Arthritis - All Articles

Beth Biggee, MD, is owner and practitioner of Lifestyle and Integrative Rheumatology, a holistic direct specialty care practice in North Andover, Massachusetts. She offers whole-person autoimmune care, lifestyle medicine, and holistic integrative consults.

She has over 20 years of experience in rheumatology and holds board certifications in rheumatology and integrative and lifestyle medicine. Dr. Biggee brings a human-centered approach to wellness rather than focusing solely on diseases.

Biggee graduated cum laude with a bachelor's degree from Canisius College, and graduated magna cum laude and as valedictorian from SUNY Health Science Center at Syracuse Medical School. She completed her internship and residency in internal medicine at Yale New Haven Hospital, her fellowship in rheumatology at Tufts–New England Medical Center, and her training in integrative rheumatology at the University of Arizona Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine.

Following her training, she attained board certification in rheumatology and internal medicine through the American Board of Internal Medicine, board certification in integrative medicine through the American Board of Physician Specialties, and accreditation as a certified lifestyle medicine physician through the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. She is certified in Helms auricular acupuncture and is currently completing coursework in the Aloha Ayurveda integrative medicine course for physicians.

In prior roles, Biggee was medical director and integrative rheumatologist at Rheumission, a virtual integrative rheumatology practice, and she also provided healthcare wellness consulting for Synergy Wellness Center in Hudson, Massachusetts. Biggee taught as an assistant clinical professor of medicine at Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital (an affiliate of Columbia University). She was also clinical associate of medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine and taught Introduction to Clinical Medicine for medical students at Tufts. She was preceptor for the Lawrence General Hospital Family Medicine Residency.

Biggee has published work in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, Arthritis & Rheumatology, Current Opinion in Rheumatology, Medicine and Health Rhode Island, and the Field Guide to Internal Medicine.

Julie Cunningham is a registered dietitian-nutritionist and a certified diabetes care and education specialist.

Cunningham received a bachelor's degree from Appalachian State University in North Carolina. She subsequently completed a master's degree in public health nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Cunningham has worked in women's and children's health, cardiology, and diabetes. She has written for Abbott Nutrition News, Edgepark Medical HealthInsights, diaTribe, Babylist, and others. She is also the author of 30 Days to Tame Type 2 Diabetes.

A resident of beautiful western North Carolina, Cunningham is an avid reader who enjoys yoga, travel, and all things chocolate.

Alexa Meara, MD, is an assistant professor of immunology and rheumatology at The Ohio State University. She maintains a multidisciplinary vasculitis clinic and supervises a longitudinal registry of lupus nephritis and vasculitis patients. Her clinical research is in improving patient–physician communication. She is involved in the medical school and the Lead-Serve-Inspire (LSI) curriculum and serves on the medical school admissions committee; she also teaches multiple aspects of the Part One curriculum. Her interests in medical-education research include remediation and work with struggling learners.

Dr. Meara received her medical degree from Georgetown University School of Medicine in Washington, DC.  She completed her internal medicine training at East Carolina University (ECU) at Vidant Medical Center in Greenville, North Carolina, then spent two more years at ECU, first as chief resident in internal medicine, then as the associate training program director for internal medicine. She pursued further training in rheumatology at The Ohio State University in Columbus, completing a four-year clinical and research fellowship there in 2015. 

Samir Dalvi, MD, is a board-certified rheumatologist. He has over 14 years of experience in caring for patients with rheumatologic diseases, including osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, lupus, and gout.