Former Faculty

Carissa Cheung is a California-licensed, and NCCAOM-certified acupuncturist.  She has a private practice in Fremont, CA. She specializes in Womens Health, Pain Management, post stroke/surgery recovery, and gastrointestinal disorders.  In her leisure time, Carissa enjoys hiking, cooking, and gardening.  She is capable of communicating in English, Mandarin, Cantonese, Fujianese, and some Japanese.

In private practice since 2000, Rachel Farber has been passionate about helping people live comfortably in their bodies and supporting them to make vital lifestyle choices. Her specialties include women’s health and mental-emotional health, including disordered eating, depression, addiction and hormonal imbalances.

Rachel Farber received her BA from Wellesley College in 1988 and MS from the American College of Traditional Chinese Medicine in 1999. She studied independently with Efrem Korngold, co-author of Between Heaven and Earth, during and after her formal studies and considers him her mentor. She has also studied acupuncture in Japan. Rachel is also a bodyworker since 1992 and has taught massage and Asian bodywork in several massage programs. She is also a mother of two, a dedicated practitioner and teacher of yoga, and a passionate seasonal food cook.

LeTa Jussila, is a graduate of Five Branches University and has also studied at the Zhejiang Chinese Medical University in Hangzhou, China. She has a diverse background and holistic approach to medicine. LeTa owns Optimal Health and Fitness, a Santa Cruz based company focusing on integrating breath and connection to nature through physical movement and has a private practice, The Santa Cruz Center for Traditional Medicine in Santa Cruz, California, where she practices integrative medicine. She specializes in sports injury, metabolic syndrome, weight loss and food as medicine. LeTa has had a very high success rate with helping men and women lose weight, eliminate food allergies and learn how to exercise properly. In her free time, LeTa is a documentary filmmaker, classical violinist and world traveler. LeTa teaches Career Development in the Department of Complementary Studies.

Faculty at Integrative & Sports Medicine Center, Former Associate Scientist at Amgen Inc., Former Research Assistant at University of California, Davis, Former Research Assistant at Stanford Univeristy.

Jean Vlamynck has been cultivating her energy with Qigong and Taiji for over 25 years. She began her private practice as a Certified Massage Practitioner in 1987, with treatments including polarity energy work. She graduated with a Masters of TCM from Five Branches and became a California licensed, nationally certified acupuncturist in 1992. As part of the first Five Branches post-graduate program in China, Jean completed four months of studies at Zhejiang Chinese Medical University in Hangzhou, China, which included studying with Qigong and Taiji masters. In 1999, she attained her Master’s degree in Medical Qigong from the International Institute of Medical Qigong, and since then has been teaching and treating with Medical Qigong. Jean initiated and co-founded the Medical Qigong program at Five Branches. Jean has been in private practice since 1992. In her free time she enjoys hiking and swimming. Jean Vlamynck teaches in the Departments of Complementary Studies and TCM Clinical Training.

Janice Walton-Hadlock received her Master’s in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Doctorate in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine from Five Branches University, and her B.A. in Biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is the founder of the Parkinson’s Recovery Project (www.pdrecovery.org), a non-profit organization that provides free information about the latest findings regarding the cause and treatment of Parkinson’s disease from the perspective of Asian medicine. She is a founding member of the Parkinson's Treatment Team of Santa Cruz, and a member of the European branch of the Parkinson’s Recovery Project, the Parkinson Stichting of Amsterdam, also a non-profit. Both the Treatment Team and the Stichting focus on treating people with Parkinson’s disease and training health care practitioners in the use of techniques she developed. Janice is an active researcher in the field of Parkinson’s disease. Her findings have been published in many journals, including the peer-reviewed American Journal of Acupuncture, and the Journal of Chinese Medicine. Her analysis of a Parkinson’s drug study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine’s correspondence section. Janice is the author of four books: Trouble Afoot, a book about the underlying causes of idiopathic Parkinson's disease and the effective treatment for this disorder (published by the Parkinson’s Recovery Project, 2008, 690 pages), Medications of Parkinson’s or Once upon a Pill (Parkinson’s Recovery Project, 2003, 650 pages), Tracking the Dragon, a classroom text on advanced channel theory (published by Fastpencil.com, 2010), and Yin Tui Na: Techniques for Treating Dissociated Injuries (published by Fastpencil.com, 2012). All are available at www.pdrecovery.org Janice’s specialties include channel theory, scar tissue work, and Yin Tui Na. In her private practice, she primarily treats movement disorders, including Parkinson’s disease. Her other long-term interests include Western medicine, modern physics and chaos theory, and raja yoga practice and theory. Janice Walton-Hadlock teaches in the Department of TCM Clinical Training.