imi Guarneri, MD, FACC, founder and president of the Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine (AIHM), is an award-winning La Jolla physician specializing in cardiology and integrative holistic medicine. Board-certified in cardiovascular disease, internal medicine, nuclear medicine and holistic medicine, she founded Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine in 1999, serving 15 years as medical director.
Senior advisor to the Atlantic Health System in New Jersey, she helped launch The Chambers Center for Wellbeing in 2014. She is expanding integrative healthcare into large systems including the US Veterans Health Administration by teaching hospital staff at the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System. Locally, at Guarneri Integrative Health at Pacific Pearl La Jolla, she created a membership model combining MDs with naturopathic doctors (NDs) and internal medicine, cardiology and psychology. It features a comprehensive assessment with an MD/ND team and has acupuncture, healing touch, massage, bodywork, hypnotherapy and skincare providers.
What brought you to La Jolla?
I came to La Jolla in 1994 to train in interventional cardiology. Stents were pioneered by Scripps cardiologists Paul Teirstein, MD and Richard Schatz, MD, and I came as a Fellow to work with them for a year. I found La Jolla a revelation after winters in New York and knew I’d stay here.
