Dr. Manek received her medical degree from the University of Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom. She completed her specialty training in Rheumatology at Stanford University, Stanford, California, following which she joined the division of rheumatology at Mayo clinic, Rochester, Minnesota. She was faculty at Mayo clinic for more than 11 years before transitioning to Arthritis Health, Scottsdale. Dr. Manek has special expertise in complementary and integrative medicine for rheumatic diseases. She received the Bravewell scholarship and completed the associate fellowship in integrative medicine from the University of Arizona, Tucson in 2006. While at Mayo clinic, Dr. Manek served on many boards including the rheumatology division inflammatory arthritis clinical working group; the task was setting the standard of care for patients with rheumatoid arthritis as well as other rheumatic diseases. As an educator, she was on the Mayo College of Medicine Internal Medicine residency selection committee as well as a mentor to many of the brightest young medical recruits in the Minnesota Future Doctor’s program. She also mentored specialist fellows at Mayo who went on to successful careers in Rheumatology around the world and the US. This dedication to education also led her to serve on the Association of Rheumatology Health Professionals (ARHP, under the umbrella of the American College of Rheumatology) E-learning subcommittee. Among the many awards during her career, Dr. Manek received the Top Educator award at Mayo clinic internal medicine program.
Dr. Manek firmly believes in innovative approaches to health and wellness. This has brought her to Scottsdale, Arizona to learn Physics! With mentorship of Dr. William A. Tiller, Professor Emeritus of Stanford University Department of Material Science and Engineering, she is studying the potential power of human consciousness and intention in healing. This new area which Dr. Tiller calls “information medicine” has potential application in chronic conditions such as Fibromyalgia and autoimmune diseases. Related to the subject of consciousness and healing, Dr. Manek moderated HH 14th Dalai Lama’s visit to Mayo clinic in 2008. Dr. Manek believes in a revolutionary approach to getting the best results for patients with chronic diseases such as arthritis. She is passionate about patient centered care underpinning the special needs of inflammatory conditions, and the long-term patient-doctor relationships.
Dr. Manek grew up in Nairobi, Kenya, and returns to her home in Africa annually. She speaks Kiswahili and Gujarati (Indian dialect). She has a love of the arts, music, traveling, writing, as well vegetarian cooking. She has a particular fondness for dark chocolate!