Meet the Team
Who We Are
Annalisa Brown
Owner · Acupuncturist · Clinical Director
I first tried acupuncture almost 20 years ago, and what stayed with me was how differently I began to understand my own health. I started noticing connections I had never thought much about before—especially between digestion and sleep, what I ate and how I felt, and how one part of the body could affect another.
Eventually, that curiosity became a career change. After years working in finance and nonprofit arts management, I enrolled at Pacific College of Health & Science, where I earned my Master of Science in Acupuncture and completed more than 3,000 hours of clinical training.
I kept studying because I wanted to understand this medicine from more than one perspective. My advanced training has included orthopedic and motor point acupuncture for acute and chronic pain, stroke rehabilitation, Pain Reprocessing Therapy, photobiomodulation, and MSK Oncology Acupuncture certification through Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. I also traveled to Kyoto for additional study in Japanese acupuncture at Meiji University of Integrative Medicine.
Along the way, I became increasingly interested in the gap between how Chinese medicine is often described in English and what its traditional concepts are actually trying to express. Words like qi and channels don't translate neatly, and reducing a complex medical system to ideas like “energy” can make it sound far more mystical—and less sophisticated—than it is.
At the same time, learning more about pain, the brain, and the nervous system gave me another way to understand what I was seeing in the treatment room. I don't see traditional Chinese medicine and modern physiology as competing explanations. Both inform how I think about symptoms, choose points, and decide what approach makes sense for the person in front of me.
I am nationally board-certified by the NCCAOM and licensed to practice acupuncture in New York State.
And after all that training, my goal is remarkably similar to what drew me to acupuncture in the first place: I want you to understand your own body better. I want you to notice the connections, understand what your symptoms may be telling you, and leave with more than an hour of feeling better.
Over time, I hope you need me less, not more.
Brian White
COO | Office Manager
Making AB Acupuncture a true family business, Annalisa’s husband Brian White joined the practice after a long and successful career in theater production management. He worked on Broadway and Off-Broadway shows and toured internationally with theater and dance companies, where he learned how to keep complex, high-pressure environments running smoothly.
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At AB Acupuncture and W72 Wellness, Brian brings that same steady presence to the day-to-day operations of the practice. He manages the business, supports patients at the front desk, and takes care of the space itself—ensuring that everything runs with thoughtfulness and ease.
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He is also proud to be Annalisa’s first patient—and continues to be one of her biggest cheerleaders.
Yaffa Borukhova
Front Desk Coordinator
Yaffa Borukhova joins AB Acupuncture as our part-time Front Desk Coordinator, bringing both warmth and a sharp, curious mind to the front of the practice. An Upper West Sider, she is the host of the podcast Streetsmart MBA, where she explores business, culture, and real-world intelligence beyond the classroom.
She also writes on Substack and is the author of the children’s book You Don’t Look Jewish!, reflecting her interest in identity, storytelling, and the nuances of modern life.
At the clinic, Yaffa is often the first person you’ll meet—helping patients feel welcome, oriented, and at ease from the moment they walk through the door in the mornings.