Board of Directors

President
Jim Ventresca, DOM is a member of the Ayurvedic Accreditation Commission. Dr. Ventresca served as a site visit team leader and subject matter expert for the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine from 1995 to 2001. A 1984 graduate and past faculty member of the New England School of Acupuncture and among the members of the first group of acupuncturists in the United States to achieve the status of board-certified Diplomate of Acupuncture, he was one of the first acupuncturists licensed in the state of Massachusetts and holds  a license in New Mexico as a Doctor of Oriental Medicine. In addition to practicing in busy clinical settings and teaching acupuncture and Oriental Medicine since 1984, Dr. Ventresca served as academic dean and full professor of acupuncture and Oriental Medicine at Southwest Acupuncture College. Dr. Ventresca is a co-founder of a publicly funded HIV/AIDS substance abuse treatment center and spent three years as the medical director for integrative medicine at HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Dr. Ventresca currently teaches acupuncture to healthcare professionals, as the director and principal instructor for AcuPracticeSeminars.com.

Treasurer
Pratima Kumar Musburger, JD, MPH, is an attorney and public health practitioner. Pratima has spent her career focused on addressing health inequities in underserved communities in both the United States and abroad. While her career path has focused on public health, she believes that her understanding of health and well-being have been strongly shaped by her study of both yoga and Ayurveda. She currently works for a California-based nonprofit organization, bringing systems and sectors together to advance health equity, and teaches yoga in the Ashtanga yoga tradition.

Secretary
Leslie Elliott, MPH, PhD, earned a PhD in epidemiology at the University of North Carolina, School of Public Health, and has worked in public health for over 25 years. Her research has focused on health outcomes and risks related to occupational and environmental exposures. Throughout her academic career, she has had substantial experience in programmatic and institutional accreditations in public health. Although she is formally retired from academia, she maintains academic positions at the University of Nevada, Reno, School of Public Health (Clinical Associate Professor Emeritus), Walden University’s Public Health PhD program (Contributing Faculty), and AIPH University in Bhubaneswar, India (Adjunct Faculty in Public Health). Leslie has had a passion for natural healing throughout her life and has studied and practiced herbalism for the past decade. She obtained Ayurvedic Health Counselor certification from the California College of Ayurveda and is completing clinical requirements for Ayurvedic Practitioner certification at Kerala Academy. She is excited to combine her professional experience in accreditation with her passion for Ayurveda to help the Board meet its vision and mission to advance Ayurvedic education in the U.S.

Alakananda Ma (Olivia Hudis), MBBS, AD is a graduate of St, Bartholomew’s Hospital Medical College, London University, and a NAMA professional member at the Ayurvedic Doctor level. She has been practicing and teaching Ayurveda since 1988. She has served for many years on NAMA’s Standards Committee and has been instrumental in creating national educational standards for Ayurveda. As principal of Alandi Ayurveda Gurukula, she teaches and develops curriculum for Alandi’s four-year full-time program, which is recognized by NAMA as a training course for Ayurvedic Doctors that meets quality standards set by experts in the field. She is dedicated to ensuring credible, high-quality, accredited Ayurvedic education in the U.S.

Rammohan Rao, PhD, CAP, RYT, holds a PhD in neuroscience and has worked as a research associate professor at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging on mechanisms of age-associated neurodegenerative diseases. His research focused on age-associated neurodegenerative diseases with special emphasis on Alzheimer’s disease. Presently, he serves as a principal research scientist at Apollo Health, which uses a systems-based, integrative approach to treating Alzheimer’s disease. Ram is a NAMA board-certified Ayurvedic Practitioner (AP), is recognized as a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) by Yoga Alliance, and teaches Ayurveda and yoga at the California College of Ayurveda.

Vaidya Anupama Kizhakkeveettil (Anu), BAMS, MAOM, FAIHM, C-IAYT, PhD, is an Ayurvedic Practitioner, licensed acupuncturist, Professor and Program Director of Ayurvedic Medicine at Southern California University of Health Sciences. Her contributions to the field of complementary and alternative medicine include extensive travel to propagate Ayurveda worldwide, numerous research presentations at national and international conferences, publications in various peer-reviewed research journals, and regular participation as a peer reviewer at conferences. She currently serves on the Research Working Group of the Academic Collaborative for Integrative Health and recently completed a NIH-funded research study. Many of her research papers have earned special recognition at the conferences where they were presented, and she has received a number of awards for her work on Ayurveda and complementary and alternative medicine. In 2020, she received Sheikh Zayed International Award for Ayurveda. She was also invited to attend WHO’s International Expert consulting meeting in 2019 and 2020. As an advocate for the Ayurvedic profession and the advancement of its goals, Vaidya Anu serves as boards of director of the California Association of Ayurvedic Medicine, a nonprofit devoted to furthering Ayurvedic education, research, and practice in California and the National Ayurvedic Medical Association (NAMA), an organization that represents the Ayurvedic profession in the United States and strives to promote the practice of Ayurveda nationwide. Previously, she completed six years of service as a member of the Action Board of the American Public Health Association (APHA), helping to coordinate grassroots and grasstops advocacy activities. She is also the President of the Athreya Herbs, a U.S-based provider of Ayurvedic herbal supplements, and one of the Co-founder of Athreya Ayurvedic Integrative Health Center.

Sivarama ‘Prasad’ Vinjamury, MD(Ayu), MAOM, MPH, is currently working as a Professor of Research at SCU, Whittier, California and is the Director of Capstone research. He also provides clinical services at the Students Health and Counseling Center at CSUF. He has been a principle investigator of studies on Fibromyalgia, Hypertension and Insomnia. Recently, he has been awarded a mini-grant to investigate the effects of acupuncture on chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy in breast cancer patients.

Trisha Swift, DNP, MS-MAVIM, MSN, RN, is a multifaceted healthcare leader, blending 25 years of experience as a strategic advisor, quality improvement professional, and integrative health practitioner. She is a Doctor of Nursing Practice and holds a Master’s degree in Maharishi Ayurveda & Integrative Medicine. Dr. Swift is the CEO of Mula Integrative Health & Wellness, a virtual care clinic specializing in Ayurvedic consultations, integrative wellness planning, rejuvenation therapies and retreats. Dr. Swift's management consulting career includes guiding Fortune 500 healthcare companies, health systems, and health insurers  through technology investments, digital care, and clinical transformations. She is an advocate for integrating traditional and complementary medicine into mainstream business models, spearheading initiatives and thought leadership on health equity, disease prevention, and food as medicine. Dr. Swift's dedication to holistic health drives her passion to advance and expand Ayurvedic Medicine nationwide. She's eager to leverage her regulatory accreditation expertise and enthusiasm for Vedic Science in her role as an AAC Board member. 

Advisory Council

Marilyn Allen’s journey into the healing arts of Traditional Medicine began over 35 years ago. She currently serves as part of the Allied Professional Insurance Company Board of Directors and teaches Career Development, Practice Management and Laws and Ethics courses in Acupuncture training programs. She is a registered lobbyist in the state of Arizona and is involved in legislative advocacy for Traditional Medicine.

In 2005, she was appointed as the delegate to the World Health Organization for Traditional Medicine. Marilyn is also involved with the Traditional Medicine Reference Group for Ayurveda Medicine, the Quality of Care and Patient Safety TAG, and the International Standards Organization, which gave her the opportunity to help create standards for herbs, herbal formulas, needle manufacturing and updated terminology.

John Kepner, MA, MBA, C-IAYT, served as the Executive Director of the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT) from 2003 -2020. He holds Yoga teacher and therapist certifications from the American Viniyoga Institute and a teaching certification from A.G. Mohan in Chennai, India, and was a practicing Yoga therapist and teacher for over 20 years. John has a professional background in economics, finance, and non-profit management. As such, his work for IAYT and his writings often included an economic and public policy perspective. With IAYT, John focused on organizing the organization’s practitioner and research conferences, developing educational standards for the training of Yoga therapists, providing accreditation for programs that met those standards, certifying individuals that met IAYT standards as well as cultivating collaborative relationships with the international yoga therapy community. He also led efforts to connect IAYT to the wider integrative health community, especially the Academic Collaborative for Integrative Health. 

Suhas Kshirsagar, BAMS, MD(Ayu), AD is a classically trained Ayurvedic Physician with over 30 years of clinical experience. He is a best-selling author, and motivational speaker and an acclaimed educator in the fields of Ayurveda and integrative medicine. He has traveled around the globe popularizing Ayurveda, yoga, meditation, and natural medicine. Dr. Suhas is a sought-after educator in the field of Ayurveda and has started numerous schools and designed curriculums for various universities. He is the chair of Mount Madonna College of Ayurveda and an associate professor at Maharishi International University. He has been featured in many popular podcasts, radio, and television shows. He is an adviser to the Chopra Center and is the director of Ayurvedic Healing Inc.

Administration

Executive Director
Lisa Cavallaro, PsyD, C-IAYT, is a licensed psychologist and holds a doctorate degree in clinical psychology. Lisa specializes in health psychology and behavioral medicine and is the former program director of a multidisciplinary wellness program within a regional medical center. In addition to her 25 years of private practice, she has taught masters and doctoral graduate courses in psychology and facilitated many educational and support groups.

She previously served as an accreditation specialist with the International Association of Yoga Therapists.

Dr. Cavallaro is also credentialed as a certified yoga therapist (C-IAYT) through the International Association of Yoga Therapists and is a faculty member at the Kripalu School of Integrative Yoga Therapy.