Sami is a trained massage therapist from Maryland. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Chinese Language and Culture from Saint Mary’s College of Maryland, a Master’s degree in Chinese Art History and Archaeology from the University of London, and an Associate’s degree in Massage Therapy from the College of Southern Maryland.

During massage school, she realized the importance of scientific evidence in massage and how the current body of evidence is not yet well-developed. Sami decided that the best way she could help the massage therapy community and health care in general is to become involved in research herself. She applied to Indiana University’s Health and Rehabilitation Science PhD program, and she started her studies in Fall 2018 as a student of Dr. Niki Munk.

One of the topics that particularly caught Sami’s attention as she started involving herself in research was how massage can be used to support mental health. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent increase of mental health complaints across the world made Sami even more set upon learning more about massage and mental health.

Sami is currently working on her dissertation, the culminating project for a doctoral degree. She has been intricately involved in the development work for MassageNet, putting together much of the administrative and foundation pieces to make MassageNet work. Sami’s dissertation study will use MassageNet’s members to help her learn more about mental health in massage therapy. Read more about this study HERE.