After graduating in 1983, I moved back to New York City and built a successful practice out of my apartment. Acupuncture wasn't yet legal in New York, but most of us practiced anyway. When that came to an end, I used a friend's gift to study Chinese Herbal Medicine at Xi Yuan Hospital in Beijing. It was life-changing. I became an herbalist. Around the same time, I began scribing for my teacher Ted Kaptchuk in Philadelphia — and when a colleague offered to refer patients, I said yes to that too.

I moved to Philadelphia in 1989 and have been here ever since. My practice in Mt. Airy grew quickly, and when other practitioners started asking me to fill their herbal formulas, I said yes — and China Herb Company was born.

In 2004, I moved into Center City, bought and renovated a building, and started fresh. Then a community acupuncture movement began to take shape nationally. Moved and a little critical, I decided to open an affordable clinic myself. In 2013, with no business plan and no budget, I rented a space in the newly developing Grays Ferry neighborhood and opened Six Fishes Neighborhood Acupunctureon credit cards. It grew from zero patients to nearly 700 treatments a month.

In 1996, colleagues asked me to teach a Chinese Herb program — and of course, I said yes. What started as 300 hours eventually became a 660-hour program with clinical training, which I brought to regional and national accreditation at TAI Sophia Institute in Maryland. In 2013, I founded the Chinese Herb Department at the Won Institute of Graduate Studies.

When the pandemic hit in 2020, I founded China Herb Seminars to help practitioners stay confident prescribing herbs through telehealth. I've since created courses on Ophthalmology, Gynecology, Hypercholesterolemia, Upper Respiratory Disorders, and Pediatrics.

I’ve written nearly 100 blogs on the topic of Chinese Medicine, nutrition, recipes and stories. Many of which live here.

In 2008, I began studying Classical Medicine with Dr. Huang Huang from Nanjing. That led to co-authoring a 660-page clinical textbook on Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Disorders — a project that took four years and covers 66 diseases.

I’ve been honored to be a featured contributor in the Journal of Chinese Medicine three times.

Over the past 35 years, I’ve created numerous Chinese herbal formulas. Each one was deisgned to solve a problem: Ear Clear, Nose Clear, Cough Cooler for children. Left Metal Bitters for reflux. PND for post nasal drip. A series of foot soaks for broken bones, tendon inflammation and many more.

After teaching a course in Pediatrics, I created a suite of glycerin-based formulas for kids called Little Fishes Formulas.

The final puzzle was what to do with a practice I'd spent decades building. After some discouraging conversations with private equity firms, I found a better answer: in 2026 Six Fishes transitioned to a worker-owned cooperative, giving the staff a real ownership stake with only a small personal investment. Right livelihood in practice.

Now I'm dividing my time between Philadelphia and Portugal. I'm available for telehealth year-round and see patients in person during scheduled clinic weeks in Philly. And if you need care in between, Six Fishes welcomes you.