Department of Physiology & Health

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 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).

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.

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.

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 >

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.

My expertise lies in academic leadership, curriculum design, and community engagement, allowing me to drive forward the mission of consciousness-based education with both proficiency and passion. I am currently pursuing a PhD in Physiology and Health, building upon my foundational knowledge gained from an MS in Ayurveda & Integrative Medicine from MIU, and a BS in Psychology from the University of Vermont.

My career journey has encompassed many diverse roles which all have helped me develop my leadership and organizational skills. My path stated in the United States Air Force where I honed my leadership and technical skills, earning recognition for outstanding performance and contributions to mission success. There, I found I had a passion for working with people. I volunteered my time as the “Booster Club” President where I worked to maintain the wellbeing and morale of soldiers and their families through times of high deployments. To better serve the people around me, I became certified as a Sexual Assault Victim’s Advocate and Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention counselor. This later led me to serve as a Suicide Prevention and Crisis Intervention Counselor at the Vermont National Guard, providing crucial support on the suicide hotline and ensuring the safety and well-being of soldiers, veterans, and their families. I wanted to be able to do more for those in need and this drove me to pursue higher education which is what brought me to MIU.

Upon graduating from the MS in Ayurveda & Integrative Medicine program, I was hired as a developer and instructor of the Life and Wellness Coaching Track at the same institution, I crafted and delivered a comprehensive curriculum focusing on holistic development, empowering students with practical skills in wellness coaching. Later, I was promoted to Assistant Program Director and then Program Director of the BA Ayurvedic Wellness and Integrative Health Program. Here I have had the honor to pick up the torch of fostering an inclusive educational environment that highlights the unique qualities of each of our students.

My experience also extends to managing successful annual conventions at SC Horror Convention. Alongside my husband, we work to bring a family friendly and inclusive weekend full of fun. Working alongside local artists, vendors, businesses, and nonprofit/charity organizations such as the Trevor Project, we have helped to gather a community of people who all share a love of pop culture and all things spooky. We also use this platform to promote anti-bullying and consent messages to help make our community, and the wider world, a better and safer place.

On my “days off”, I like to spend time with my husband, children, pets, and plants in my garden.

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.

Mahmooda’s professional journey includes serving as the Director of Training and Education for a prominent dental laboratory in New England, where she developed curricula and educational seminars for new dental technicians and delivered lectures to dentists to enhance collaboration between dental practices and laboratories. After a 16-year career hiatus to focus on raising her family, she returned to academia as a graduate instructor for the MS in Aromatherapy & Ayurveda at MIU.

Currently, Mahmooda is the Co-Director of the MS in Aromatherapy & Ayurveda. She teaches courses in Maharishi AyurVeda, Vedic psychology, wellness coaching, and entrepreneurship training. Alongside her academic role, she is a Certified Professional Aromatherapist and Maharishi Ayurvedic Wellness Practitioner helping women with hormonal imbalances achieve harmony through the principles of Maharishi AyurVeda and aromatherapy with a touch of Vedic psychology.

Vaidya Manohar worked directly with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi for three decades. He was trained by, and worked with, world experts such as Vaidya Balraj Maharishi, the world’s leading expert in Dravya Guna, Rajvaidya Brihaspati Dev Triguna, the world’s leading expert in Nadi Vigyan, and Vaidya V.M. Dwivedi, former Vice-chancellor of Jamnagar Ayurveda University, the world’s leading expert in Ayurvedic mineral and metal preparations. He was mentored by two great dignitaries of Ayurveda in India: PR Krishna Kaumar Varrier (Founder Ayra Vaidya Pharmacy and premium Ayurveda Center at Coimbartore and NPP Namboothiri MD Sreedhareeyam, Kerala, Koothattukulam (Ayur Eye Ophthalmology Institute.)

Vaidya Palakurthi is an expert in Keraleeya Panchakarma and Maharishi’s consciousness-based Panchakarma. He was a clinical director of the chronic disease eradication program in the US under the guidance of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. He is a certified consultant and teacher of Maharishi Aromatherapy (France), a certified expert in Marma and Varma therapy from Kerala, and is trained in Ayurvedic Netra Kriyas (ophthalmology).

Vaidya Palakurthi is a founding technical director of MAPI (Maharishi Ayurveda Products International) Ayurved products – India. He is one of the founding Clinical Directors of the Raj, Fairfield, IA. He was also the clinical director of the Panchakarma programs in Lancaster, MA, and Pacific Palisades, CA. He was the clinical director for Maharishi AyurVeda Center in Japan. He researched and formulated 100 Ayurvedic products in Italy. He introduced the Veda Herbal program in the US. He received the Maharishi Award six times and the Dhanwantari award twice by AAPNA and MERU. He also received the Teacher Appreciation award and Lifetime Achievement award from Maharishi International University in 2018. Vaidya Manohar is the first professor to teach Maharishi AyurVeda as an integrative medical approach for medical students in Curacao and St. Martin medical colleges.

Vaidya Palakurthi earned his Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS), an integrated Indian Degree in the medical field. This degree program is conferred to those students who studied modern medicine and traditional Ayurveda. His PhD dissertation was in object validation of Maharishi Nadi-Vigyan and co-factors of cholesterol, insomnia, and state of mind.

Vaidya Sangeeta is a dedicated Professional Practicing Ayurveda since 2007 and had done 5years of teaching during her PG and PhD in Ayurveda and now teaching in MIU since 2021. 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 Ayurveda & 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 >

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Dr. Gowrishankar's research work, centered on preventing cardiovascular events in the elderly with kidney dysfunction, was presented at the American College of Physicians (ACP) national meeting in San Diego and the Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM) national conference in New Orleans. She worked on patient safety and quality program at Case Western Reserve University Hospital, where she trained pre-med student volunteers, focusing on the prevention of hospital readmissions and incident delirium in the elderly population to enhance cognitive and functional independence.

In addition to her extensive clinical and research background, Dr. Gowrishankar is dedicated to promoting integrative health and delivers presentations that seamlessly blend Ayurvedic wisdom with contemporary healthcare practices. She holds an MS in Ayurveda & Integrative Medicine and is currently pursuing a PhD with a focus on perimenopause.

Her vision for the future is to bridge the gap between traditional Ayurvedic wisdom and modern medical science to create a truly integrative approach to healthcare. She aspires to empower individuals, particularly women navigating perimenopause and menopause, to achieve optimal health and well-being through personalized, evidence-based interventions. Through education, clinical practice, and research, she is committed to nurturing a healthcare paradigm that respects Ayurvedic wisdom while embracing scientific innovation enhancing the quality of life for individuals and communities worldwide.

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.

His work has taken him across Europe, the Middle East, and Russian-speaking countries, sharing his profound knowledge and expertise with diverse audiences.

In 2014, Vaidya Vyas joined the Maharishi Ayurveda Clinic in Bad Ems, Germany, further expanding his clinical practice. Since 2021, he has been a part of Maharishi International University (MIU), offering virtual lectures and clinical supervision in aromatherapy & Ayurveda.

His academic training encompasses diverse disciplines, including Medical Physiology, Electrophysiology, Hematology, Neurobiophysics, Cellular Biophysics, Radiation Biophysics, and Medical Physics.

Dr. Pathak is currently expanding his expertise through the Medical Neuroscience Certificate Course offered by Duke University, USA, via Coursera. Over his career, he has taught Physiology at several universities in India and Malaysia. In October 2022, he joined MIU to teach Anatomy, Physiology, and Pathophysiology I & II for the MS in Aromatherapy & Ayurveda, reflecting his commitment to advancing education in integrative health sciences.

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.

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.