Meet Amy Greeson
Amy Greeson, producer and host of Healing Seekers, is a pharmacist, educator, lecturer, writer and world traveler who is most at home at the crossroads between medicine and the healing traditions of indigenous cultures.
Amy's lifelong interest in pharmacology began at the knee of her father, a pharmacy owner in a small North Carolina town. After working as a student in research and development with Burroughs Welcome Pharmaceutical and spending a summer with Public Health Service, she earned her own pharmacy degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Amy went on to work in both a clinical setting and a retail pharmacy setting in Alaska before returning to take over her father's practice.
Her interest in centuries-old healing traditions began during a transformative trip to the Amazon, which she says opened not only her eyes, but also her heart and soul. "It awakened me and showed me a bigger, more complete picture of what healing is all about," she says.
Since then, Amy has traveled extensively to study with shamans and village healers in the far reaches of Belize, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, and Madagascar. She has learned how to stitch a wound with surgical ants... to treat bacterial, fungal and viral infections with the sap of a tree... which plants help with inflammation, pain, bites and burns... and how traditional cultures integrate powerful spiritual practices into their healing traditions.
Amy has put her experiences to use by becoming a well-known authority on the benefits of combining prescription medications with herbal and nutritional remedies.Her commitment to finding more effective treatment alternatives has led to Healing Seekers - a project to explore and document the healing practices of cultures (especially in the third world) that can hold the keys to modern-day treatments and cures.
Experience shows the potential is there. For example, tree bark has been used in the treatment of breast cancer, saliva from the Gila monster to treat diabetes and a sea sponge to develop a new drug for AIDS.
"It is vital that we understand and use these therapies now," she said, "we are losing life forms and indigenous knowledge at an alarming rate. We must act quickly for these reasons and for the infinite number of people who are anxiously awaiting better treatments and cures."
FILMOGRAPHY
June 2008, Executive Producer, Producer, Host
Documentary (currently in post-production) Healing Seekers: Madagascar Expedition
2008, Medical contributor, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Natural Remedies
Sept-Oct 2006, Executive Producer, Producer, Host
Healing Seekers: Ecuador Expedition (Documentary 46 min)
Yasuni Biosphere, Amazon and Imbabura region, Andes
August 2007-2008, Co-Host Global Healing Radio
EXPERIENCE and EDUCATION
November 2005, Yelapa, Mexico - Study with Healers and healing practices
April 2005, Yelapa, Mexico - Study with local healers
2004, Jaldar, Peru (Amazon) - Study with medicine man/woman
2002 , Belize - Excursion to study native therapies
1999 , National Certification in Herbal Medicine, Nevada
1997-1999, Undergraduate courses in Psychology, UNCG, Greensboro, NC
1999, Peru - Excursion with ANMP President, Connie Grauds to study with Medicine Man
1995-present, Pharmacist and Manager, Thomasville Pharmacy, Thomasville, NC
1989, Externship with Public Health Service Anchorage, Bethel, and Kotzebue, Alaska
1988, NPI Internship -Research and Development, urroughs Welcome Pharmaceutical Company Greenville, NC
1984-1990, BS Pharmacy, UNC -Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
POSITIONS
2008 - present, Director, Healing Education Foundation
The Healing Education Foundation is devoted to educating the public, especially children and college students about the many healing practices in the world, and also about the discoveries of the Healing Seekers and Natural Discoveries teams. This will entail a very extensive website with video clips, podcasts, and webisodes as well as interactive tools about healing methods all over the world, the cultures, their practices, the environment and conservation, and the interconnectedness of all life.We anticipate eventually having the means to produce a live interactive educational connection to students, so that they may experience our adventures with us in 'real time'. Additionally, we anticipate taking a very small number of students with us on future trips to places like New Guinea, the Congo, Borneo, and so on.
2008 - present, President and Co-Founder of Natural Discoveries, Inc.
Natural Discoveries' mission is to work with healers and peoples to discover and explore in depth the many 'untapped' therapies and treatments of other cultures, especially in undeveloped and remote areas of the world. With approval, these treatments will be brought back to the United States, analyzed in laboratories, and evaluated for their potential as new medicines and treatments. It is a strong mission of this project to work in collaboration and with reciprocity, with indigenous people to better their lives and worlds.
2006, President, Founder, Healing Seekers
Healing Seekers' mission is to explore the world (especially the most biodiverse regions and consequently the most remote regions of Planet Earth) in search of indigenous therapies and treatments; to bring awareness of them via documentaries/ internet/ and educational avenues with lectures/ presentations/ etc.; to stress conservation and sustainability; and to help others better understand (and ideally appreciate and honor) the value of every human being and every life form on our planet. http://www.healingseekers.com/
2007- May, 2008 Co-Host Global Healing Radio
*Internet radio show devoted to giving voice to national and international visionaries whose life missions are to better the world in the area of healing. This includes spiritual, emotional, psychological, integrative and alternative medicine, and mainstream medicine. As of May, Global Healing was heard in over 40 countries. http://www.globalhealingvision.com/
2005-Present, Founding Member, Steering Committee Member for non-profit, Center for Spirited Medicine Alliance (a Division of the Association of Natural Medicine Pharmacist, ANMP)
2005-2007 Board Member, Davidson County Board of Health
2000-2002, Integrative Medicine Consultant for Natural Alternatives, Greensboro, NC
2000-2001 Board Member, Thomasville YMCA
1996-2001 Volunteer, Medicial Ministries Lexington, NC
(and 2003-2004)
1984-1990 UNC-Chapel Hill, Undergraduate and School of Pharmacy
President, Association of Students of Pharmacy (The Student Branch of the American Pharmaceutical Association)
AWARDS
McKesson Leadership Award
Merck, Sharp, and Dohme Award
Kappa Epsilon Award
Phi Lambda Sigma Pharmacy Leadership Society
