AI-PAMI Presenter Information

Beth Acampora, AP, is a licensed acupuncture physician in private practice, specializing in treatment for chronic pain, fertility, wellness & immunity enhancement. She is also the owner of Dao Life Tai Chi. She now teaches Tai Chi privately and has a YouTube Channel to share the many healing benefits of Dao Life Tai Chi & Qigong Meditation.

Manny Arciniega is on faculty at Levine Music in Washington, DC and works regularly with the Education Programs at the Kreeger Museum. As a percussionist, Manny has appeared in numerous award-winning musical theatre productions in the Washington, D.C. area, including performances at Roundhouse Theatre, Olney Theatre Center, Constellation Theater Company, Arena Stage, and Keegan Theatre. Manny received his undergraduate degree in Music Education and Theory Composition from Texas Christian University and Master of Arts degree in Timpani and Percussion Performance at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Dr. Bhanote, the founder of the Holistic Wellbeing Collective, is a quintuple board-certified physician and published author with expertise in Integrative Medicine and Anatomic/Clinical Pathology. Dr. Bhanote has additional certifications in Culinary Medicine, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Plant-Based Nutrition, and Yoga Medicine® where she applies a whole-body approach to healing. Her interests include nutrition and the microbiome, the role of stress and inflammation in disease manifestation, applying mindfulness as a lifestyle practice, and cancer and disease prevention.

Arts for the Aging teaching artist Peter Joshua Burroughs is a versatile singing actor who co-leads “La Movida” in addition to his signature “coOPERAtion" workshops. Dr. Burroughs has worked extensively with young and old alike as an engaging teaching artist for Arts for The Aging, Washington National Opera, John F. Kennedy Center, Wolf Trap Foundation, Spanish Dance Society, and Washington Concert Opera. He is a founding member of RÓMEZ3arts (Reach Out through Music, it’s E Z) a company dedicated to inter-cultural sharing and community building through arts. Peter holds a Bachelor of Music (BM) in Performance and Music Education from Ithaca College, Master of Music (MM), and Doctor of Musical Arts (DMA) degrees from The University of Maryland College Park’s Maryland Opera Studio.

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Christopher Brown is a bassist and multi-instrumentalist. Originally from the UK, he is established in Washington DC as a leading performer, session player, producer and educator, at home and internationally. His credits include renowned artists like Ron Holloway, John Mayer, Rev. Billy F. Gibbons (ZZ Top), Susan Tedeschi & Derek Trucks, and Brian Blade. Brown is a Musical Director, TV/film/video-game composer, and internationally renowned educator and music technologist, consulting or creating for Levine Music, the Field School, Bach 2 Rock (US) and leading European school the Academy of Contemporary Music (UK).

With over 40 years of training and experience as an educator, healing arts practitioner, and family caregiver, Catherine Cerulli has been devoted to relieving pain, anxiety, and suffering. In hospitals, medical schools, and community settings, she has served thousands of patients, as well as family and professional caregivers, through her engaging, empowering, evidenced-based instruction in integrative techniques that deepen self-awareness, support self-care, and increase confidence and competence.

Meg Chang is a lifelong dancer and practitioner of creativity and body-mind wellness. She currently teaches dance/movement therapy at Lesley University’s expressive therapies graduate program in both on-campus and distance learning programs. Her career as a dance/movement therapist and licensed creative arts therapist has encompassed years of private and group work with hospitalized psychiatric patients, housebound elderly, U.N. peacekeepers in Kosovo, and support groups for domestic violence survivors. She is a certified Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher and offers classes remotely through the University of Massachusetts Memorial Health Care Center for Mindfulness.

Dr. Stephenson is Associate Professor and Program Coordinator of Lesley University’s Art Therapy Program, and Faculty Fellow in Lesley’s Institute for the Arts in Health. As a Fulbright Scholar, she taught at Tallinn University in Estonia and continues as a guest lecturer. Committed to improving the lives of older adults through the arts, Dr. Stephenson’s clinical work and research focuses on the intersection of arts and aging, which she has taught and presented worldwide.

Dr. English is a an advanced practice nurse and is a credentialed pain practitioner with the American Academy of Pain Management. His experience includes pain management and neurology. He is a faculty member of the University of North Florida and a certified health coach. His passion lies in educating patients about self management and multimodal pain management options.

Dr. Estrella is a Professor at Lesley University’s Expressive Therapies and Mental Health counseling program. Dr. Estrella’s work has focused on developing competencies in expressive arts therapy as a unique specialization, multicultural issues in practice and supervision, and clinical case work in art therapy, music therapy, and expressive arts therapy. She also has an interest in the role of theory in practice and in developing an expressive arts therapy theory based in liberation psychology and critical feminist race theory. Dr. Estrella’s training in art therapy, music therapy, expressive arts therapy, and psychodynamic approaches to counseling and psychotherapy, as well as her clinical and research interests in multicultural issues in counseling, have led to a strong emphasis on social justice and social activism in Expressive Therapies.

Dr. Holton is an Instructional Assistant Professor in Department of Health Education and Behavior within the College of Health and Human Performance at the University of Florida. Kim received her Ph.D. in Health Behavior at the University of Florida, M.S. in Zoology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and B.S. in Ecology from the University of Georgia. She began studying yoga and meditation in 1998 and teaching in 2002. She has completed teacher trainings through Sivandanda, Nosara, and the Kundalini Research Institute and received her certification in yoga nidra through the Amrit Yoga Institute. Kim currently serves as the Associate Director for Teaching and Practice for UF Mindfulness and teaches regular classes throughout the community in Gainesville, FL.

Dr. Kossak is a Professor and former director in the Expressive Therapies program at Lesley University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. He is a licensed clinical counselor and registered expressive arts therapist and has presented his work and research on rhythmic attunement, improvisation, psychospiritual and community-based approaches to working with trauma at conferences nationally and internationally. He is also a professional musician, performing for the past 35 years in the Boston area.

Dr. Mann has been practicing in Pain Medicine since 2016 and has a passion for bringing the best care possible to his community. He enjoys fostering patient relationships built on trust and mutual respect. Skilled in advanced pain management interventions, ranging from ultrasound guided injections to nerve ablations and the newest forms of neuromodulation, he focuses on tailoring therapy and providing the right care at the right time. Dr. Mann is double board certified in Anesthesiology through the American Board of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine through the American Board of Medical Subspecialties. He earned his MD from Mercer University School of Medicine in Macon, GA and went on to complete internship in Internal Medicine through Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD.

Arts for the Aging teaching artist Deborah Riley is a life-long dance artist and practitioner of Laban Movement Analysis, the basis for teaching movement arts to people of all ages and abilities. In her capacity as artist-in-residence, faculty member, staff and co-director of Dance Place, she helped nurture the careers of thousands of dance artists, students and arts administrators. She retired as co-director of this legendary institution in 2017. As a dancer, choreographer, and educator, her career highlights include international touring with Douglas Dunn & Dancers, collaborative choreography with Diane Frank and director of Deborah Riley Dance Projects. Deborah’s Moving Affirmations workshops in partnership with community organizations in the Greater Washington D.C. region, helped to facilitate healing and recovery for women.

The Washington Post lauded Carlos César Rodríguez as a “powerful…virtuoso…masterful pianist”. As concert-pianist he made his recital debut in his native Venezuela at age 5, solo orchestral debut at 11, and Carnegie Hall debut at age 21. With the encouragement and collaboration of Maestro Plácido Domingo, Dr. Rodríguez implemented the Zarzuela Program (Spanish Operetta) for the Domingo-Cafritz Young Artists at Washington National Opera. Dr. Rodríguez is the Founding Artistic Director of RÓMEZ3arts, with which he’s built inter-cultural exchanges in Cuba and Costa Rica since 2016.

Dr. Stuart is the founder of Let Go & Grow® International and a holistic doctor in private practice, where she assists her patients in unlocking their own, intrinsic power to heal. Over the past twelve years, Dr. Stuart has worked with thousands of people through her online platform, speaking engagements and one on one in private practice.

John (Drew) Sturgeon is a fellowship-trained, licensed clinical psychologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine. He completed his PhD in clinical psychology at Arizona State University and postdoctoral pain psychology fellowship in the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative, and Pain Medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine. He has been extensively trained and continues to treat people with chronic pain using a combination of cognitive-behavioral therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and emotion- and meditation-focused approaches to pain management.

Kathryn Thomas is the founder of Yoga 4 Change. After being medically separated from the United States Navy in which she served as a Naval Aviator, she began studying to become a Yoga teacher through the Yoga School of Kailua (Kailua, Hawaii). Upon moving to Jacksonville, Florida, she witnessed the need for mental, emotional, and physical healing in her new community and started Yoga 4 Change to fill this void.

Shiva joined the Yoga 4 Change team in 2019, shortly after moving to Jacksonville and shifting gears from working in the nonprofit international development sector to the local nonprofit level. She is passionate about building Y4C's mission by bringing the benefits of our programming to anyone and everyone willing to give yoga a try! During her free time, Shiva enjoys cooking elaborate meals, gardening, traveling, DIY projects, and learning something new every day!

Darly Thoppil, owner and President of Revive Rehab, Inc. is extremely passionate about her work in the field of Occupational Therapy. She has more than 20 years of experience working in different settings such as inpatient, outpatient, school systems, assisted living facilities and skilled nursing facilities. Darly's true love and passion lie in neurological rehabilitation and pain management which led her to seek extensive training in Myofascial Release (MFR) Techniques and the Neuro-Developmental Technique (NDT). MFR is one of the most innovative, non-invasive, pain management techniques in the healthcare field today.

Dr. Weigel is a nurse practitioner specializing in neurological care in Jacksonville Beach, FL, where she brings a unique integrative medicine and holistic nursing perspective to her practice, First Coast Integrative Medicine. She has been a Multiple Sclerosis certified nurse since 2005, and an NP for over 20 years. She is also a board-certified Advanced Practice Holistic Nurse. She completed a fellowship in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona in the Fall of 2018 which complements her practice focus on wellness and holistic care.

Mrs. Michelle Wilson serves as Coordinator of Education, Training, and Community Engagement for the FAMU’s Medical Marijuana Education and Research Initiative (MMERI). She is responsible for coordinating statewide outreach initiatives and collaborating with all stakeholders under the auspices of the Executive Director, Dr. Patricia Green-Powell. Michelle is passionate about her role as the community advocate charged to educate minority communities about the use of medical cannabis and the unlawful use of marijuana. The FAMU MMERI program is the only program in Florida that the legislature mandated to conduct such an important and impactful community initiative.

Arts for the Aging Teaching Artist Marcie Wolf Hubbard has received numerous grants from the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County, along with other Art Councils to work in the community with children and adults, including individuals with special needs. Marcie has illustrated for magazines and books, as well as worked as a courtroom illustrator. Her encaustic (hot wax) paintings are featured in Encaustic in the Twenty first Century by Ashley Rooney, with foreword by Kim Bernard, Marcie is an instructor at Glen Echo Park, Yellow Barn Studios, The Smithsonian, and teaches art in her studio for children and adults. She received her B.A. from the University of Maryland in Studio Art and studied Fine Art & Illustration at the Maryland Institute, College of Art