Dr. Na Zhai Clinic Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine

Curriculum Vitae

Dr. Na Zhai, PhD, OMD, LAc

Professional Summary

Dr. Na Zhai is a clinician, researcher, and builder. For over forty years, she has practiced medicine across two continents—first as a physician trained in Western medicine in China, then as a specialist in Traditional Chinese Medicine in the United States.

She holds a PhD in TCM and a Master's in Western Medicine from China. She completed postdoctoral research at Kitasato University in Japan, where she used electron microscopy and autoradiography to study the brain's response to acupuncture—contributing morphological evidence that acupuncture works through the nervous system.

In 1996, she arrived in the United States and was granted a Green Card as an "Outstanding Professor and Researcher" by the U.S. Immigration Service.

Since 1997, she has run a private clinical practice in Springfield, Illinois. Thousands of American patients have been treated—many of whom had been told there was nothing more to be done. She has developed a proprietary acupuncture protocol and a library of clinically validated herbal formulas, including Body Clean, the formula that became the foundation of her clinical system.

From 1999 to 2003, she worked alongside Dr. Claude Fortin, a neurologist at Springfield Clinic, in a physician-referral model that earned the trust of 90% of the clinic's physicians. She also taught SIU medical residents who selected her class.

She is now seeking a partnership to scale this system—so that more patients can benefit.

 

Clinical Practice

• Private Practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine — Springfield, Illinois | 1997–Present
• Established and maintained a successful private practice for over 25 years.
• Treated thousands of American patients with a wide range of refractory chronic conditions.
• Developed a standardized clinical system based on two synchronized protocols: a unique acupuncture method and a proprietary herbal formula, Body Clean.
• Created and refined a library of clinically validated herbal formulas, each one born from a specific patient's need.
• Long-term outcomes documented in patient testimonials, letters from referring physicians, and media coverage.

Springfield Clinic Collaboration — Springfield, Illinois | 1999–2003

• Worked alongside Dr. Claude Fortin, chief neurologist, at the Neurology Institute.
• Dr. Fortin handled patient intake and comprehensive diagnostic assessments; Dr. Na Zhai administered non-pharmacological treatment in a clinic across the corridor; patients returned to Dr. Fortin for final evaluation.
• Within one year, 90% of the clinic's physicians trusted this service and referred their patients.
• Treated patients from across Illinois with complex, stubborn conditions that had failed to respond at major Western medical institutions.
• The collaboration was featured in the State Journal-Register and other local media.

 

Scientific Research

• Successfully established 327 rat models of middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo) through advanced microsurgical techniques, creating a well-defined cerebral ischemic region.
• Confirmed acupuncture effects in the ischemic area through cerebrovascular perfusion and histochemistry strategies.
• First proposed and proved morphological evidence of multi-organ damage due to acute ischemic stroke—and acupuncture's effects on that damage—using microscope, electron microscopy, and quantitative micro-spectrophotometry.
• Captured cerebral responses to stimulating different acupoints through autoradiography and electron-microscopy, contributing to the creation of a novel, evidence-based acupuncture treatment protocol.

 

Education

• Post-Doctoral Allied Health Science — Kitasato University, Kanagawa, Japan | Nov 1992 – Apr 1994
• Ph.D., Traditional Chinese Medicine — Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China | Sep 1989 – Oct 1992
• M.S., Medicine — Guiyang Medical University, China | Sep 1986 – Sep 1989
• B.S., Medicine — Shanxi Medical University, China | Feb 1978 – Feb 1983

 

Licenses & Certifications

• Diplomate in Chinese Herbology, NCCAOM, USA
• Diplomate in Acupuncture, NCCAOM, USA
• Licensed Acupuncturist, State of New York
• Licensed Acupuncturist, State of Illinois
• Green Card — Outstanding Professor and Researcher, U.S. Immigration Service | 1997
• Naturalized U.S. Citizen 

 

Academic Appointments

Professor & Chief Physician — Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China | Oct 1994 – Jun 1996

• Provided direct patient care in a teaching hospital setting.
• Directed laboratory research programs in acupuncture and herbal medicine.
• Lectured to undergraduate and graduate students.
• Supervised 31 graduate researchers (8 Ph.D., 23 M.S.).

 

Major Awards & Honors

• Outstanding Professor and Researcher (U.S. Permanent Resident Category) — U.S. Immigration Service | 1996
• Tianjin Science & Technology Progress Award — Government of Tianjin, China | 1996
• National Outstanding Youth Award — National Natural Science Foundation Council, China | 1995
• National Science and Technology Achievement Award — National Science & Technology Council, China | 1995
• Tianjin Science & Technology Progress Award — Government of Tianjin, China | 1995
• Outstanding Century Leader Award — Government of Tianjin, China | 1994
  Tianjin Science & Technology Progress Award — Government of Tianjin, China | 1994

 

Publications

(Selected from over 30 peer-reviewed papers and conference proceedings.)          

 

Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

• Yutaka Futaesaku, Na Zhai, Michiko. 1995. Brain activity of a rat reflects apparently the stimulation of acupuncture. Cellular and Molecular Biology. 41(1): 161–170.
• Na Zhai, and Yuanhao Du. 1993. Morphological studies on acupuncture in interfering experimental cerebral infarction in rats. Part I. Compensation of cerebral pia-mater artery in the ischemic area on cerebral surface. Acupuncture Research, 18(1): 8–13.
• Na Zhai, Xiufen Lu, and Xuemin Shi. 1993. Morphological studies on acupuncture in interfering experimental cerebral infarction in rat. Part II. Change of ischemic area in cerebral interior. Acupuncture Research, 18(3): 209–212.
• Chen Wen, Qingshu Chao, and Na Zhai. 1993. Effect of electron-acupuncture on ATPase and CA fluorescence of microvascular walls in rabbits with acute myocardial ischemia. Acupuncture Research, 18(3): 223–227.
• Na Zhai, XuXin Liu, and Xuemin Shi. 1992. Effects of Xinnao-Kaiqiao acupuncture on cerebrocellular RNA in rats with acute cerebral infarction. Journal of Shanghai Acupuncture, 7(4): 17–19.
• Na Zhai, Zhuoyou Liu. 1988. Histophysiological research between the mastocyte and meridian. Chinese Acupuncture. (5): 50–52.

Selected Conference Proceedings

• Na Zhai, Yutaka Futaesaku, and Li, Li. 1995. The mechanism of acupuncture in the brain—cerebral response to needling different acupuncture points derived from [H] 2-DG autoradiography, Part 1. Results of S-36, S-25 and PC-6. Proceedings of the Second National Youth S&T Conference. Beijing, China. P 88–93.
• Na Zhai, Yutaka Futaesaku, and Li, Li. 1995. The mechanism of acupuncture in the brain—cerebral response to needling different acupuncture points derived from [H] 2-DG autoradiography, Part 2. Results of H-7, GV-26, K-1. Proceedings of the Second National S & T Youth Conference. Beijing, China. P 94–96.
• Na Zhai, Zhuoyou Liu and Chen, Wen. 1996. The histochemistry and ultra-structure observation of acupuncture effects on microangium and energy metabolism in rabbits with acute myocardial ischemia. Proceedings of the Tianjin Fourth International Acupuncture Conference. Tianjin, China. P 343–348.
• Na Zhai, Zhihong Meng and Tan Li. 1996. The research with electron microscopy in acupuncture effects on multiorgan damage caused by acute cerebral infarction. Proceedings of the Tianjin Fourth International Acupuncture Conference. Tianjin, China. P 349–353.

(A complete list of publications is available upon request.)