Our Mission
Root & Branch translates millennia of medical tradition and clinical practice into potent, modern Chinese medicine designed to serve a broad spectrum of patients.
Founding Practitioners
Travis Cunningham
Licensed Acupuncturist, Director of Clinical Medicine, Tea Aficionado
Many of Travis’s patients come to him after trying everything else. They arrive with long health histories and few clear answers: anxiety, insomnia, fatigue, chronic pain, neuropathy, autoimmune conditions. These are the cases Travis is drawn to, especially those rooted in a dysregulated nervous system, where body and mind are caught in the same knot.
At the heart of his approach is touch. Trained in Japanese medical traditions, Travis relies on palpation, particularly of the abdomen and the pulse, to understand what is happening beneath the symptoms. When a patient’s story is complicated, the body often tells a simpler, more direct one. That clarity guides his treatment, which may include acupuncture, herbal medicine, and practical lifestyle guidance.
A big part of Travis’s approach involves helping patients understand themselves. He is known for explaining health in clear, grounded terms, often offering a perspective that a conventional diagnosis does not. For many patients, finally understanding why they feel the way they do brings real relief and a renewed sense of agency in their own healing.
Travis is also a teacher of this medicine. At Root & Branch, he leads the advanced clinical training for the clinic’s 18-month residency program, where new graduates of Chinese medicine learn to treat real medical problems with confidence. His teaching emphasizes practical diagnosis, abdominal palpation (fukushin), and Chinese herbal medicine, the area where new practitioners often feel least prepared. Years of helping practitioners make sense of complex clinical material carry into his work with patients, who benefit from a practitioner who teaches this medicine as well as practices it.
Travis graduated from the OCOM in 2017 and then spent several weeks observing in hospitals in Nanjing, China. In the last decade, he has pursued a broad education across several areas. His acupuncture has been shaped by Japanese-style specialist Bob Quinn, Nagano-style training with Seishiro Hokazono, and Neo-classical acupuncture training with Slate Burris. His herbal medicine is grounded in the Jing Fang style, which works with classical herbal formulas recorded nearly 2,000 years ago. He developed his expertise through direct study with Dr. Greg Livingston, Dr. Bryan McMahon, and with the Institute of Classics in East Asian Medicine (ICEAM), founded by Dr. Arnaud Versluys. There he completed an 18-month diplomate program and has spent hundreds of hours in clinical training with its instructors.
Before medicine, Travis studied philosophy and spent years practicing qigong and meditation. That foundation still informs his curiosity about the roots of a person’s experience. He sees patients for a wide range of concerns, from acute illness to support alongside cancer care. His deepest work, though, is with people who are ready to understand their health differently and to find relief that has so far been out of reach.
Travis Kern
Licensed Acupuncturist, Herb Nerd, Gourmand
Travis K. graduated from OCOM interested in exploring where our medicine comes from and the growing and processing of Chinese herbs. This academic interest in herbs led to a deep appreciation for their clinical application and the complexity involved with creating potent medicine from plant and animal sources.
Clinically, he most often works with patients managing chronic health problems like Crohn's disease, resistant skin inflammations, and chronic fatigue and has developed a particular interest in diseases of the skin and of digestion.
Growing up in New Orleans as the son of a dietitian and in a very social household, Travis K. has always had a keen interest in food. He trained as a professional chef and had his first career in catering and restaurants. Now with his training in Chinese medicine, he is now able to channel that passion for the good life into delicious and therapeutic Chinese nutrition consultation. Food has always been the first medicine, and now it can again become the core way in which people establish good health.
Schedule with Travis K. particularly for digestive disorders, skin conditions like psoriasis, acne, dermatitis, and infections as well as hard-to-explain conditions like fibromyalgia and chronic pain.
Partner Practitioners
Root & Branch’s founders like to work with expert practitioners, and when we find people who are exceptional, we ask them to join our team. The Practitioners below are integral components of Root and Branch and shape both the direction of our clinic and the dimensions of patient care we can provide.
Dr. Olivia Rudio
Licensed Acupuncturist, Wellness Weaver, Calm Curator
Clinical Partner, Root & Branch
Education: BA, MAcOM, DACM
Olivia Rudio is an acupuncturist and herbalist with a particular focus on health across the reproductive lifespan; perimenopause and beyond. She is especially interested in Chinese herbal medicine alongside supportive acupuncture treatments for navigating the physical changes and symptoms that can arise during this time, including changes in the menstrual cycle, hot flashes and night sweats, migraines, pain, digestive and urinary changes, fatigue, and stress.
Olivia was first drawn to Chinese medicine because of its ability to understand the body as an interconnected whole. She believes symptoms are information, and that seemingly unrelated concerns can offer insight into what the body needs support with. Rather than treating each symptom in isolation, she looks at the relationships between organ systems and functions to understand where to begin.
Her approach is grounded in careful listening and palpatory skills. Alongside a patient's story, she uses the pulse, abdomen, channels, and tissues of the body to gather information about where the body is and how it is functioning. Acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine then offer different ways of responding to what she finds.
Olivia believes the body is not broken simply because it is changing or asking for help. She also believes healing does not have to become complicated. Focused and consistent care, appropriate herbal support, acupuncture, and attention to what the body needs can improve symptoms, support function and help people feel better.
Resident Practitioners
Residents at Root and Branch are experienced practitioners who have their own practices and businesses, but who also see patients at the Root and Branch clinic in Multnomah Village. Read more about them and check out their websites for more information about each of these phenomenal providers.
Dr. Tanya Snyder
Licensed Acupuncturist, Pattern Enthusiast, Mildly-Feral Researcher
Owner of Resonant Root LLC
Education: BS Nuclear Engineering, MS Clinical Research, MAcCHM, DAcCHM
Tanya brings a rare blend of scientific curiosity and relational care to her work as a practitioner of Classical Chinese Medicine.Before finding her way into the field of medicine, she worked in nuclear engineering, studying the unseen forces that organize complex systems. That perspective continues to inform and deepen how she understands the body today.
Her clinical work focuses on helping patients reconnect with the body’s inherent intelligence through acupuncture, herbal medicine, and attention to the rhythms that shape human health. Drawing from classical medical traditions, modern systems science, and her training in clinical research, Tanya approaches symptoms as signals within a larger conversation unfolding inside the body. Her treatments aim to restore balance and connection across the physical, emotional, and energetic dimensions of health.
Tanya works hard to create a treatment space that is warm, grounded, and deeply attentive—where patients feel seen, supported, and invited into a collaborative process of transformation.
Outside the clinic, Tanya can often be found exploring the landscapes of the Pacific Northwest with her family, tending to her ever-evolving research ideas, or building bridges between disciplines that don’t usually speak to one another.
Dr. Madeleine Pope
Licensed Acupuncturist, Music Selector, Movement Enthusiast
Owner of The Perpetual Dawn LLC
Education: BS, MACM, DACM
Madeleine is the founder of The Perpetual Dawn, a healing practice rooted in the belief that every sunrise offers the opportunity to begin again. While she considers herself a general practitioner, she has developed focused insight into women’s health, digestive disorders, and dermatological conditions.
Her holistic practice integrates herbal medicine, acupuncture, cupping, gua sha, and other traditional Chinese modalities to guide patients toward lasting health and well-being. Madeleine’s primary goal is to address the root cause of illness rather than simply alleviate symptoms. She deeply values her patients’ lived experiences and is committed to creating a compassionate, safe environment where deep relaxation and therapeutic resolve can unfold.
Outside of the clinic, Madeleine prioritizes strength and vitality through weightlifting, rowing, hiking, backpacking and cooking nourishing food. A lifelong creative, she has been a metalsmith and jewelry designer since 2015 and is the founder of her jewelry line, Body Double. She is also a big music lover and is known to DJ the occasional dance party — or be found dancing at one herself.