Mauro Zappaterra obtained his MD and PhD degrees from Harvard Medical School. He completed his PhD doing work with neuronal stem cells and the effects of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in brain development and in the adult. He is published in numerous scientific articles on the CSF and his work was chosen as the cover image for the prestigious Neuron Journal. He was also featured in the New England Journal of Medicine in teaching medical students about living with life threatening diseases and in Psychology Today on an article titled “Joy: The art of loving life.” He completed his Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) residency at the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System, where he also served as Chief Resident. He is board certified in PM&R with a particular focus on optimizing human performance and decreasing suffering. He is the Director of Regenerative Medicine and Clinical Research at Synovation Medical Group and is a staff physician at the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System. As a PM&R physician he combines his training in various complementary medicine modalities such as Polarity Therapy, Reiki and Craniosacral Therapy and attempts to treat each individual wholistically, integrating body, mind and spirit. Much of his practice is focused on pain management. He researches and designs new programs and techniques to help alleviate pain, improve function, and increase quality of life.