MEET THE ADMINISTRATION OF YO SAN UNIVERSITY

OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

Mao Shing Ni, L.Ac., D.O.M., Ph.D, Dipl. C.H., ABAAP
President

Dr. Mao Shing Ni, popularly known as Dr. Mao, is the 38th generation of Chinese medicine doctors in his family. Well known and respected in the field of integrative and anti-aging medicine, he is the cofounder of Tao of Wellness and Yo San University. Dr. Mao holds two doctorates as well as being board certified in anti-aging medicine. Dr. Mao has written 18 books, including his bestselling books Secrets of Longevity, Second Spring, Secrets of Longevity Cookbook and his latest, Live Your Ultimate Life. Awarded Best of the Best on The Doctor Oz Show, Dr. Mao can also be seen on The Doctors, Katie Couric, as well as the pages of The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times. Online he writes about natural health and longevity on The Huffington Post, Ask Dr. Mao, EmpowHer and other popular websites and speaks at medical conferences internationally. Dr. Mao maintains a full-time clinical practice with his brother, Dr. Daoshing Ni and their team of doctors at Tao of Wellness, integrative medical centers with offices in Santa Monica and Pasadena, California.

ACADEMIC DEPARTMENT

Robert Hoffman, DAOM, L.Ac
Chief Executive Officer
Dean, DAOM Program

Dr. Robert Hoffman is Chief Executive Officer at Yo San University, and is in charge of all aspects of the masters and postgraduate doctoral degree programs at YSU. Robert received his MATCM from Yo San University, and his doctoral degree (DAOM) from Five Branches University. He is also currently a PhD candidate at Zhejiang Chinese Medicine University in Hangzhou, China. Dr. Hoffman has written numerous articles on Daoism and Chinese medicine, and serves as editor and peer reviewer for several integrative medicine journals. Robert is Dean of the DAOM Program and teaches in both the master’s and doctoral programs. He serves on the Accreditation Commission for Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine (ACAHM), and is an ordained 23rd generation Daoist priest in the Quanzhen Longmen tradition.

Anisa Kassim, LAc, MPH, CHES
Dean, MAcCHM/DAcCHM Program

Anisa Kassim is the Associate Dean of the Master’s program at Yo San University. Anisa received her MATCM degree from Emperors College and her Master’s in Public Health (MPH) from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She worked globally in the area of Public Health for many years and has taught a variety of online courses in Health Education and Holistic Health.

Anisa has a private clinical practice at Dharma Health Institute and specializes in Pediatrics, Pregnancy/Postpartum, Facial Rejuvenation and Ayurveda. She works closely with midwives and conducts monthly community clinics for Children and Postpartum mothers, at various locations, around Los Angeles.

Farshid Namin, DAOM, MD (Iran), LAc.
Clinic Director
Dean of Research

Dr. Namin is a seasoned professional with over 25 years of experience in the healthcare field. He has held administrative positions in the United Nations and the American Red Cross, Before coming to the United States, Dr. Namin worked as a Professor at the Iran University of Medical Sciences. More recently at Yo San, Dr. Namin has provided administrative leadership and supervision to the training of both Master’s and Doctoral level TCM students, as well as managed both programmatic and institutional compliance and accreditation.

Dr. Namin obtained his Doctor of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (DAOM) from Yo San University in 2018. After gaining his MD (Iran, 1997) and MPH, he acquired years of experience in International disaster relief. Dr. Namin also treats patients in his private acupuncture practice.

STUDENT & ALUMNI AFFAIRS, LIBRARY SERVICES

Sean Gates, MLIS
Director of Student and Alumni Affairs
Manager, Library Services

Sean Gates is Manager of Library Services, assisting and instructing students, faculty and staff in all aspects of information access. In addition his role in the library, Sean is also the Director of Student & Alumni Affairs at YSU, working with students and alumni to coordinate events and services at the university. He has prior experience in public libraries and as well as the UCLA library, and is familiar with bibliographic searching, cataloging, reference service, and copyright issues.

As the YSU Library Manager, Sean is very much in touch with students and student activities, and is in an unique position to manage and implement best practices towards student services objectives.

Sean graduated from UC Irvine with a B.A. in English literature and from UCLA with a Master’s in Library and Information Science.

OPERATIONS & FINANCE

Tora Flint, MA
Chief Operating Officer
Registrar

Tora Flint is the University’s Chief Operating Officer and has lead responsibility for overseeing the administrative office suite and building operations.

In addition, she serves as University Registrar, among other activities that are essential to keep the University functional.

She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications from Chiang Mai University in Thailand and a Master’s in Global Marketing Communications from Emerson College in Boston, MA.

Hayden Wagar
Financial Aid Coordinator

Hayden Wagar has worked in the financial aid profession for more than 10 years and has considerable experience in financial aid management, system implementation and enhancement and business process review on campus and in her role as a financial aid consultant. Prior to assuming the position Chief Operating Officer and lead consultant at Third Coast Higher Education, Hayden was the Director of Financial Aid for Southeastern Louisiana and at the University of Holy Cross, where she oversaw business process improvements of the Oracle PeopleSoft and College Board PowerFAIDS software systems as well as a centralized imaging system for student information. She is an expert at developing solutions to improve student service, processing efficiency and compliance with federal regulations.

Sonia Rivera
Office Manager

Bio coming soon.

Jyotika Pratap
Bursar

Jyotika Pratap grew up in the Fiji Islands and migrated to the U.S. in 2001, where her first position was as a customer service representative at Longs Drugs Store in Santa Monica. Shortly after, she joined Yo San University as an administrative receptionist and subsequently “moved” to Yo San University’s clinic as lead front desk staff.

After working in the YSU Clinic for approximately five years, she was appointed Assistant to the Controller/Bursar in the University’s accounts office where she held this position for 10 years. Since October 2018, she took on the position of Bursar/Accounting Officer.

Jyotika earned her Diploma in Information Technology (software development) from Boxhill Institute of Technical and Further Education in Lautoka City, Fiji Islands. She has advanced her professional education by completing a series of accounting courses at the West Los Angeles College in Culver City.