oh, hello there

I had always been passionate about integrative health, but never thought a Western Medicine-trained pharmacist, like me, could be a part of it.

This all changed when I had the chance to work with Dr. Pam Tarlow, one of the best (if not, the best, my opinion!) Integrative Health Pharmacist, with extensive experience in many practice settings spanning over forty years. We forged a professional partnership to create the first-ever PGY1 Integrative Health Pharmacy Residency (IHPRx) program in the country. As the co-founder and inaugural resident, I specialized in nutrition, botanical medicine, and leadership/entrepreneurship. As a fluent Spanish speaker and experience founding my college of pharmacy’s first volunteer program at a local free clinic, I trained at both an independent natural pharmacy and integrative HIV clinic–where I implemented its first bilingual medication therapy management (MTM) program.

As you can probably tell, my colleagues have never described me as ‘conventional.’

When looking at my experiences, from majoring in Spanish then taking a year to work as a graphic designer and event coordinator at my college, to researching a broad range of projects in pharmacy school (including a Phase II clinical trial on cannabis use), to working at a medical device start-up, and now writing for multiple online and print publications... I guess they could be right.

Dr. Swathi received her Dr. of Pharmacy (PharmD) from the Medical University of South Carolina College of Pharmacy (Charleston, SC) and her Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from Carleton College (Northfield, MN). She is certified in Plant-Based Nutrition from Cornell University. Dr. Swathi serves adjunct faculty and has guest lectured at colleges, universities, and conference stages worldwide. She has been published in peer-reviewed academic journals and has been featured in Entrepreneur, mindbodygreen, and Thrive Global.

In her free time, she can be found experimenting with vegan recipe development, paging through Architectural Digest or a personal development book, taking long walks, or planning her next trip (30 countries + counting!).

Dr. Swathi Varanasi, or Dr. Swathi for short, is a bilingual pharmacist specializing in integrative and preventative health. Dr. Swathi has paved the way for other healthcare professionals to pursue non-traditional career paths through creating postdoctoral training programs, industry internships, and online courses. She co-founded and serves as Chief Scientific Officer of the international award-winning clean beauty and wellness brand, Elēment Apothēc.

As a healthcare disruptor, she looks for opportunities to break barriers and challenge her western-trained colleagues to think beyond the conventional scope of their practice. Through the many modalities of integrative medicine and patient-centered shared decision-making, she believes that health and wellness is achievable for everyone. Emphasizing an evidence-based approach, Dr. Swathi is passionate about educating practitioners, students, patients, and consumers, and strives to empower everyone to be the best, most authentic version of themselves.