UC San Diego Health – 4th & Lewis Medical Offices

Fidés Julian, DACM, is a licensed acupuncturist who cares for patients through the Center of Integrated Medicine at UC San Diego. She uses a wide range of acupuncture techniques, including orthopedic and sports injury treatment, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), Kiiko Matsumoto Japanese-style acupuncture (KMS), electroacupuncture and various adjunctive therapies.

Dr. Julian collaborates with multidisciplinary health care teams to provide holistic care and coordinate referrals to other health care providers. She specializes in family medicine, autoimmune conditions and pain management including chronic migraine headaches, neck, shoulder and back pain conditions. Her treatment approach integrates evidence based protocols informed by current research, orthopedic and neurological examination, with treatment plans that evolve with patients' needs.

In addition to patient care, she is a clinical preceptor, mentoring medical students and residents on their pain rotation. She is also a clinic supervisor at Pacific College of Health and Science where she oversees interns and assistants in delivering safe and effective acupuncture treatments to a diverse patient population.

Dr. Julian completed her Doctorate of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine at Pacific College of Health and Science in San Diego. She also has a Master of Science degree in traditional Oriental medicine from Pacific College of Oriental Medicine in Chicago and San Diego.

She is a member of the American Association of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, American Society of Acupuncturists and California State Oriental Medical Association.

Kimberly DiStefano is a licensed acupuncturist and doctor of acupuncture and Chinese medicine who care for patients as part of the Center of Integrated Medicine. She provides acupuncture treatment and uses a holistic approach to address various health concerns, with a special focus on women's health and orthopedic conditions.

She completed her degree in Chinese medicine at Pacific College of Health and Science in San Diego and completed her undergraduate degree at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Lindsay Caruso is a Doctor of Acupuncture and Chinese medicine (DACM) and licensed massage therapist with more than 15 years of clinical experience. She integrates Eastern and Western approaches to deliver highly individualized care that addresses root causes of dysfunction while providing meaningful symptom relief.

Dr. Caruso specializes in older-adult health care, palliative care, chronic pain, migraine, headache management and neurological disorders. By combining precise acupuncture protocols, advanced manual therapy and evidence-informed lifestyle medicine, she helps patients regain function and improve quality of life.

In her massage therapy practice, she specializes in therapeutic and corrective techniques designed to restore postural balance, regulate the nervous system and resolve pain. Her sessions blend modalities such as sports massage, myofascial release, joint mobilization and trigger point therapy.

In addition to her clinical work, Dr. Caruso is a trained health coach with a particular passion for guiding patients toward lasting behavior change. She partners with individuals to identify barriers, build sustainable habits and cultivate the daily practices—spanning movement, nutrition, stress management, sleep and mind-body awareness—that transform health from the inside out.

When not in the clinic, she can be found tending her garden (under the close supervision of her opinionated chickens), experimenting in the kitchen, and enjoying life with her husband and their demanding English Bulldog, Gidget.

Melanie Fiorella, MD, is a board-certified family medicine doctor. She provides primary care for patients of all ages, including preventive care and treatment of acute and chronic diseases. She has a special interest in women's health, mood disorders, back pain, gastrointestinal disorders and sleep problems.

Dr. Fiorella integrates lifestyle medicine - such as nutrition, mindfulness-based stress reduction and yoga - into the medical care of her patients. Where indicated, she refers patients to complementary therapies such as osteopathic manual therapy, acupuncture and massage. She also offers consults in integrative medicine through UC San Diego's Center for Integrative Medicine.

As a professor of family medicine, Dr. Fiorella is involved in training medical students and residents at UC San Diego School of Medicine. She is the director of the Integrative Medicine in Residency program.

Dr. Fiorella completed her residency at UC San Diego School of Medicine and earned her medical degree at State University of New York at Buffalo School of Medicine. She is board certified in family medicine and completed fellowship training in integrative medicine.

Deepa Sannidhi, MD, is board-certified family medicine, obesity medicine and lifestyle medicine physician. Trained in preventive medicine, Dr. Sannidhi provides chronic disease management and also helps people prevent and treat disease through lifestyle and integrative medicine. Her expertise includes women's health, integrative medicine, and lifestyle medicine, which uses evidence-based therapeutic approaches such as nutrition, exercise, stress management, sleep and other non-drug modalities, to decrease disease risk and illness. She is also trained and proficient in using medications in the management of overweight and obesity, and practices obesity medicine at the UCSD Center for Digestive Diseases Weight Management Clinic.

Dr. Sannidhi created and runs a shared medical appointment program called the Supervised Lifestyle and Integrative Medicine Program, or SLIM Program for Weight Management and Lifestyle Related Disease, which is offered by the UCSD Center for Integrative Medicine in partnership with UCSD Weight Management Clinic. Patients are able to see her individually and in groups to get assistance with managing their disease through evidence-based integrative treatments and lifestyle management that is individualized to their needs. The SLIM Program is a structured weight management program consisting of 17 group medical visits and five one-on-one visits.

As an associate professor in the Department of Family Medicine, Dr. Sannidhi enjoys teaching residents and medical students at UC San Diego School of Medicine about lifestyle medicine and nutrition. Her research interests include obesity and behavior change, as well as the implementation of clinical models of care that allow physicians to practice in line with their values within the confines of today's healthcare system.

Dr. Sannidhi completed her family medicine residency training at Hunterdon Medical Center in Flemington, N.J., one of the first six family medicine residencies in the country, and trained as a resident in the UCSD/SDSU General Preventive Medicine Residency program, where she also served as chief resident and now serves as core faculty. She earned her medical degree from Rutgers New Jersey Medical School.

She is a member of many professional organizations including the California Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Preventive Medicine, the Obesity Medicine Association, The Obesity Society and the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, where she serves as chair of the research committee.

Dr. Sannidhi is married to her high school sweetheart and they have a young daughter. Outside of work, she enjoys eating at healthy restaurants and finding new ways to cook healthy and delicious food.

In addition to English, Dr. Sannidhi is fluent in Telugu and conversational in Hindi and medical Spanish.

Ariel Portera, DO, is a physician who provides primary care for patients of all ages with a special interest in women's health, integrative medicine and nutrition. She also performs inpatient and outpatient osteopathic manipulative treatment – a hands-on approach to treating a wide variety of illnesses and musculoskeletal injuries.

Providing general integrative medicine consults through the Center for Integrative Medicine, she utilizes lifestyle medicine to address the root cause of chronic disease. She also integrates and frequently refers to other complementary modalities including but not limited to acupuncture, massage, mindfulness and culinary medicine.

She enjoys treating the mind, body and spirit to optimize health and wellness, and partnering with patients on their health care journey.

Dr. Portera completed a residency in family medicine at UC San Diego School of Medicine and she earned her medical degree from Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine in Bradenton, Fla. She is a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians, the Academy of Integrative Health Medicine, the Institute for Functional Medicine and the American Osteopathic Association.

In her free time, Dr. Portera enjoys spending time with family and friends, travel, hiking, cooking and meditation.