I have researched Chinese culture and medicine for 40 years, and was originally trained as a sinologist at the Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago. Due to personal health challenges, I engaged in the full-time study of the clinical aspects of Chinese medicine in 1989. After several years of post-doctoral studies in Chengdu, I founded the College of Classical Chinese Medicine at National University of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon.
My interest in preserving some of the traditional features of Oriental medicine led me to develop a database dedicated to the archiving of classical knowledge, where a selection of my publications can be accessed at ClassicalChineseMedicine.org. My strong belief in the clinical efficacy of Chinese herbal medicine lead me to establish the Hai Shan Center, a clinic in the Columbia River Gorge specializing in the treatment of difficult and recalcitrant diseases. Out of concern over the rapidly declining quality of medicinals from mainland China, I founded the company Classical Pearls that specializes in the import of wild-crafted and sustainably grown Chinese herbs (ClassicalPearls.org).