After graduating in philosophy in my native Italy, I started graduate study in philosophy of medicine. This is how I discovered Chinese medicine, a medical system that did not struggle with the same constraints as ‘our’ medicine. In time, I moved from my intrigue over the philosophical underpinnings of conventional medicine to those of Chinese medicine. This led naturally to practicing both herbal and manipulative medicine, specifically shiatsu. On this path I found myself seven years in Taiwan and China, studying modern and classical Chinese and learning from doctors through clinical observation.

I became accustomed to grappling and dancing with the sometimes radical cultural differences. From that time until now I continue to translate and interpret Chinese medicine topics between Chinese and English. I am an editor for the Journal of Chinese Medicine and am based in Germany. I travel regularly for my clinical work, and to teach shiatsu through the European Shiatsu School in Brighton, UK and Tainan, Taiwan.