MEET DR. KHALSA
Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D.
President & Medical Director
Alzheimer’s Research & Prevention Foundation
Prevention Editor Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease
Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D., was born in Cleveland, Ohio and was raised in Miami Beach, Florida. Since 1993, he has been the President and Medical Director of the Alzheimer’s Research and Prevention Foundation in Tucson, Arizona, the original voice in the integrative or holistic medical approach to Alzheimer’s prevention and treatment. The ARPF is dedicated to ending Alzheimer’s disease through prevention research.
Dr. Khalsa graduated from Creighton University School of Medicine in 1975, and received his postgraduate training in anesthesiology at the University of California, San Francisco where he was chief resident. As chief resident, he conducted highly acclaimed research on anesthesia for cardiac surgery and obstetrical anesthesiology. He is also a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles Medical Acupuncture for Physicians Program, and has studied mind/body medicine under the illustrious Herbert Benson, M.D. at Harvard Medical School’s Mind/Body Medical Institute. Dr. Khalsa is board certified in anesthesiology and pain management, and he is a diplomat of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine.
A Legacy of Firsts
In 1987, Dr. Khalsa established the first holistic pain program in the Southwestern United States at Lovelace Medical Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In 1990, he was recruited to become the Founding Director of the Acupuncture, Stress Medicine, and Chronic Pain Program at the University of Arizona, College of Medicine’s teaching hospital in Phoenix. In this position, he became the first Director of Acupuncture in an American Medical School.
After founding the ARPF in 1993, he became the first physician to advocate a lifestyle approach to the prevention and treatment of memory loss, including Alzheimer’s. He is among the world’s leading authorities on integrative medicine, and has written extensively on a wide range of health and healing issues from nutrition to yoga, meditation and spiritual fitness.
His book Brain Longevity (Warner Books, 1997) is the first book for the general public on the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease, and has been translated into twelve languages. Since then, Dr. Khalsa has been honored as a medical pioneer by the integrative medical establishment, the media, and the public many times over.
Dr. Dharma has also authored six other books for the general public including the national best seller, Meditation As Medicine, as well as several medical textbook chapters, including one for Harvard Medical School and one for the University of Arizona, Huffington Post blogs, and medical articles. He also writes articles and blog posts for the ARPF. He has shared his innovative work at workshops and seminars, as well as medical meetings, in the USA and around the world.
In May 2003, Dr. Khalsa was invited to testify before the Congress of the United States of America about his pioneering work in the area of lifestyle influence on Alzheimer’s disease, and called on Congress to fund a national education and outreach campaign designed to inform the public of the benefits of an integrative medical approach to Alzheimer’s prevention, which the National Institutes of Health (NIH) now does.
At that time, he also met with the U.S. Surgeon General, Vice Admiral Richard Carmona, M.D., M.P.H. At this meeting, Dr. Carmona stated: “Your work in the field of memory loss should now be considered mainstream.” The leading edge work of Dharma Singh Khalsa M.D. and the ARPF is now highly regarded and has led to advances in the field, including prevention programs and research studies.
Since 2003, Dr. Khalsa has spearheaded additional groundbreaking research projects including collaboration with the FINGER study, the largest study in history on preventing Alzheimer’s disease through a lifestyle approach.
Visit our Research/Journal Articles page to see more about these studies.
From 2015-2018, Dr. Khalsa served as a Clinical Associate Professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine, Geriatrics, and Integrative Medicine at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He also currently proudly serves as Prevention Editor for the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease (JAD).
Dr. Dharma Singh Khalsa has most recently authored two groundbreaking articles for JAD:
- Stress, Meditation and Alzheimer’s Disease Prevention
- Spiritual Fitness: A New Dimension in The Prevention of Alzheimer’s Disease