Dr. Melissa Mondala is the founding Lifestyle Medicine Director at Rheumission.

She is a triple specialist of Family medicine, Lifestyle medicine, Integrative Psychiatry and double boarded in Family Medicine & Lifestyle Medicine. She is also an Integrative Medicine Fellow 2025 Candidate at the Academy of Integrative Health & Medicine.

She earned her Medical Degree at Chicago Medical Degree along with a double Masters of Biomedical Science and Masters of Health Administration. She completed her Family Medicine Residency and Lifestyle Medicine Fellowship at Loma Linda University. She is one of the first nationally recognized Lifestyle Medicine Intensivists and serves as Core Faculty at Loma Linda University Preventive/Lifestyle Medicine Department, which is one of the blue zones for longevity.

She held numerous leadership positions at the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, including Board of Directors and President of ACLM Trainees and Faculty for Learn Skin, Integrative Dermatology. She is an international speaker and has planted seeds of change in the community through lecturing at local medical schools, veg fest, and national medical conferences, where she spoke about the power of Plant Based eating on reversing chronic diseases and “How to Thrive in Private Practice through Passion & Purpose” at International Plant-based Nutrition Healthcare Conference. Recently, she was awarded Excellence in Healthcare: Top Practitioner of the Year 2023 in the city of Irvine, California.

She goes beyond traditional medicine by completing her Primary & Integrative Psychiatry Fellowship and University of California Irvine Health Coaching Certificate. She has devoted decades of volunteer work in underserved communities in California and internationally. She has been featured in popular media, such as Forbes, Local News Outlets, and Social Media. She prioritizes lifestyle modifications to optimize health. Her passion is educating and empowering healthy living and cooking @drmelissaskitchen on instagram and youtube. She is an uniquely engaging motivational speaker that brings evidence based methods to combat chronic disease and uplifts potential barriers through self-empowerment and self-compassion. Her life mission is to bring a voice and put an end to those who are silently suffering from mental health & women’s health conditions, long-covid19, and autoimmune disease.

She is President of Dr. Lifestyle Clinic in Newport Beach, a Lifestyle & Integrative direct primary care and rheumatology clinic, which was awarded by University of California Irvine as a Public Health Site of Excellence.