the Transcendental Meditation® technique to almost 1,200 people.

Tim Carr

Dr. Tim Carr, MBBS, graduated in medicine with honours at Sydney University in 1976 and completed postgraduate studies in ayurveda at the MIU Institute of Ayurveda Studies, Iowa, USA, and the Gujarat Ayurveda University, Jamnagar, India from 1984 to 1985. He furthered his studies at the World Centre for Ayurveda, Delhi, India and the Maharishi Vedic University, Holland. Dr. Carr has been integrating Maharishi Ayurveda in his medical practice since 1985. He has worked with some of the foremost ayurvedic physicians of India.

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He has lectured Australia-wide and has conducted training courses in Maharishi Ayurveda for doctors and health care professionals. He has authored and co-authored several articles on Maharishi Ayurveda which have been published in reputed medical journals including the International Clinical Nutrition Review.

From 2002 to 2008 Dr. Carr served as Expert Advisor on Ayurveda to the Complementary Medicines Evaluation Committee of the Australian Government's Therapeutic Goods Administration. He is currently President of the Maharishi AyurVeda Association of Australia, and National Director and CEO for Maharishi Foundation Australia.

Marc Edwards

A native of Seattle, Dr. Edwards graduated from the University of Washington where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, earned his MD degree from the University of Colorado, trained in Family Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, and later completed an MBA at the University of Connecticut. 30 years of his career was focused on healthcare management and consulting including service as the senior physician executive in both community and university teaching hospitals. He operated a federal Patient Safety Organization conducted healthcare management research to help physician leaders improve quality and safety.

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Dr. Edwards has also studied and practiced Maharishi Ayurveda since 1984 as an outgrowth of his practice of Transcendental Meditation. In 2017, he relocated to North Carolina from Connecticut. He now lives in Chapel Hill and contributes as adjunct faculty to the Integrative Medicine program at the University of North Carolina.

Charles R. Elder

Charles R. Elder MD, MPH, FACP received his MD and MPH degrees from Boston University School of Medicine, and completed residency training in internal medicine at the University of Michigan hospitals. He has served as a primary care internist at Kaiser Permanente Northwest (KPNW) for 28 years, and has been the physician lead for the complementary and integrative medicine program at KPNW for 20 years. In this capacity, Dr. Elder offers a referral based integrative ayurvedic clinic for Kaiser patients, advising patients in the areas of diet, exercise, herbal medicine, mind-body practices, and other complementary medicine modalities.

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He has also provided leadership in shaping and implementing policy related to management of chiropractic, acupuncture, naturopathy, and other complementary medicine benefits. Dr. Elder holds a Senior Investigator appointment at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, where he has served as principal or co- investigator on a range of federally funded studies evaluating mind-body and other complementary medicine interventions in the setting of chronic disease management.

He also has a clinical faculty appointment at Oregon Health and Science University, and for over 2 decades has mentored and taught residents and students in both internal and integrative medicine settings.

Christoph Streicher

Dr. Christoph Streicher holds a Master's degree in Biochemistry from the University of Wurzburg, Germany, and a PhD in Physiology from Maharishi International University. He was mentored in aromatherapy by France's world-renowned Jacques Paltz, a foremost authority on using essential oils both internally and externally for healing, and in skincare. He also studied with a number of well-known Indian Ayurvedic physicians, learning the time-tested therapeutic use of essential oils for increasing vitality and balance.

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In 1989, Christoph founded Amrita Aromatherapy, Inc. Being an outspoken advocate of the importance of essential oil purity to guarantee therapeutic benefits, he personally researches, sources and conducts gas chromatograph analysis on essential oils. With his background in biochemistry and human physiology, he is in an ideal position to evaluate essential oil chemistry in relation to therapeutic effects. He conducts product development not only for Amrita Aromatherapy but for a large number of other companies.

He teaches aromatherapy certification classes to nurses and other health professionals. He also travels internationally speaking on the art and science of aromatherapy. His special field of study is the self-regenerating influence of plant intelligence on human consciousness, specifically how pure essential oils can enhance higher states of consciousness.

From 1996–2000, he served on the executive committee of The National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy (NAHA), a non-profit educational organization dedicated to promoting aromatherapy education and the benefits of true aromatherapy. He is a professional member of NAHA.

Duane Szczepanski

Dr. Szczepanski was born in Darby Pennsylvania. He earned his BS in Chemistry from Emory College of Emory University and was made a member of Phi Beta Kappa in recognition of high attainments in liberal scholarship. He earned his MD degree from the University of Tennessee in Memphis, Tennessee, and proceeded to his residency in Anesthesiology at the Emory University Affiliated Hospitals in Atlanta, Georgia. He was board certified in Anesthesiology a few months after completing his training and retains this certification as a consultant in Anesthesiology.

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He joined a private practice group of anesthesiologists in Fort Lauderdale, Florida where he practiced for many years until 2008 when he began to practice as an independent contractor doing Locum Tenens work which brought him to numerous temporary assignments in the states of Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

He learned Transcendental Meditation in 1994 and was so enamored of the practice that he became a Sidha in 1995. He began the study of Ayurveda shortly thereafter and participated in numerous Maharishi AyurVeda courses over the ensuing years. He has studied Jyotish and graduated from a Vedic Astrology course based in India in 2011 with a level one certification. He completed the Transcendental Meditation Teacher Training Course in February 2014 and currently teaches TM in St. Augustine, Florida. He resides part-time in Maharishi Vedic City in a Sthapatya Veda townhouse.

As a lover of languages and international travel, he speaks fluent Spanish and is currently learning French. He has studied Sanskrit, the language of nature, in the past as well.

Meredith Hart

An avid student, practitioner, and teacher of consciousness, embodiment, and holistic medicine with focused attention on these subjects since 1997, Meredith holds several degrees and certifications including four Yoga Teacher Certifications (three 200-hour and one 700-hour), an International Yoga Therapist Certification, a Japa Meditation Teacher Certification, a BA in Transpersonal Psychology with an Emphasis in Yoga Therapy & Somatics, a Postgraduate Certificate in Western Herbalism, and an MS in Maharishi Ayurveda & Integrative Medicine.

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Meredith is heavily informed by Maharishi's philosophies, teachings, and practices of natural medicine, yoga therapy, and somatics where she has over 10,000 hours of training and several thousand hours of experience.

She serves her full-time Maharishi AyurVeda and Yoga Therapy practice with multimodality approaches to pain & stress both in online programs as well as where she lives in Marin County, California.

Margaret Mullins

Margaret Mullins is a pediatric and family Nurse Practitioner. Throughout her career, her primary focus has been on the health of women and children. She has provided clinical care in both large urban teaching hospitals and rural Public Health. She became one of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s “Pioneers of Ayurveda” in 1985, working in the Maharishi AyurVeda Medical Center of Washington, DC. For over several decades, she has continued to promote Maharishi AyurVeda with her current position being US Director of the Healthy Happy Mother-Baby program. Margaret co-authored the book Blissful Baby Healthy and Happy Pregnancy with Maharishi AyurVeda. She currently serves on the board of the Maharishi Peace Palace in Boone, NC.

Sylvia Rivera

Sylvia Rivera is a healthcare advocate and professional consultant, with 20 years’ experience in health education, organizational leadership development, and a capacity building at the local, state, national and international level of engagement. She has had collaborations with New York Hospital & Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center as Program Coordinator, West Harlem Environmental Action & Columbia University Center for Children’s Environmental Health as Director of Health Awareness and Education, The March of Dimes as National Manager of Community Programs, and The Association of Junior Leagues International as Board Governance Membership Consultant.

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Sylvia brings knowledge and experience in the performance of Maharishi Yoga Asanas, highlighting the underlying principles in Vedic Science which support the practice. She expounds an easy, relatable teaching of Vedic knowledge including Ayurvedic principles for self-care, Maharishi Yoga Asanas, and aromatherapy.

She first shared her passion for Vedic Science and Maharishi’s technologies of consciousness as a TM teacher at the TM Center in NYC and has since managed organizational activities as Director of Programs and Community Engagement, David Lynch Foundation’s Quiet Time Program; Co-Director of the Downtown Chicago TM Center; and is the National spokesperson/translator for TM’s Spanish language website.

Sylvia is currently the Director of the Aventura TM Program and the TM Center for Women in Miami, Florida.

Sylvia has a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Psychology from Hunter College of the City, University of New York, and a Master of Arts in Vedic Science from Maharishi International University

In the past eleven years since graduating from MIU, Sylvia has cultured her practice and led speaking engagements promoting the Transcendental Meditation technique and Maharishi’s technologies of consciousness from boardroom to classroom, fostering a consciousness-based approach to health, educating and mentoring folks from all walks of life. She is also a professional astrologer.

Ruchi Sharma

Vaidya Ruchi Sharma has vast experience studying and practicing Ayurveda after completing her Bachelor’s in Ayurvedic Medical Sciences from Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, India. Ruchi comes from a medical family and developed a passion for pursuing a career in treating ailments since high school. Vaidya Sharma has relied heavily on Ayurveda to treat patients with depression, stress, anxiety, and gynecological diseases to name a few, and all her patients have experienced great recoveries from their ailments following her purely Ayurvedic treatments. She has also worked as a self-employed Ayurvedic Medical practitioner in India and had a close liaison with Patanjali Chikitsalya, a leading Ayurvedic brand in India.

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Currently, Vaidya Sharma is teaching clinical courses in the Maharishi AyurVeda Integrative Health Center and also teaching herbology courses for MIU students.

Her personal mission has always been to share the knowledge and expertise of Ayurveda to help people lead a life devoid of many ailments.

Andrew Stenberg

Andrew Stenberg has more than 20 years’ experience performing 11,000 Ayurveda consultations. He also has teaching experience as a senior lecturer at Maharishi Vedic College in Melbourne, Australia. In his private and corporate practice, Andrew often uses essential aroma oils therapeutically, along with the many different approaches found within Maharishi AyurVeda. He also has several years of experience teaching self-pulse reading, and his courses are known for their depth and informal approach. Andrew will train students in Maharishi AyurVeda Pulse Diagnosis.

Physiology & Health Department

Programs offered

Faculty

Robert Schneider

Paul J. Morehead

Robert Keith Wallace

Liis Mattik

Malte Hozzel

Sanjeev Kalra

Amandeep Kaur Negi

Roxanna Medeiros

Sanford I. Nidich

Sangeeta Sharma

Dinesh Gyawali

Michael Olmstead

Anita Misra

Abraham Bornstein

Kenneth Walton

Charlotte Bech

Tim Carr

Marc Edwards

Charles R. Elder

Christoph Streicher

Duane Szczepanski

Meredith Hart

Margaret Mullins

Sylvia Rivera

Ruchi Sharma

Andrew Stenberg

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