Vasant Lad, M.A.Sc.
Ayurvedic Physician and Executive Director

Vasant Lad brings a wealth of classroom and practical experience to the United States. A native of India, he served for three years as Medical Director of the Ayurveda Hospital in Pune, India. He was Professor of Clinical Medicine at the Pune University College of Ayurvedic Medicine for 15 years. He holds a Bachelor’s of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAM&S) degree from the University of Pune and a Master’s of Ayurvedic Science (MASc) degree from Tilak Ayurved Mahavidyalaya. Vasant Lad’s academic and practical training include the study of Allopathy (Western medicine) and surgery as well as traditional Ayurveda.

Beginning in 1979, he has traveled throughout the United States sharing his knowledge of Ayurveda. In 1984 he came to Albuquerque as Director, principal instructor and founder of the Ayurvedic Institute. Vasant Lad is the author of numerous books and respected throughout the world for his knowledge of Ayurveda. Vasant Lad is the author of 11 books on Ayurveda as well as hundreds of articles and other writings. With almost 500,000 copies of his books in print in the US, his work has been translated into more than 20 languages.

Vasant Lad's Biographical Data
A Compendium of Vasant Lad's Published Works
 

Sandra Aumiller, LMT, NTS

Sandra assists with the ASP 2 Applied Skills and supports the Ayurvedic Correspondence course. A graduate of the Ayurvedic Studies Program at the Ayurvedic Institute in 1994, a licensed massage therapist and Natural Therapeutic Specialist, Sandra maintains a private practice that includes Ayurvedic consultations, panchakarma therapies, and craniosacral bodywork.

She has served as a therapist in the Panchakarma Department since 1997, and has assisted and conducted training in various Ayurvedic therapies and integration of Ayurvedic knowledge to employees and numerous students who have attended programs at the Ayurvedic Institute including Pulse Reading, Herbology, and Advanced Hands-On Techniques.

Jennifer teaches ASP 1 Foundational Skills, ASP 2 Review Class, and supervises the Student Clinic. She completed the Ayurvedic Studies Program 1 in 2003 and ASP 2 in 2004.

She has studied Vedic philosophy and Ayurvedic cooking closely with Swami Vidyadhishananda Giri since 2000. In her private practice as an Ayurvedic consultant, she brings to the table Breema, Massage Therapy, Yoga Therapy, and Pranic Healing. She has also worked as an Ayurvedic Post-partum Doula and EMT.

Tim’s yoga training began in the Ashtanga Vinyasa and Iyengar traditions. He has studied for the past 10 years with Tias Little and Prajna Yoga, and has completed 4 levels of his teacher training. Also, Tim has studied the chanting and philosophy of the Yoga Sutras with Sonia Nelson at the Vedic Chant Center. In September 2010, he completed a month-long training, “The Heart of Yoga”, at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram in India and in 2012 he graduated from the Ayurvedic Institute. 

Tim is a Licensed Massage Therapist and has had a private practice for many years. He currently teaches the ASP 1 and assists in the ASP 2 Ayuryoga class.

Simon teaches ASP 1 and 2 Sanskrit as well as ASP 2 Medical Jyotish. He was born to Bulgarian immigrant parents in Phoenix, AZ, where he attended Arizona State University. Dissatisfied with a French major, he turned to Ayurveda in 1998 and, with Jyotisha, began his study in the Vedic sciences.

Simon has studied Vastu Shastra, Sanskrit, Jyotisha, and Ayurveda, and worked professionally as a fitness consultant and Ayurvedic massage therapist. He has traveled extensively, and speaks four languages, in addition to studying and teaching Sanskrit.

Lisa assists with the ASP 2 Applied Skills and serves as a therapist in the panchakarma department. She completed the Ayurvedic Studies Programs 1 and 2. Her enthusiasm, encouragement to others, and love for continued personal study of Ayurveda is a real asset to Institute students, staff, and her clients.

Currently she provides Ayurvedic consultations with the public.

Dr. Michael Gadway joins the Ayurvedic Institute Faculty having spent the past 20 years studying and practicing the science of natural health and Ayurveda. A graduate of St. Lawrence University, he went on to earn his Master’s degree in Natural Health. After working in the health field for 10 years, he went back to school and became a Chiropractic Physician at the University of Western States. He currently is the attending physician at Red River Health and Wellness center of Albuquerque, NM specializing in auto-immune and endocrine disorders and is in a graduate program for a Master’s degree in Nutritional Science and Functional Medicine. He teaches Western Physical assessment at the Institute to prepare students for further training with Vasant Lad.

Nomi teaches a number of courses at the Institute including ASP 2 Ayurveda Assessment, Applied Skills, and Ayurvedic Review. She is also a Clinic Supervisor at our student clinic and coordinates the development and implementation of seminars and intensives.

She began her study of Ayurveda in 2003 with training in Panchakarma, working three years in a Panchakarma facility. In 2008, believing it was time to engage fully in Ayurveda, Nomi entered the ASP 1 program to study with Dr. Lad. A graduate of ASP 2 as well as the Pune Gurukula program, she has specialty training in women's health and perinatal Ayurveda.

Maria E. Garre,
M.Ed, E-RYT-500

 

Maria teaches Ayuryoga in the ASP 2 programs as well as YTT. Maria is dedicated to a life-long study, practice, and teaching of both Yoga and Ayurveda; continuing over 20 years of study in Medical and Biological Sciences, Philosophy, Ayurveda and Yoga.  Her teachings offer a grounded yet transformative approach to living, being, and embodying Yoga.

Blending the knowledge she has gathered from her studies and yearly pilgrimages to India, Maria leads dynamic and liberating classes that embody the alchemy of all these disciplines. Along with teaching at the Institute, Maria travels internationally leading retreats, workshops, and teacher training programs throughout the world.

Dr. Sharada Hall teaches Ayurvedic nutrition, Herbalism, and Ayurvedic Materia Medica. She graduated from the Ayurvedic Institute in 1993 and from Southwest Acupuncture College in 2000. As a Doctor of Oriental Medicine specializing in Ayurveda, she has operated her private practice in Santa Fe, NM since 2000.

Dr. Hall traveled to India and Nepal in 1995 and in 2000 and apprenticed with Tibetan physicians, assisting in their clinics by performing acupuncture. Dr. Hall also publishes an online natural health magazine devoted to Ayurveda at Bodhimed.com.

Sunny is the student clinic manager at the Ayurvedic Center for Healing, Life and Longevity and is a member of the education curriculum team at the Ayurvedic Institute. She has been a dedicated student and teacher of yoga for more than a decade and has studied Ayurveda for almost as long. Most recently she studied intensively under Vasant Lad and his faculty at the Ayurvedic Institute where she graduated from Ayurvedic Studies Program 1 and 2.

Sunny has a great love for working with plant medicine and continues to study in this realm. As an Ayurvedic Practitioner and general holistic health consultant, she provides clients with individually tailored diet, lifestyle and nutrition counseling, yoga therapy, and Jin Shin Jyutsu.

Dr. LaRosa teaches the course on Medical Ethics for ASP 2, assisting students to learn specific abilities toward being an effective practitioner in the field of health.

Dr. LaRosa, DOM, LAc, is a licensed acupuncturist and Doctor of Oriental Medicine who graduated from Southwest Acupuncture College in 1996. While maintaining a private practice in Albuquerque, New Mexico she integrated her past teaching and administrative skills and accepted positions of Associate Professor, Clinical Supervisor, Clinic and Campus Director at Southwest Acupuncture from 1998-2010 until accepting the position of Dean of Education at the Ayurvedic Institute.

Cindy Stanley, MS

Cindy teaches ASP 1 Anatomy and Physiology, Medical Terminology, and ASP 2 Pathophysiology. A native of Albuquerque, Cindy recently retired after teaching High School science for 32 years. She has a Masters degree in Science from the University of New Mexico.

She is married and has two wonderful children. Her favorite past times are working out and reading.

Julie Staples, PhD

Dr. Julie Staples received a doctorate in Cell and Molecular Biology at St. Louis University.  She is the Research Director at the Center for Mind-Body Medicine in Washington, D.C. Dr. Staples is also an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at Georgetown University School of Medicine. She holds adjunct faculty positions at Saybrook University, the University of New Mexico School of Medicine, and at the Ayurvedic Institute.

She has been a certified Kundalini yoga teacher since 1996 and is the Board President of the Guru Ram Das Center for Medicine and Humanology. She teaches ASP 2 Research Techniques.

Denise LaRosa, DOM

Denise is the Dean of Education here at the Institute. She has practiced meditation since 1980's where she attended an ashram in South Fallsburg, NY for 10 years. During that time she worked in the health care field as the Education Director of Planned Parenthood. As a lecturer and workshop leader, she traveled across the country presenting numerous workshops and training in the area of reproductive health.

Her interest in Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine continued to increase, bringing her to Albuquerque in 1992. She attended Southwest Acupuncture College here, where she received her Masters' in Oriental Medicine in 1996 and then opened her practice. In 1997, she began teaching at the college and, in 2003, became Campus and Clinical Director until 2007. She then returned to her practice at Sanjevani Integrative Medicine, where she focused on Esoteric Acupuncture, until accepting her current position here in 2010.

Dorothy Seeger

Dorothy Seeger is the Administrator of the correspondence course, "Lessons and Lectures on Ayurveda". A graduate of the Ayurvedic Studies Program, for the past twelve years she has continued to provide student support and respond to student inquiries. Dorothy evaluates exams personally and trains staff for additional evaluations and support as necessary.
 

Wynn Werner

Wynn Werner is the Administrator of the Institute. He is responsible to the Board of Directors for the general operation of the Institute and oversees all of its departments and facilities, assuring that the Institute fulfills its mission, purposes and goals.

A graduate of the 1991Ayurvedic Studies program, Wynn was invited by Dr. Lad to administer our growing Institution and has continued to assist our board of directors in guiding it as Ayurveda has expanded into the western world. Wynn is a founding board member of NAMA (National Ayurvedic Medical Association) and a new international Ayurvedic organization. He represents the Institute on Ayurvedic matters at the state, national and international levels. He teaches Level 1 and 2 sessions on ethics and legalities. In his rare spare time Wynn can be found canoeing, mountain biking or snow skiing.