Dr. Christine Tara Peterson PhD AHP RYT is a both a lifelong student and seasoned practitioner of Ayurveda and Yoga.  She was first introduced to living Yoga and Ayurveda in the late 90s at Sri Swami Satchidananda Saraswati’s Yogaville Ashram while she was a nearby undergraduate. She later studied Ashtanga Yoga with David Swenson, Tim Miller, Ana Forrest, Dharma Mittra and others.

While a Doctoral student in Microbiology & Immunology, she became a Registered Yoga Teacher and began studying Herbal Medicine in 2006 at the Maryland University of Integrative Health with a new vision of integrating her subjects of interest. Dr. Peterson received her PhD in Immunology & Microbiology from the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at the George Washington University School of Medicine where she studied the gut microbiome in antibiotic-induced obesity using a Systems Biology approach and became fascinated by the connections between herbal medicine and the microbiome. 

While a Post-Doctoral Fellow in Integrative Health in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine, she began clinically assessing and describing mechanistic bases of Ayurvedic Medicine with modern scientific methodologies such as the tools of Systems Biology. As part of this Post-Doctoral Fellowship training, she began formally studying clinical Ayurveda at the California College of Ayurveda and relating Ayurveda to her research as a Principal Investigator in both Clinical Trials and in the laboratory with award-winning research on Ayurvedic herbs. She was later promoted to Assistant Project Scientist in the Department of Family Medicine at UCSD where she continued this research and clinical work as an Ayurvedic practitioner.

Christine is a graduate of the California College of Ayurveda’s clinical Ayurvedic Health Practitioner (AHP) program and a professional member of the National Ayurvedic Medical Association (NAMA). She has studied with renowned Ayurvedic clinicians such as Dr. David Frawley, Mother Maya Tiwari, Vasant Lad, Marc Halpern, Deepak Chopra, as well as Ayurvedic doctors in India. She continues to study with teachers in India and believes that learning is a lifelong endeavor especially in the Vedic Sciences.   

In research, Dr. Peterson remains focused on Vedic Science research.  Currently, she is engaged in Clinical Trials using Ayurvedic medicines, clinical research on Yogic Sciences, the therapeutic modulation of microbiomes in neurodegenerative and gut-related disorders, collaborative investigations with Ayurvedic hospitals in India, and Natural Products Discovery in Ayurvedic herbs. She has published award-winning peer reviewed scientific research on Ayurveda and Yogic Sciences for the past decade and serves as a founding member of the Medicinal Plants Consortium at the San Diego Botanical Garden.   

Dr. Peterson’s work represents significant contributions to the field of Ayurveda. She has highlighted the importance of the gut microbiome in herbal treatment and an individualized approach to Ayurvedic medicine, based on an understanding of the individual’s constitution and imbalances.  Overall, Dr. Peterson’s scientific work has helped to better establish Ayurveda as a viable system of medicine with evidence-based approaches to diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease.  Her work has also helped to bridge the gap between Ayurvedic medicine and conventional healthcare, paving the way for greater integration of Ayurveda into modern healthcare practices.

Clinically, Christine is delighted to serve as a healing guide with the tools of Ayurveda and focuses on gut and nervous system disorders as well as women’s health.  She is grateful to share the power of Ayurveda, Yoga, and other Vedic Sciences to restore homeostasis through harmonizing individuals with nature’s rhythms and more balanced choices through a highly personalized approach that includes the importance of the gut microbiome.  She has supported and empowered countless individuals to reclaim their birthright of health and shed challenges such as symptoms and addictions to regain balance, natural joy, and freedom with food, herbal medicine, yogic science, and lifestyle practices.