Volunteer Profiles
Our deepest appreciation goes to all of our volunteers! We truly appreciate your dedication and your efforts make all the difference!
Are you interested in volunteering for MTF? Learn how here.
Board of Trustees
Adrienne F. Asta, BA, LMT – President
Adrienne F. Asta has been practicing massage since 2001 and holds certifications in neuromuscular therapy and prenatal massage. Her clients range from permanently disabled to Big Ten collegiate athletes, all of whom teach her something new every session. She is privileged to serve as the chairperson for the Community Service Grants Proposal Review Committee for the Foundation. Additionally, Adrienne has volunteered with the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA) on a local and national level for well over a decade. She has been deeply involved in the education arm of the massage industry including positions of instructor, Director of Education, and National Program Director among others and is a member of the Alliance for Massage Therapy Education. She has developed ancillary materials for textbooks widely used in massage therapy programs and has trained all levels of practicing massage therapists and educators. It is a joy for her to volunteer alongside such an inspiring and dedicated group of people. Adrienne is proud to donate 1% of the proceeds of her practice to this honorable organization.
Lindsay Bodkin, B.A., LMT, CPT – Vice President
Lindsay Bodkin is a licensed massage therapist, who specializes in CranioSacral Therapy, cupping, and integrative manual therapy. She co-owns a private practice in Upstate New York with her husband and worked as the official therapist for the Adirondack Thunder, ECHL professional hockey team for the 2015-2019 seasons. Lindsay is a government relations activist for the massage therapy profession and is the Government Relations Chair for AMTA-NY. She has also volunteered in other capacities for AMTA and AMTA-NY. Lindsay was awarded the 2019 AMTA-NY Government Relations Award and the 2020 AMTA-NY Meritorious Award. Lindsay’s love for MTF stemmed from her passion for research as well as from her devotion to the massage therapy profession. Lindsay ran as a charity runner in the 2018 Boston Marathon for MTF and currently chairs the MTF Finance Committee. She also has a B.A. in Sociology and is a Certified Personal Trainer.
John Combe, LMT, BCTMB – Vice President
John Combe is a massage therapist, educator and lifelong student. He is the owner of Combe’s Wellness Center, Oregon based for over 23 years in private practice, Over the years John has been very involved at state and national levels of leadership. He has worked with a long list of Elite and Olympic athletes from around the world. He was named 2005 and 2014 Oregon LMT of the Year an award given to a LMT that has shown outstanding leadership and dedication to the Massage Therapy Profession. John is a Past President for American Massage Therapy Association of Oregon and a Past AMTA National Board member. In 2013, John was recognized with the AMTA National Meritorious award. And in 2020, recognized as the AMTA National Sports Massage Achiever. John was appointed and served on the Oregon State Board of Massage Therapists as vice-chair 2018-2022. John was also a Massage Therapy Foundation Charity runner in the 2015 Boston Marathon. Being involved with and a supporter of MTF since 2000, John is looking forward to serving MTF as a Trustee.
Steve Albertson, LMT, BCTMB
Steve Albertson is a licensed massage therapist and MT practice owner in Evanston, IL. He specializes in clinical applications of massage for clients experiencing chronic pain and/or limited range of motion. He is the Immediate Past President of the American Massage Therapy Association(2021-2022). He enjoys helping clients find ways to reduce stress and improve their day-to-day living.
Niki Munk, PhD, LMT
Dr. Munk, is an Associate Professor of Health Sciences in Indiana University’s School of Health and Human Sciences at IUPUI, a non-practicing Kentucky licensed massage therapist, and member of the Academic Collaborative for Integrative Health (ACIH) research work group. Dr. Munk is one of 13 international Fellows in ARCCIM’s International Complementary Medicine Research Leadership Program, co-investigator on the VA TOMCATT study, and former Practice and Education Sections Editor for the International Journal of Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork. Dr. Munk’s research explores real-world massage therapy for chronic pain and associated factors, trigger point self-care, massage for amputation related sequelae, and the reporting and impact of massage related case reports among other projects. Prior to beginning her gerontological doctoral pursuits in 2006, Dr. Munk worked as Program Director and a lead instructor for the Lexington Healing Arts Academy in Lexington, Kentucky. Discouraged by accessibility barriers to massage therapy faced by much of the population, she chose research and academia as a means to help bridge the accessibility gap reasoning that stronger evidence for the field will lead to increased routine 3rd party coverage for massage treatment. Niki has been volunteering with the Massage Therapy Foundation since 2011 and joined the Board of Trustees in 2017.
Douglas Nelson, LMT, BCTMB
Douglas Nelson began his career in massage therapy in 1977 and he maintains a very active clinical practice. His particular interest has been the role of soft tissue in performance, serving as a neuromuscular consultant to teams in the NBA and NFL, dance companies, and high level musicians. He is the President of BodyWork Associates, a massage therapy clinic in Champaign, IL. Established in 1982, the clinic has three locations and a staff of more than twenty therapists. His teaching institute, NMT MidWest, Inc., provides about one hundred trainings annually in Precision Neuromuscular Therapy™ across the USA; he has personally taught more than 13,000 hours of continuing education. He is also the author of three books- Table Lessons: Insights in the practice of Massage Therapy (two volumes) and The Mystery of Pain. Doug has been the recipient of numerous awards in his field, most recently the 2013 Massage Therapy Educator of the Year and the 2015 Pioneer Award from the Illinois Chapter of the American Massage Therapy Association and was inducted into the Massage Therapy Hall of Fame in 2018.
Kim Nimmo, LMT, NCBTMB
Kim Nimmo owns a massage therapy business in Casper, Wyoming, and specializes in advanced Ashiatsu Deep Feet Bar Therapy. She serves a variety of clients ranging from post-surgical clients to athletes and everyone in between. Kim is very passionate about her community and serves as President of the Board of Directors for the 12-24 Club, an organization whose mission is to provide a safe and anonymous environment for individuals seeking recovery from drug and alcohol addiction. Kim strongly believes in the power of research and education and continually builds on her skills as a massage therapist by participating in continuing education. She is currently working toward her certification as a Yoga Instructor and will provide yoga instruction to individuals with mobility issues at a physical therapy clinic. She is an active board member of the AMTA serving as a delegate. Since Kim is very active in a variety of outdoor sports including running, walking, biking, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing, she has connectedness and empathy for athletes and people in the process of healing. Her favorite indoor past-times are reading and quilting.
Portia B. Resnick, PhD, ATC, BCTMB
Dr. Resnick is a Board Certified massage therapist and athletic trainer who has over 25 years of experience in the sports medicine field. She completed her PhD in Education with a concentration in Kinesiology at the University of Hawaii at Manoa where her research explored the use of heart rate variability as a clinical measure of recovery in NCAA Division I athletes. Currently an Assistant Professor and the Coordinator of Clinical Education for the athletic training program at California State University, Long Beach, she has been a volunteer with MTF since 2015 and is the 2014 Gold Award winner for the MTF Practitioner Case Report Contest. In addition, she has served on the Board of Directors for NCBTMB, including two years as President of the Board and is an author of the Sports Massage: Injury + Recovery module of the AMTA/NCBTMB Sports Massage Specialty Certificate Program. A proud volunteer for MTF, Dr. Resnick is looking forward to this opportunity to continue to serve the profession as a Trustee. “The MTF provides research to massage therapists and the healthcare community to create an evidence-informed practice.”
Advisory Council
John Balletto, BSc, LMT, CKTP
John Balletto is a licensed massage therapist, author, educator, researcher and certified KinesioTaping® Practitioner in private practice in Providence, Rhode Island. He is past National Vice-President of the American Massage Therapy Association, past President of the Massage Therapy Foundation and a member of the Associated Bodywork and Massage Professionals, the Alliance for Massage Therapy Education, the Fascia Research Society, the Kinesio Taping® Association International and an affiliate member of the American College of Sports Medicine. In addition to his private practice, he serves as the massage therapist for several collegiate and professional athletic teams, as is the current Chair of the State of RI Board of Licensed Massage Therapists.
A graduate of Bates College, Lewiston, ME, John is an avid sculler, gardner, beekeeper and nature photographer. He currently lives with his wife, Janet, in Warwick, RI.
Grace Chan, BSc, RMT, DOMP
Grace is a founder and co-owner of the Sutherland-Chan School of Massage Therapy and is the founder and owner of the Sutherland-Chan Clinics. She is known in Toronto for her role as an educator and employer of massage therapists. Grace entered massage therapy school in 1975 with a diverse educational background. She completed the course of massage therapy study at 3HO Foundation and completed the course of shiatsu at Kikkawa College (Shiatsu). She is an honors graduate from the University of Toronto with a B.Sc in Physiology and Psychology. In addition, she completed post-graduate studies in Neuroanatomy, Advanced Physiology and Psychology. More recently, she graduated from the Canadian College of Osteopathy as an Osteopathic Manual Practitioner. Grace has a long history of volunteering for charitable organizations. Starting in 1972 with the Beverley School for students with intellectual and physical disabilities, she has worked with a diverse list of organizations in leadership roles including the Mon Sheong Foundation, and Mount Sinai Hospital. She has also worked extensively with massage therapy associations in Canada and the United States, including being the founding President of the Massage Therapy Foundation, begun in the early 1990s by the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA). Prior to that she was the founder of the Canadian Sports Massage Therapists Association (CSMTA) and was instrumental in the founding of the Canadian Massage Therapists Alliance (CMTA).
Aviad Haramati, PhD
Aviad “Adi” Haramati is Professor and in the Departments of Physiology and Medicine at Georgetown University School of Medicine with research interests in renal and electrolyte physiology. Dr. Haramati has taught medical and graduate students for over 25 years. He served on the Physiology Test Development Committee (USMLE Step 1) for the National Board of Medical Examiners, and is currently Chair of the Examination Section for the Certification Board of Nutrition Specialists (CBNS) of the American College of Nutrition. His CAM-related interests focus on the use of Mind-Body Medicine Skills for stress management and on the integration of CAM in health professions education. Dr. Haramati was the principal investigator of an NIH grant that is supporting a broad educational initiative to incorporate CAM and integrative medicine into the 4-year medical curriculum at Georgetown. Dr. Haramati is the past Vice-Chair of the Consortium of Academic Health Centers for Integrative Medicine and a member of the executive committee of the Integrated Healthcare Policy Consortium. He chaired the program committee for the 2006 North American Research Conference on Complementary and Integrative Medicine, and was chair of the organizing committee for the 2009 Research Conference.
Janet R. Kahn, PhD, NCTMB
Janet Kahn is both a CAM practitioner and a medical sociologist with years of experience looking at issues of healthcare delivery and systems integration. She is currently serving as Executive Director of the Integrated Healthcare Policy Consortium, and Director of Research for the Massage Therapy Research Consortium. Dr. Kahn is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Vermont, College of Medicine. She was the co-investigator on three studies currently in the field — a clinical trial comparing two kinds of massage for people with chronic low back pain being conducted at Group Health Center for Health Studies; a Phase II SBIR grant to develop and test an educational DVD for cancer patients and their caregivers; and a qualitative study of the effects massage clients notice. Dr. Kahn is a past president of the Massage Therapy Foundation, and was a member of the NIH National Advisory Council on Complementary and
Alternative Medicine.
Thomas Myers, LMT
Thomas Myers directs Anatomy Trains, which offers courses in manual therapy and the anatomy of movement worldwide. Tom is the author of Anatomy Trains (Elsevier 2001, 2009, 2014),Anatomist’s Corner (Kinesis 2012), Body3 (Kinesis 2010), and co-author of Fascial Release for Structural Balance (North Atlantic 2010, 2016). Tom has authored numerous chapters and contributes frequently to trade magazine and journals. Tom has produced 16 DVDs and a dozen webinars for manual therapists and movement teachers. Tom speaks frequently on fascia, connected anatomy, and movement.
Tom is a certified Rolfer ®, a member of the Health Advisory Board for Equinox Fitness, and has formerly been on the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork, as well as the Rolf Institute’s Board of Directors. He studied directly with Drs. Ida Rolf, Moshe Feldenkrais, and other luminaries of the bodywork world, and had successful practices in London, Germany, Italy, Australia, and various cities in the US. Tom developed the Anatomy Trains myofascial meridians system from a combination of his practice and anatomy teaching to his students. This system, which connects the muscles into functional units through the fascial bio-fabric, has been taken up with enthusiasm by a variety of body-oriented practitioners from rehabilitation and performance enhancement.
Whitney Lowe, LMT
Whitney Lowe is a recognized authority on pain and injury treatment with massage therapy. His contributions to the massage field are wide-ranging and include extensive research, professional publications, teaching, clinical work, consulting, and participation in national boards and committees. He is the author of the books, Orthopedic Assessment in Massage Therapy, and Orthopedic Massage: Theory and Technique, which are used in training programs and schools nationally and internationally. He is a former chair of the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork and In 1994 founded the Academy of Clinical Massage (formerly OMERI) to provide massage therapists the advanced education they would need for treating orthopedic soft-tissue disorders. He is a member of the editorial advisory board of the Journal of Bodywork & Movement Therapies and has been a regular featured author in publications such as Massage Magazine, Massage Today, The Journal of Soft-Tissue Manipulation, and Massage & Bodywork.
Ruth Werner, BCTMB
Ruth Werner is a massage therapist, writer, and educator with a passionate interest in massage research and the role of bodywork for people who struggle with health. Her groundbreaking textbook, A Massage Therapist’s Guide to Pathology was first published in 1998; keeping it current is now her main occupation. In addition, she writes a column for Massage and Bodywork magazine and teaches continuing education workshops all over the country. She has served on committees for the Utah Department of Public Licensing, the American Massage Therapy Association (AMTA), the National Certifying Board for Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork (NCBTMB), and the Federation of State Massage Therapy Boards (FSMTB). Ruth was extremely honored to be selected for the AMTA Council of Schools Teacher of the Year Award for 2005. Ruth is a past President of the Massage Therapy Foundation and served on the Board of Trustees from 2007-2018.
Leslie A. Young, PhD
Leslie has enjoyed donating to and volunteering for the Massage Therapy Foundation since 2008; she was honored to serve as a Trustee and Development Chair until 2016. In 2002 Leslie joined the massage profession as Editor-in-Chief of Massage & Bodywork magazine; she’s also Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals’ Vice President Communication. Her dedication to the Foundation traces back to her appreciation for inquiry and her respect for evidenced-based practice. She sees the Foundation as the philanthropic crossroads for the massage profession and particularly enjoys stewarding key Foundation relationships and educating professionals about its three focal points: community service grants, research grants, and education on the efficacy of therapeutic massage.
Current Massage Therapy Foundation Committee Volunteer Roster:
Executive Committee
Adrienne Asta, LMT (Chair)
Lindsay Bodkin, B.A., LMT, CPT
John Combe, LMT, BCTMB
Doug Nelson, LMT, BCTMB
Community Service Grant Proposal Review Committee
Adrienne Asta, LMT (Chair)
Steve Albertson, LMT, BCTMB
Dawn Conyers, LMT
Jess Larson, LMT
Nicole Swayne, BA, LMT, CNMT
Development and Marketing Committee
Doug Nelson, LMT, BCTMB (Chair)
Adrienne Asta, LMT
Nestor Battung, LMT
Oliver Layco, LMT
Kim Nimmo, BCTMB
Education Committee
Lurana Bain, LMT
Andrew Jurdan, LMT
Jordan Meyer, LMT, ACSM
Tania Velásquez, LMT
Pete Whitridge, BA, LMT
Finance Committee
Lindsay Bodkin, B.A., LMT, CPT (Chair)
Adrienne Asta, LMT
John Combe, LMT, BCTMB
Doug Nelson, LMT, BCTMB
Governance Committee
Adrienne Asta, LMT (Chair)
Lindsay Bodkin, B.A., LMT, CPT
John Combe, LMT, BCTMB
Doug Nelson, LMT, BCTMB
Dolly Wallace, LMT, BCTMB
Research Committee
Niki Munk, PhD, LMT (Chair)
Rob Hemsworth, BPE, Bed, MRSC, RMT
Gordon MacDonald, BSc
Robin Miccio, MS, LMT
Portia B. Resnick, PhD, ATC, BCTMB
JoEllen Sefton, PhD, ATC, CMT
Research Grant Proposal Review Committee
Niki Munk, PhD, LMT (Interim Chair)
Jill S. Cole, MS, LMT, BCTMB
Albert Moraska, PhD
Antony Porcino, PhD, HSI
Student Case Report Contest Review Committee
Robin Miccio, MS, LMT, CEIM (Chair)
Lurana Bain, LMT
Portia B. Resnick, PhD, ATC, BCTMB
Susan Salvo, EdD, LMT, NTS
Writing Committee
Adrienne Asta, BA, LMT (Board Liaison)
Leisa Bellmore, MSc, ST
Jolie Haun, PhD, LMT
Corey Rivera, BA, LMT
Arthur Veilleux, PT
Andrea Winzer, M.Sc., BCTMB, PCC
International professionals work with the Massage Therapy Foundation in various capacities. We designate their academic degrees and professional credentials according to the countries in which they qualified. We make every effort to do this as accurately as possible.