Meet Our Team
Elisse Evans, ND
Founder
Dr. Evans is passionate about working with people who are looking to achieve real health results, naturally. She grew up in Bakersfield, CA, moved to Santa Barbara to attend Westmont College where she earned a Bachelor's Degree in Chemistry. Dr. Evans first learned about naturopathic medicine after having her own personal success story. After graduating from Westmont College, she went on to earn a degree in Naturopathic Medicine from Bastyr University in Kenmore, Washington. While at Bastyr University she worked as a teaching assistant for the Advanced Gynecology and Anatomy courses.
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Her areas of focus are men and women's health and natural fertility, gastrointestinal disorders, fatigue, autoimmune disorders, IV therapy, thyroid management, Wilson's Syndrome, and hormonal health. Dr. Evans believes it is important to understand and treat the whole person. Each person will receive a personalized treatment to enhance their healing process.
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Dr. Evans is the only certified doctor for Wilson's Temperature Syndrome on the central coast. To learn more about Wilson's Temperature Syndrome click here.
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When not at Origins Integrative Medicine she enjoys spending time with her husband and her fun loving french bulldog. Hiking, playing volleyball, cooking, skiing, and cycling are some of her favorite hobbies.
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Dr. Evans is a proud member of:
The American Association of Naturopathic Medicine
California Naturopathic Doctors Association
The Association for the Advancement of Restorative Medicine
The American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine
Michelle Cárdenas, ND
Dr. Michelle Cárdenas has practiced naturopathic medicine for 10 years, working intimately with her patients to guide them on their path to optimal, sustainable health. She graduated from National University of Natural Medicine (formerly National College of Natural Medicine) in 2013 and, shortly after graduation, returned to her home town of Santa Barbara, CA to support the health of her community members.
Dr. Cárdenas believes strongly that the body’s innate healing mechanisms should be reinforced and not suppressed, and that without a strong foundation, health improvement is difficult. Therefore, she helps her patients fortify what she calls the “pillars of health” as she investigates what might be underlying their symptoms. She is passionate, empathetic, thorough, and creative in her treatment approach and is willing to dig deep to get at the root of the problem. Dr. Cárdenas is especially skilled in working with patients with endocrine and hormonal conditions — specifically thyroid and adrenal—, pregnancy and postpartum support, gastrointestinal conditions, and chronic viral infections. She employs many different modalities including botanical and nutritional medicine, intravenous therapy, lifestyle and diet counseling, and hormone replacement therapies.
Outside of the clinic, Dr. Cardenas loves being a mother to her two young children, Río and Brisa. She and her husband Eric have deep roots in the Santa Barbara community and spend their time absorbing and traversing the joys, challenges and lessons brought on by parenthood while enjoying music, good food, the outdoors, the ocean, friends, and family.
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Liora Mor, ND
*Telehealth and Zoom visits only
Dr. Liora Mor is a licensed Naturopathic Doctor who specializes in functional gastroenterology, women’s health/hormones, thyroid disorders and metabolic disorders, including sustainable weight management, and environmental/chronic illness.
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Dr. Liora has made it her life’s mission to help people regain control over, and improve their health by getting to the root of what is causing their symptoms. Dr. Liora offers personalized care using advanced tests for digestive disorders, as well as hormone and metabolic panels, to help identify hidden factors inhibiting patients from achieving their health goals. She has a compassionate and realistic approach to healthcare, helping patients make necessary lifestyle changes that promote their body’s ability to heal and restore.
When she is not seeing patients she is hiking, running, reading, listening to podcasts, or traveling.
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Education:
Doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine, SCNM, Arizona
Two-Year Naturopathic Residency focused on Women’s Health, Hormones and Gastroenterology, Santa Barbara, CA
Certified Personal Trainer and Behavior Change Specialist, NASM
Bachelor of Science in Biology, Ursinus College, Pennsylvania
Ciara Lumaj, ND
Dr. Ciara Lumaj's passion for natural medicine stems from her Albanian heritage, which places a high value on natural remedies. This interest led her to pursue a Naturopathic Doctorate at Bastyr University, where she concentrated on men's and women's health, gastrointestinal conditions, and oncology.
Her focus on women's health was inspired by her own experience with endometriosis, motivating her to explore its causes and potential healing methods. Additionally, Dr. Lumaj delved into oncology, influenced by her mother's Stage IV cancer diagnosis during medical school. This personal encounter provided her with a deep understanding of the complexities of cancer treatment and its impact on patients and caregivers.
Dr. Lumaj underscores the significance of preventative medicine and offers comprehensive women's wellness exams, including breast examinations and PAP smears, alongside the optimization of general health for both men and women.
Additionally, she specializes in gastroenterology, hormonal health (men and women), stress management, cancer care, specialty labs, and optimization of well-being.
Her healthcare approach revolves being proactive about health, not just reactive. Dr. Lumaj values collaborative efforts in setting health goals and plans, ensuring a patient-centered approach to wellness.
When not at Origins, she spends her time playing pickleball, basketball, hiking, volleyball, reading, and enjoying a cup of artisanal coffee.
Jaime HeeR,
Functional Nutrition Practitioner
Jaime works closely with her clients to create an individualized nutrition and gut healing protocol so that you can look and feel amazing, naturally! She understands the power that food, movement and lifestyle modifications have for optimizing digestion, remedying nutritional deficiencies and bringing balance to energy, mood, skin, sleep and hormones.
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Jaime was born and raised in San Diego. She achieved her Bachelor of Science in Child Development from San Diego State University and then moved to Santa Barbara where she lives with her husband and 2 cats. Jaime loves spending her leisure time hiking, cooking, and socializing with friends. You can often find her soaking up the beautiful SB weather on the Playa Azul Cafe patio.
Before joining the OIM team, Jaime owned Armada Wine & Beer Merchant in downtown Santa Barbara. Following her career in the wine industry, she switched paths to study functional nutrition at Nutritional Therapy Association as well as gastrointestinal healing & hormone balance at Restorative Wellness Solutions.
She would be thrilled to help you gain a deeper understanding of how you can utilize nutrition to optimize your weight, digestion, skin & gut health!
Sati Ng,
Office Manager & Naturopathic Assistant
Sati grew up in the Greater Boston area where she was introduced to the healing benefits of movement through dance which she has continued to enjoy throughout her life.
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She attended New York University where she studied Anthropology and Spanish with a minor in Nutrition. Post graduation, Sati worked for a tech startup and began teaching western yoga. After a handful of influential life events, she set off traveling and living in various communities around the world. She focused on building a deeper connection with herself and what it means to be healthy in today’s society.
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Throughout her explorations, she has studied & obtained certifications in multiple modalities including Yoga, Thai Massage, Biomagnetic Pair Therapy, Cranioscral Therapy, Lomi Lomi bodywork, osteopathic foundations, nonviolent communication, food as medicine, and permaculture.
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When Sati is not ensuring that operations are running smoothly at Origins Integrative, you can find her creating with her hands, exploring local hiking trails, cooking auto-immune friendly foods, dancing, learning, snuggling her pup Theo, and doing absolutely nothing.