About Thara
Clinical background
My work focuses on developing a systems-based approach to clinical care — one that integrates physiological, behavioural, environmental, and lived experience factors to support clearer thinking in complex health presentations.
Why this work exists
I have worked in healthcare for over two decades: teaching yoga, running nutrition programs for children and adults, and caring for patients as a naturopathic physician. Across all of these experiences, one factor has remained consistent: the body communicates through patterns, if we know how to interpret them.
Many approaches to medicine, whether conventional or traditional, rely on pattern recognition and clinical algorithms. These tools are valuable, but they are incomplete without understanding the human experience behind the symptoms: what this specific person is navigating, at this specific time, and what the best next step is within the reality of their life.
Experience has taught me that the answer is rarely found in a lab result alone. Clinical testing can provide clarity, direction, and a way to monitor progress, but it cannot fully explain why illness develops or how recovery unfolds. Those answers are often found by integrating physiology with behavioural, environmental, and lived experience factors over time.
Good care begins with curiosity, not assumptions.
Professional background
My clinical work has evolved alongside broader roles in health, education, and systems design, including:
Women’s health physician (15 years)
Digital health leadership (10 years)
Teaching Hatha and Vinyasa yoga (>20 years)
Education
BSc Nutritional Sciences | The University of British Columbia | 2003
MA Environmental Education | Royal Roads University | 2007
ND Naturopathic Medicine | Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine | 2011
Licensure & certifications
Licensed BC Naturopathic Physician | CCHPBC (since 2011)
Prescriptive Authority | CCHPBC (2012)
Shanker Self-Reg Certification | MEHRIT Centre (2017)
Health Informatics Specialization | Johns Hopkins University (2020)
Reducing Racial Disparities in Healthcare | Harvard University (2024)
Naturopathic Advanced Life Support + BLS (ongoing recertification)
Current Focus
My work centers on building more adaptive systems of care — combining clinical insight, technology, and human understanding to improve outcomes in complex hormonal and stress-related conditions.
As a mother of two, advisor to health technology companies, and Chief Medical Officer of a women’s health startup, I approach health through both systems thinking and lived experience. My connection to the forests and shoreline of British Columbia continues to shape how I understand resilience, regulation, and care.