Great River Symposium 2026: Larissa Vados, PhD, L.Ac
Larissa Vados, PhD, L.Ac.
Larissa Vados, PhD, LAc (she/her) is a licensed acupuncturist in the state of Minnesota and is board certified by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM). In 2012 she graduated from Northwestern Health Sciences University with a Master of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine degree, and in 2015 completed her PhD in Acupuncture, Tuina and Moxibustion at Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in Tianjin, China. Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine specialize in the treatment of neurological diseases. Taking advantage of this expertise, her main focus of study was treatment for stroke rehabilitation. She designed and carried out a randomized control trial in the First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine looking at the use of both acupuncture and physical therapy in the treatment of acute and sub-acute ischemic stroke. Larissa has several years experience working with a hospital-based inpatient interdisciplinary acute care pain management team, and an outpatient based chronic pain center in a large hospital system. Larissa and her colleagues have worked together to treat some of the most difficult pain management cases in the hospital system from both Eastern and Western perspectives. During those years she enjoyed working every day to promote the use of effective and evidence-based integrative treatments such as
acupuncture within the allopathic medical system. She is now the co-owner of Minnesota Integrative Health Studio, and continues to help patients fulfill their health goals in this integrative and holistic community-based clinic.
In addition to her acupuncture and Chinese medicine training, Larissa is a STOTT PILATES® Certified Instructor in both Mat and Reformer, having completed over 310 hours of training at Minnesota’s STOTT Certification Center in 2009. Larissa has also taken advanced training in Pilates for neurological conditions. Larissa finds that Pilates is a wonderful form of rehabilitative exercise that can be modified to suit anyone’s situation and circumstances. She loves combining Pilates with her acupuncture patients to address chronic pain, musculoskeletal injuries, neurological and other movement
disorders, mental health and more! Specialties: Stroke sequelae treatment and other neurological disorders, pain (acute and chronic), stress management, insomnia, allergies, auto-immune diseases including rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia. In her Pilates practice she enjoys working with injured populations looking for rehabilitation, seasoned athletes looking to improve athletic performance and everyone in between.
Session
FRIDAY, MARCH 14 | 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
Xing Nao Kai Qiao “Activate the Brain and Open the Orifices” Treatment Method for Stroke in First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine