AMERICAN BOARD OF ANIMAL ACUPUNCTURE - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Member of the Board of Directors
• Director - Treasurer

Christina is a graduate of the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine and the International Academy of Acupuncture. She is nationally certified in animal acupuncture from the ABAA. She practiced in Arizona for seven years before moving back to Oregon in 2012. She currently practices acupuncture at Balance Health and Injury Clinic in Gresham, Oregon. ​She is nationally certified in Animal Acupuncture with the American Board of Animal Acupuncture (ABAA).

Job Titles:

• Member of the Board of Directors
• Director - President

In 1972, Gene accepted an appointment as one of the acupuncturists of the Veterinary Acupuncture Research Project of the National Acupuncture Association (NAA), and along with John Ottaviano, they introduced Animal Acupuncture into the United States for the first time. During this time, he and John worked directly with Veterinarians, teaching them the basics of acupuncture and how it could be used to treat small and large animals. This led to the establishment of the International Veterinary Acupuncture Association (IVAS) in 1974. Dr. Bruno was part of the group of acupuncturists who established the first two schools of Acupuncture in the United States. He was the president of the AAOM, and the past president of the Oregon Acupuncture Association. From 2007 until 2011, he was a member of the Executive Council of the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies. In 2007 he founded the Trudy McAlister Foundation, a non-profit, charitable, scholarship foundation for AOM students. In addition to the extensive research on developing animal acupuncture, Dr. Bruno participated as an acupuncturist in research at Harvard Medical School and at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, looking into the practical applications of acupuncture for the treatment of pain. In 2013, along with Joel Rossen, DVM, he established the American Board of Animal Acupuncture. Currently, he is one of the instructors of animal acupuncture program at the Phoenix Institute of Herbal Medicine & Acupuncture.

Job Titles:

• Member of the Board of Directors

Katrina is a graduate of the Pacific College of Oriental Medicine in New York and is currently licensed to practice acupuncture in New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut. She is a graduate of the International Academy of Animal Acupuncture and nationally certified in Animal Acupuncture by the ABAA. She has a full time practice in New Jersey where she treats humans, ​and an additional practice in a veterinary clinic where she treats small animals. Chair of Legislative Committee

Job Titles:

• Member of the Board of Directors
• Director - Secretary

Liz Appel received her B.A. in Community Health and Ethnic Studies from Brown University and studied Chinese Medicine at Pacific College of Health Sciences (formerly PCOM) in Chicago. She was a founding member of the Sage Community Health Collective, a trauma informed, sliding scale practice in Chicago. For several years, she facilitated numerous free community health and education workshops with Spanish speaking immigrant community members through the Centro Autonomo. She was a recipient of both the Schweitzer community health award and Golden Flower community service award for this work. She was previously on staff at the Pacific College of Health Sciences, supervising the student community clinic. Liz is a graduate of the Animal Acupuncture course at the Phoenix Institute of Herbal Medicine & Acupuncture (PIHMA). She is nationally certified in Animal Acupuncture with the American Board of Animal Acupuncture (ABAA). ​ Currently, she is one of the instructors of animal acupuncture program at the Phoenix Institute of Herbal Medicine & Acupuncture.

Noreen Javornik, M.S., M.Ac., L.Ac., FABAA has a M.S. degree from Ohio State University and a M.Ac. from the Traditional Acupuncture Institute. She worked at both the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and at the Scheie Eye Institute at University of Pennsylvania. Noreen was instrumental in establishing the Animal Acupuncture programs at Tai Sophia and the Maryland University of Integrative Health since 1997. Noreen maintains a people and animal acupuncture practice in Laurel, Maryland. She is nationally certified in Animal Acupuncture by the ABAA.

Randi Sobel, MAc, LAc, FT, earned a Master's Degree in Acupuncture in 1998 after three years of intensive training from the Traditional Acupuncture Institute (TAI) in Columbia, Maryland. Upon graduating, Randi taught at TAI for five years in all levels of classes and as a clinic supervisor. She earned a post-graduate Certification in Animal Acupuncture in 2001 from the State of Maryland. She worked as a faculty member for over 15 years in the animal acupuncture program directly with Noreen Javornik. She then became the director for the Maryland State Certification Course that was required for acupuncturists to become licensed to treat animals. Randi brings over two decades of experience treating small animals and horses. She is nationally certified in Animal Acupuncture by the ABAA. Currently, she is one of the instructors of animal acupuncture program at the Phoenix Institute of Herbal Medicine & Acupuncture.