Biography

Leia knew from a young age that she wanted to help people and be a type of healer. She was accepted to the competitive 7 year biomedical program at The Sophie Davis School of Biomedical Education at The City College of New York and started her medical studies right after high school. She completed her residency in Internal Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center in 1994.

Dr. Leia Stathakos-Tsialas has been an internist, specializing in Women's Health Issues for years. After practicing Western Medicine she wanted to learn additional ways to help her patients get and stay healthy. So she completed an Associate Fellowship of Integrative Medicine from The University of Arizona under the direction of Andrew Weil, a pioneer in complementary therapies. She also received training in auriculotherapy, Reiki, Yoga and meditation. Knowing that Medical School did not provide much nutritional education and Leia firmly believed that what one puts in their mouths on a consistent basis can and will determine their state of health and well-being she got certified at The Institute of Integrative Nutrition in New York City as a Nutrition Health Coach. During this training as a Nutrition Health Coach she studied over 100 dietary theories, practical lifestyle management techniques and innovative coaching methods with some of the world's top health and wellness experts. Her teachers included Dr. Andrew Weil, Director of the Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine; Dr. Deepak Chopra, leader in the field of mind-body medicine; Dr. David Katz, Director of Yale University's Prevention Research Center; Dr. Walter Willett, Chair of Nutrition at Harvard University; Geneen Roth, bestselling author and expert on emotional eating; and many other leading researchers and nutrition authorities.

Leia’s central focus has been lifestyle medicine and has a clear understanding and appreciation of how powerful factors like food, exercise, stress, sleep and environment impacts one’s health. Leia recognizes that one plan does not work for everyone and she treats every person as their unique self and uses the best approach for them to achieve optimal health.