Enhancing Western Medicine with Eastern Influences for Whole Health

Drawn to UH’s rich history with integrative medicine, new medical director focuses on whole health

UH Clinical Update | December 2022

Santosh Rao, MD, walks with each of his patients on their cancer journeys, supporting them through a holistic approach inspired by the Eastern influences of his Indian heritage. He was educated at some of the best Western medical institutions in the United States. As the Medical Director of Integrative Oncology, Dr. Rao chose to come to University Hospitals for the opportunities that abound at UH Connor Whole Health, a comprehensive integrative medicine program.

A first-generation Indian-American, Dr. Rao was raised with yoga, meditation and the instinct that health was more complicated than biology or genetics.

Santosh Rao, MD

“I hope to help empower people to be active in their care, both during and after treatment, to encourage patients to do helpful things and educate them,” says Dr. Rao. “We want to offer services that limit symptoms and allow people to get the treatment that is required while maintaining quality of life.” 

To understand his vision for UH at both Seidman Cancer Center and Connor Whole Health – one of the largest integrative medicine programs in the US, which is successful for its integration with the conventional treatment team – it’s instructive to first consider Dr. Rao’s own history.

The Roots of Comprehensive Health

With parents who emigrated from India in the 1960s, Dr. Rao had a deep connection to his roots. He traveled to India frequently and began exploring it more thoroughly as an adult, traveling to yoga ashrams and studying Ayurveda, a system of medicine focused on a belief that disease is caused by an imbalance within or with nature. His Harvard-educated grandfather was the Director of Health Services in Maharashtra, the state that contains Mumbai, and led work against malaria. His older brother teaches South Asian religion and Sanskrit at the University of Toronto. 

Dr. Rao was not a typical college student, simultaneously focusing on personal growth and academics. He was unusually disciplined, even in his late teens and early 20s. He cooked for himself to ensure a healthier diet and abstained from alcohol. He meditated daily and maintained a regular sleep schedule, never needing an alarm clock.

“I was a bit ahead of my time,” he says. “I wanted to explore health traditions through personal experience.”

At the University of Michigan, he began merging his scientific interests in biology, physics and health with a personal interest in wellness, specifically from an Eastern perspective. He led a popular yoga and meditation group on campus. During his sophomore year, the biophysics major took time to do an independent study on Western medicine and Ayurvedic approaches to anger and learned helplessness, reading many ancient Indian texts as part of his research.

“I had a strong interest in personal health and the foundation for health and prevention of disease,” says Dr. Rao. “I understood, even at that age, that we often try to repair the body without understanding root causes, or that we do not (in Western medicine) often have a concept of optimal health. Too often we put a band-aid on medical problems without looking at the root causes.

“I really was driven, and those studies changed me.”

After completing medical school at the University of Michigan, Dr. Rao went to the University of California, San Diego for his residency in internal medicine. While working at Scripps, he completed a fellowship in integrative medicine at the University of Arizona and trained in Ayurveda, healing touch, and Reiki.

Dr. Rao then came to UH for a fellowship in hematology and oncology, with an interest in studying integrative oncology and its benefits for patients. His primary mentor was Joseph Barr, MD, and he was mentored by numerous other respected oncologists. With the strong support of UH, Dr. Rao was able to further establish his interest in integrative oncology and follow through on his long-standing ambitions.

“I got a great look at experts in the field at UH, and their passion at advancing the field of cancer for patients,” Dr. Rao says.

After completing his fellowship, he began his next chapter in integrative medicine at Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center in Arizona. While continuing his oncology work with breast and genitourinary cancer patients, Dr. Rao also led a diverse and collaborative team that included yoga therapists, acupuncturists, and a psycho-oncologist. Patients had access to mindfulness and meditation classes, survivorship support and a holistic tobacco recovery program that incorporated aromatherapy and acupuncture.

He was Medical Director of Integrative Medicine and Supportive Oncology at Banner MD Anderson’s James M. Cox Center for Cancer Prevention and Integrative Oncology when he chose to return to Cleveland, drawn by UH’s reputation and the opportunity to live in a city with great schools, world-class arts and parks, all near his wife’s family.

“UH Connor Whole Health has this great name, and you merge that with a top academic cancer center in UH Seidman, and the opportunities for what we can do for this community are limitless,” Dr. Rao says.

With research interests in lifestyle modification for prostate cancer, symptom management with complementary therapies, and the role of sleep in breast cancer prognosis, Dr. Rao has published widely and lectured around the world. In recent years, the President-Elect of the Society for Integrative Oncology has spoken to the British Society for Integrative Oncology, the Ministry of Ayurveda for the Indian government, the American Society for Radiation Oncology, and at numerous international conferences.

Creating Personalized Patient Plans Focused on Whole Health

With cancer diagnoses, when a full care plan of treatment that can take places over months or years is underway, Dr. Rao realizes many patients can feel helpless. His goal is to empower patients at any phase in their treatment and facilitate healing through integrative medicine. During active treatment with chemotherapy, he might be more focused on safety and coordination of care, on what a patient should not do, such as taking any supplements that could interfere with treatment. However, when seeing someone on hormonal therapy for breast cancer, he may focus more on symptom management and lifestyle. He knows from personal experience how meditation, yoga and one’s daily routine can aid in the quest for better health.

“It’s important to walk with the patient on their journey and give a scientific and experienced view on what is safe and evidence-based, but also to coordinate with physicians and caregivers delivering conventional care for the best overall outcome,” Dr. Rao says.

Francoise Adan, MD, Chief Whole Health and Well-Being Officer, says she was thrilled to recruit Dr. Rao to UH.

“Dr. Rao’s vision is inspiring, his passion contagious and his commitment to patient care unstoppable,” says Dr. Adan. “As a breast cancer survivor, I am thrilled to know that UH is committed to providing a comprehensive, holistic approach.”

The evidence-based modalities of UH Connor Whole Health include acupuncture, yoga therapy, meditation, massage therapy, chiropractic medicine, integrative medicine and lifestyle medicine consultations, mindfulness, stress management and expressive therapy. UH Connor takes referrals from physicians, but patients may also self-refer. Dr. Rao sees patients at Landerbrook and other UH locations and can accommodate patients with virtual visits.

“People are really motivated to educate and help themselves when they have cancer,” Dr. Rao says. “We want patients to be involved and become active participants in their care. We want to minimize suffering and support them as much as we can, with an approach that is accessible to all.

“We can help those affected by cancer live better.”

To make a referral, email Santosh.Rao@UHhospitals.org or call 216-285-4070.