Who We Are

Jayshree Chander, MD, MPH

Founder, President

Jayshree is a practicing physician board certified in family and community medicine, as well as occupational and environmental medicine from the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). She graduated with a doctoral degree in medicine from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and earned a graduate degree in public health with an emphasis in environmental health from the University of California-Berkeley. Dr. Chander dedicated many years caring for patients part-time at the Tom Waddell Clinic for the Homeless in San Francisco and has served the survivors of the 1984 Union Carbide Gas Disaster in Bhopal at the Sambhavna Clinic. In her practice she witnesses firsthand the impact of our individual and collective priorities. In her former role as an assistant clinical professor (wos) at UCSF, she was nominated “Most Inspiring Teacher” by medical students in the Foundations of Patient Care course. As a dedicated practitioner of vipassana meditation, ashiatsu, and Iyengar yoga, she has a deep appreciation for the therapeutic potential of mind-body practices. She taught yoga at the Adeline Yoga Studio in Berkeley for 5 years. Currently she is holding sessions online exploring the first two limbs of the practice of yoga. Dr. Chander offers ashiatsu sessions by appointment. She has traveled to India to study the principles of Ayurveda and has a solid grasp of the fundamentals of Traditional Chinese medicine. Her training and experience covers all the bases: mind, body, spirit, family, community, occupation, environment, and society. She is the founder and director of Beyond Holistic. And by the way, her doppelgänger produces a podcast about prioritizing well being, Nei Jing Now! She can also be found creating moving art to move you through JypsyJays Productions. A physician by profession, performing artist by obsession she is sometimes known as an AABBCCDDDD (Asian American bred (and buttered), cross-cultural, creative, dancing, drumming, desi doctor).

Marsha Haller, MD, Medical Acupuncture

Secretary

Marsha was born in Brooklyn, New York, and began life as an artist.  However, an irrepressible desire to become an Obstetrician /Gynecologist led her on a path to medical school in Syracuse, New York. She came to family medicine because it allowed her to treat patients as people, not diseases, and finished her residency at SF General Hospital. She returned to New York where she taught and later directed a Family Medicine residency program in Brooklyn, and did a fellowship in Urban Family Health and board certified in Geriatric Medicine.

After moving to California in 1990, she joined a small family medicine practice in Alameda that did everything from counseling to sigmoidoscopy, but after twelve years of service, was done in by the long hours, and excessive demands.  In 1999, Dr. Haller began acupuncture training tor physicians through two different programs and is board certified by the American Board of Medical Acupuncture.  Since 2002 she has dedicated her Berkeley practice to medical acupuncture and related techniques and is particularly interested in work related repetitive strain/stress, as well as myofascial and chronic pelvic pain in men and women. She feels blessed she can put into practice the integrated approach to health she believes in. She still practices art, with painting and collage her media of choice, and enjoys yoga, gardening, and mothering.

Linette Martinez, MD

Treasurer

Linette is a native from Puerto Rico. After completing her doctorate in medicine and specializing in Internal Medicine she decided to move to San Francisco to work for social and sexual minorities and to help shape policies toward more equality. She believes in the holistic approach to health. Her perspective is that human beings are constantly interacting with nature, social environments and each other. Each interaction is an opportunity for the promotion of well being.

Dr. Martinez has been part of the task force to create guidelines for the care of HIV positive homeless patients. She is an advocate and clinical liaison for transgender care in the public setting. Her bi-cultural background has led her to opportunities to work for the wellbeing and understanding of the day labor community. She is actively working towards increased access to HIV care for minorities in San Francisco.

In her free time she enjoys tending her garden, parenting, and stunt kite flying.