COHEN, Misha Ruth 1951(?)-

PERSONAL:

Born c. 1951. Education: Doctorate in Oriental medicine; Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center, License in acupuncture.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Quan Yin Healing Arts Center, 455 Valencia St., San Francisco, CA 94103. E-mail—TCMpaths@aol.com.

CAREER:

Physician, researcher, and author. Quan Yin Healing Arts Center, San Francisco, CA, founder and educational research director; Chicken Soup Chinese Medicine, San Francisco, clinical director. Member, National Institute of Heath Office of AIDS Research ad hoc subpanel on alternative and complementary therapy research; member of board, National Conference on Women and HIV.

AWARDS, HONORS:

National Institute of Health grant; named among fifty top AIDS researchers, POZ magazine, 1996; fellow of American Academy of Oriental Medicine.

WRITINGS:

(With Kalia Doner) The Chinese Way to Healing: Many Paths to Wholeness, Berkley Publishing Group (New York, NY), 1996.

(With Kalia Doner) The HIV Wellness Sourcebook: An East/West Guide to Living Well with HIV/AIDS and Related Conditions, Henry Holt (New York, NY), 1998.

(With Robert G. Gish and Kalia Doner) The Hepatitis C Help Book: A Groundbreaking Treatment Program Combining Western and Eastern Medicine for Maximum Wellness and Healing, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2000.

SIDELIGHTS:

Misha Ruth Cohen is a doctor of Oriental medicine whose books focus on the merger of Eastern and Western methods to provide the most effective medical treatment possible. She is especially well known for her research into the use of Chinese medicine in the treatment of HIV/AIDS. As William Beatty wrote in Booklist, Cohen's advice "demonstrates rational combination of Eastern and Western medicine in service to the needs of each particular patient."

As a child Cohen was introduced to alternative therapies by her grandmother, who was a practitioner of yoga and vegetarianism. Her interest was revived after injuries she received in a serious car accident were successfully treated using Japanese shiatsu massage. Cohen began to study shiatsu massage and acupuncture in the 1970s, when few opportunities existed to formally study traditional Chinese medicine in the United States. Her early studies were carried out in New York City at an acupuncture school affiliated with a drug treatment center whose purpose was to provide training in the use of Chinese remedies to help patients battle addiction. During her medical studies Cohen developed a special interest in gynecology, and especially in the treatment of HIV and AIDS.

Moving to San Francisco, Cohen founded the Quan Yin Healing Arts Center and began treating HIV-positive patients there in the mid-1980s. She explains her approach, which includes diet, herbal therapy, acupuncture, exercise, and meditation in The HIV Wellness Sourcebook: An East/West Guide to Living Well with HIV/AIDS and Related Conditions. This book is a result of Cohen's years in practice and her extensive research in the field. A grant from the National Institute of Health's Office of Alternative Medicine allowed her to formally study the use of a herbal formula in HIV patients. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly wrote, "Cohen carefully explains how Western and Eastern medical approaches differ and how they can be blended into a comprehensive and effective treatment program." In a review of The HIV Wellness Sourcebook for Library Journal, Charles Wessel noted that the book is an "informative resource for anyone seeking an understanding of Chinese medicine and its approach to HIV and AIDS."

Cohen's other books include The Chinese Way to Healing: Many Paths to Wholeness, which provides an overview of the ancient healing techniques of Chinese medicine, and The Hepatitis C Help Book: A Ground-breaking Treatment Program Combining Western and Eastern Medicine for Maximum Wellness and Healing.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, April, 1998, William Beatty, review of The HIV Wellness Sourcebook: An East/West Guide to Living Well with HIV/AIDS and Related Conditions, p. 1290.

Library Journal, June 1, 1998, Charles Wessel, review of The HIV Wellness Sourcebook, p. 141.

Publishers Weekly, April 20, 1998, review of The HIV Wellness Sourcebook, p. 61.

ONLINE

Doc Misha's Chicken Soup Chinese Medicine,http://www.docmisha.com (June 16, 2003).*