Tai Sophia Faculty Bios

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Program Director

Jeff Millison, M.A., M.Ac., Dipl.Ac. (NCCAOM)

Jeff Millison is the director of the Masters of Acupuncture program at Tai Sophia. A graduate of the Traditional Acupuncture Institute in 1991, he also earned his B.A. in English from the University of Maryland in 1985, and in 1988 completed course work for the master's degree in Holistic Psychology from Boulder College. In 1996 he completed a two-year program in Chinese Herbal Medicine. A faculty member of Tai Sophia since 1991, he currently serves as a supervisor in the student clinic and teaches courses on the Officials and Spirit of the Points. He also served on the board of the Maryland Acupuncture Society from 1992-96 and worked for the National Acupuncture Alliance from 1994-96. In clinical practice since 1991, in 1998 he cofounded the River Hill Wellness Center, a multidisciplinary, integrative health care center.

About his work at the Institute, he says, "I love teaching at Tai Sophia because it is a place with great spirit and heart - a quality that I believe emanates from the Institute's dedicated and passionate staff, faculty, and students, and is reflected in the institutional mission and values. It is a powerful and rich learning community, and it is an honor and pleasure to teach there."

Division Chairs

David M. Blaiwas, M.A., M.Ac., Dipl.Ac. (NCCOAM)
	Division chair for the Languages of Healing section of the Master of Acupuncture program at Tai Sophia Institute since 2002, David Blaiwas has been a primary instructor for Institute students over the past eight years. He holds a certificate in Chinese Herbology. Currently the president of the board of directors of the Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine Alliance, he served as president of the Maryland Acupuncture Society for seven years. He maintains private clinical practices in Takoma Park and Columbia, Maryland.

Sharon M. Smith, M.Ac., Dipl.Ac (NCCAOM)
	Sherry Smith serves as the director of the faculty supervised student clinic at Tai Sophia Institute. A 1989 graduate of the Traditional Acupuncture Institute, she also earned a B.S. in psychology from the Johns Hopkins University in 1978 and received a certificate of completion in Chinese Herbs from TAI in 1996. Sherry formerly worked as a management training consultant and as director of the Women’s Center of Howard County; she served on the board of the Maryland Acupuncture Society. She has been on the Tai Sophia faculty since 1990. She currently teaches theory and serves as a clinic supervisor. Sherry maintains a private practice with Acupuncture Associates of Columbia.

Deanna Slate Stennett, L.Ac (U.K. and FL)
	In clinical practice since 1992, Deanna currently serves as division chair for the clinical foundations division. She received her Licentiate in Acupuncture from the Worsley Institute of Classical Acupuncture and her Advanced Licentiate in Acupuncture from the College of Traditional Acupuncture in the United Kingdom. She holds a private practice in Crofton, Maryland, and since 1999 has been teaching at Tai Sophia. From 1993 to 1995, she taught at the Worsley Institute in Florida. Deanna views teaching and treating as different facets of the same inspiring work. Deanna is the mother of two daughters, ages 19 and 23.

Tatyana Maltseva, M.Ac., L.Ac.
	A graduate of the Traditional Acupuncture Institute, Tatyana Maltseva has been a teacher in the Institute’s acupuncture program since 1998. She received her M.D. in neurology from the Kiev Medical Institute in the Ukraine, and has practiced acupuncture for over 15 years, including several years in Russia, where, as a physician specializing in neurology, she incorporated acupuncture into her work. She currently holds a private practice at the Greenspring Valley Healing Arts Center in Owings Mills. Tatyana is Chair of the Touching Energy and Structure division.

Core Faculty

Wendy Childs, M.Ac., Dipl.Ac. (NCCAOM)
	Currently teaching History, Literature, and Partnership with Nature in the acupuncture program, Wendy is also a member of the Pulse Development team. "The challenge of getting concepts across, of sharing what I love - it's inspiring," she says. She speaks particularly about her love of history and how relevant it is to acupuncturists. "There's this sense of history embedded in Chinese medicine," she says. "Understanding that history augments how we perceive and practice this healing art." In addition to her teaching, Wendy practices acupuncture both in her home and her Baltimore office.

Dianne M. Connelly, Ph.D., M.Ac., Dipl.Ac. (NCCAOM)
	A practitioner of traditional acupuncture since 1972 and cofounder and chancellor of the Institute, Dr. Connelly received her master's qualification from the College of Traditional Acupuncture (UK) in 1979. She obtained a Ph.D. in crosscultural medicine from Union Graduate School in 1975, an M.A. from New York University School of Education in 1970, and her B.A. from Le Moyne College in 1967. Chancellor of the Institute and an international lecturer (she lectures regularly in Italy and Germany), she is the author of Traditional Acupuncture: The Law of the Five Elements, All Sickness is Home Sickness, and coauthor of Alive and Awake: Wisdom for Kids. She is the mother of Blaize, Jade, and Caeli, as well as grandmother to Tamar, Lennox and Rianna.

Robert M. Duggan, M.A., M.Ac. (UK), Dipl.Ac. (NCCA)
	Robert Duggan is president of the Institute and has practiced traditional acupuncture since 1972. He studied under Professor J. R. Worsley at the College of Traditional Acupuncture (UK), where he received his master's qualification in 1979. He received a master's degree in human relations and community studies from the School of Education of New York University in 1970, and a master's degree in moral theology from St. Joseph's Seminary and College in 1964. He has served as chair of the Maryland State Board of Acupuncture and as a commissioner of the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. He is the author of Common Sense for the Healing Arts,published in 2004.

Tyme Gigliotti, M.Ac., L.Ac.
	Tyme Gigliotti, Acupuncture Detoxification Specialist, certified by the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association, and a licensed animal acupuncturist, received his B.A. from the University of Maryland at College Park and his Master of Acupuncture degree, class of May 1994, from the Traditional Acupuncture Institute (now Tai Sophia Institute). Since 1998 he has been a clinic supervisor in the Master of Acupuncture program as well as an academic core faculty member. Tyme is the current division chair for "Getting to Know the Patient." He is a professional member of the Maryland State Board of Acupuncture and former secretary of the Maryland Acupuncture Society. Currently, he is an assistant teacher at the Jaffe Institute of Spiritual and Medical Healing, from which he also graduated, and is a Sufi master teacher of the Shadhuliyya Path. Tyme says that his great passion "is teaching and helping students awaken to their own gifts and mastery that lie within."

Hope Finn Gilbert, M.Ac., Dipl. Ac. (NCCAOM)
	Hope Finn Gilbert is a licensed, nationally certified acupuncturist; certified herbalist; and for 15 years managing partner of Acupuncture Associates of Columbia. She received her M.Ac. degree from the Traditional Acupuncture Institute. A teacher in the Institute’s acupuncture program since 1989, currently core faculty and formerly chair of the program’s touching energy and structure division, she was instrumental in developing the point location department and authored or coauthored many of its teaching and administrative materials, including the students’ manual and Supporting Mountain: Guide for the Point Location Student. She brings 20 years’ experience in Eastern Indian meditative practices and a commitment to create a supportive environment that accepts and challenges the learner.

Kaiya Larson, M.Ac., L.Ac.
	"I teach and practice acupuncture because I think acupuncture is the greatest thing ever. I wake up every day grateful that I have a job that brings joy to my life," says Kaiya Larson. "My patients flourish, and I continue to be amazed by their flourishing," she says. "And I love to watch the students grow from the time they first arrive through the final phase when they treat clients in the clinic. As each student goes through the program, it's like watching a flower opening." Newly named to Tai Sophia's core acupuncture faculty, Kaiya has been teaching at the Institute since her graduation eight years ago from the Traditional Acupuncture Institute (Tai Sophia's predecessor). Another of her passions is helping couples with childbearing difficulties - a focus that comprises about half of her practice. "Babies come out of this work with couples, and then I end up treating the babies, too - a wonderful cycle," she says. Kaiya practices acupuncture at Tai Sophia's clinic in Laurel, Maryland.

Heidi Most, M.Ac., L.Ac., Dipl.Ac. (NCCAOM)
	"I find that practicing and teaching acupuncture work wonderfully together," says Heidi Most. "I am challenged to be fully aware of the needs and struggles of both my patients and my students. A teacher has to know the material 10 times better than her students, so I'm constantly studying. Of course, this also serves my patients. As I study, I'm continually reminded of the beauty of the different points and treatment principles." "I am so excited when my patients and my students move forward - to manage better in the world and to progress in the world of acupuncture. I feel truly privileged to share in their lives in such a deep way and I so appreciate being part of the Tai Sophia community. I think Tai Sophia must be one of the most warm and caring communities in the world." Heidi has been teaching and practicing at Tai Sophia Institute since 2001.