Health Concerns: Combining Modern Research & Ancient Wisdom



2016 Health Concerns Symposium: Integrative Approaches to Difficult Conditions - Guest Speakers 

Andrew Gaeddert, RH

President and Founder, Health Concerns


Andrew Gaeddert began his studies with master herbalists from both the United States and China. He is founder and president of Health Concerns, the first company in America to produce traditional Chinese formulas for professionals. In addition to being an internationally recognized authority on herbal medicine, Mr. Gaeddert is a lecturer and the author of numerous books.  He has contributed research and articles to publications such as Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, Acupuncture Today, Oriental Medicine, ASNY Journal and Meridian Times.

Since 1992, Andrew has been involved in researching the effects of herbs on gastrointestinal and immune disorders.  He has worked with the University of California, the University of Zurich, and NCCAM (National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine). Mr. Gaeddert assisted in the development of a double-blind clinical trial with HIV patients, a study that marked the first time an herbal formula was thoroughly evaluated in the U.S.  He served on the protocol team of a study to investigate the effects of Chinese herbs on chronic diarrhea, as well as an anemia study sponsored by the National Institute of Health (NIH) Office of Alternative Medicine. He was also regional coordinator for Citizens for Health, which was instrumental in the passage of DSHEA and saving Chinese herbs from extinction in the United States. In his professional practice, he has helped thousands of practitioners help their patients through the Herbal Helpline®. The Herbal Helpline® is a resource for practitioners to present their questions about herbs and patient treatment.

Donald Abrams, MD. 

Professor of Clinical Medicine at UCSF and Chief of Hematology / Oncology at San Francisco General Hospital


Donald Abrams, MD, is Professor of Clinical Medicine at the University of California San Francisco and Chief of Hematology / Oncology at San Francisco General Hospital. He provides Integrative Oncology consultations at the UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Medicine. He is co-chair of the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center’s developing program in Supportive Care.

He served as Assistant Director of the UCSF Positive Health Program at San Francisco General Hospital and was chair of the Community Consortium, a professional association of more than 200 primary care providers treating Bay Area patients with HIV. He conducted numerous clinical trials investigating complementary therapies in patients with HIV including therapeutic touch, Traditional Chinese Medicine interventions, medical marijuana, medicinal mushrooms and distant healing.

His interest in botanical therapies led him to pursue a two-year Fellowship in the Program in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona which he completed in December 2004. His particular passion in the field involves nutrition and cancer. Since completing his Fellowship, Dr. Abrams has been providing Integrative Medicine consultation to people living with and beyond cancer at the UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Medicine. He remains interested in conducting clinical trials in integrative oncology particularly investigating medicinal mushrooms, Traditional Chinese Medicine interventions and massage.

Dr. Abrams is the immediate past-President of the Society for Integrative Oncology. He has also been a member of various Education sub-committees of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. He has co-edited an Oxford University Press textbook in Integrative Oncology with Andrew Weil, MD. He was also named a Top Cancer Doctor in Newsweek‘s Special Health Issue on Curing Cancer, in the category of Medical Oncology (details).

Mark Frost

Faculty Council President, ACTCM Board of Directors

Mark Frost has been a licensed acupuncturist in the state of California for nearly 25 years.  Beginning his undergraduate work in agriculture, engineering and biological sciences at UC Santa Barbara and California Polytechnic State University, he later went on to receive a Masters in Traditional Chinese Medicine from the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine where he now is a professor.  Mark has been published and has presented on a wide range of subjects and his career has taken special emphasis on areas such as TCM approaches to HIV and hepatitis, acupuncture treatment of emotional and psychological disorders, internal medicine using TCM, the treatment of digestive disorders and musculo-skeletal disorders of the back and extremities.

Mark is currently the Faculty Council President and Faculty Representative on the ACTCM Board of Directors where he has also serviced as the Chair of the Department of Complimentary and Energetic Medicine.  He has maintained a private practice in the bay area since 1990.

Misha Ruth Cohen, OMD, L.Ac. 

Clinical Director, Chicken Soup Chinese Medicine

Misha Cohen, a Doctor of Oriental Medicine and Licensed Acupuncturist, is the Clinical Director of Chicken Soup Chinese Medicine, Executive Director of the MRCE Foundation, and Research Specialist of Integrative Medicine at the University of California Institute for Health and Aging, all in San Francisco. She is also an elected Fellow to the National Academy of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. She has been practicing traditional Asian medicine for the past 38 years. In Dr. Cohen’s years with Quan Yin Healing Arts Center, she has conducted herbal and acupuncture research. Her collaboration with Western physicians at San Francisco General Hospital in a double-blind placebo pilot clinical trial using Chinese herbal medicine for HIV+ persons led to the first peer-reviewed published study of Chinese herbal medicine for HIV (JAIDS, 1996).

Dr. Cohen was a co-investigator in five additional completed university studies: a peer-reviewed published study of herbal medicine for HIV-related symptoms at the Zürich University Hospital, Zürich, Switzerland (JAIDS, 1999) and was co-investigator with Dr. Donald Abrams of the UCSF AIDS Community Consortium in two studies related to HIV chronic diarrhea (peer-reviewed and published in Integrative Medicine, 1999) and mild to moderate anemia collaborated with Dr. Sue Dibble in an controlled acupressure study for nausea in breast cancer related chemotherapy and was the co-investigator with Dr. Naomi Jay in a pilot study of prevention of anal cancer using Chinese herbs. Dr. Cohen also was principal investigator in a Quan Yin study of the use of acupuncture in co-infection with HIV/hepatitis viruses. Dr. Cohen was the co-investigator at UCSF for an in-vitro study of mechanisms for a Chinese herbal formula widely used for in endometriosis and dysmenorrhea. She is currently the leading investigator on a University of California research team for a Phase II study of a topical herbal cream in treatment of HPV-related anal neoplasia to prevent anal cancer. She is a leading investigator on an herbal and acupuncture research team with MDs at California Pacific Medical Center in complementary treatment for people with hepatitis C. 

Matthew Bauer, L.Ac. 

Founding President of the Acupuncture Now Foundation


Matthew Bauer became a student of 74th generation Taoist Master Hua-Ching Ni in 1978 and began his practice as a Licensed Acupuncturist in California, USA in 1986. He has maintained a full-time practice over this time while also writing two books on the subject of acupuncture/TCM; one for the general public and the popular Making Acupuncture Pay written for Acupuncturists. He has also worked in the insurance industry helping to develop the first managed care plans for acupuncture. He is founding President of the Acupuncture Now Foundation, an international non-profit organization dedicated to educating the public, healthcare professionals, and health policymakers about the practice of acupuncture. From helping to open-up insurance coverage for acupuncture to writing a highly regarded practice building book to founding a charitable organization dedicated to increasing the role of acupuncture and acupuncturists in the West, Matthew has dedicated himself to helping the public and the acupuncture profession.

 

  • Quality Controls - Learn about our quality control
  • Find a Practitioner