Frank Yurasek, PhD, LAc
Assistant Professor, Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine
Frank Yurasek, acupuncture and oriental medicine clinician, studied pre-med and literature at the University of Notre Dame. He received a teaching fellowship at Notre Dame for his master's degree in literature, teaching Rhetoric and Composition, American Drama, and Honors English. From Notre Dame, he pursued a career in Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations, specializing in High Technology Accounts. He was the first non-Japanese agency to handle the NEC Broadcast and Consumer Electronics accounts, and later was director of marketing for Satellite Broadcast Network, and director of corporate communications for Advanced Systems Inc.
In 1984, his wife experienced a remarkable recovery from Trigeminal Neuralgia thanks to acupuncture. Dr. Yurasek began his study and internship with Dr. Yin Lun Han, a Chinese doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine from Shen Yang, China, with over 40 years experience. While studying with Shen Yang, Dr. Yurasek spent some of his time training the "barefoot doctors" there.
Later, Dr. Yurasek received his masters of science in Oriental Medicine from the Midwest College of Oriental Medicine, where he taught for 16 years and was appointed as Professor of Tui Na in 1992.
Dr. Yurasek also worked at Northern Illinois Council of Alcohol and Substance Abuse from 1989 to 2004, treating addicts, alcoholics, violent offenders, and homeless women. There, he implemented a 17-week program entitled "Taking Effective Control (TEC)" while he was developing his private Acupuncture Practice.
In 1993, Dr. Yurasek sponsored a team of Traditional Chinese Medicine doctors on their visit to Chicago from Liao Ning Provincial Hospital, a 1000 bed facility in Shen Yang China. He also helped open a free alternative clinic in the Austin neighborhood, co-sponsored by the Westside Health Authority. Later, Dr. Yurasek travelled to Guang Zhao, China over several years to intern while he completed his dissertation, which was later published at the Guang Zhao University of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
He also studied Kampo Herbal Medicine in Tokyo Japan, sponsored by the Tsumura Company, and was appointed as the first American to the Japanese Oriental Medicine Society.
Dr. Yurasek has delivered papers and presentations at national meetings and conventions, including the Society for Acupuncture Research, the Midwest Pain Society, the American Academy of Medical Acupuncture. He has served on the Board of Directors of the American Association of Body Therapies of Asia, the National Qi Gong Association, and the American Board of Eastern Medicine. He has also taught as Visiting Professor at the Chinese Academy of Chinese Medical Science in Beijing, China, and is a guest lecturer for Certified Natural Health Practitioners (CNHP). In 2000, he took over publishing The Oriental Medicine Journal, and continued in that capacity until 2009 as both editor and a contributing writer.
Regarding his personal interests, Dr. Yurasek says: "In the past I have raised and showed prized Rhodesian Ridgeback dogs, mountain-climbed, ice-climbed, and canoed and rafted the Wolf River and Red River Gorge. Having played rugby for area teams for 8 years, I muse about bringing it back to National University!"
Further Reading
- NUHS Interns Treating Pain Patients at Cook County's Stroger Hospital with Acupuncture
- Treating Combat Vets with PTSD
- Drs. Yurasek and Martin Publish Case Study on Acupuncture and Hypertension
- Dr. Frank Yurasek Elected Vice President of ILAAOM
- Dr. Yurasek Contributes Article on Acupuncture for PTSD
- Dr. Yurasek Brings NUHS to Global Forum on AOM Education
