Deena Schwartz was born in Ohio and raised in the suburbs of Chicago . She completed her undergraduate education at The University of Illinois at Chicago in 1993, earned a Masters degree in Science at DePaul University and completed graduate anesthesia training at Ravenswood Hospital Medical Center in 1999. For the past 20 years, she has been providing office-based anesthesia in the Chicagoland area. In 2020, Ms. Schwartz completed post-master’s education and training as a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner at the University of Saint F rancis. Ms. Schwartz is passionate about helping her patients live life well. She founded Altasano in 2018 on the core belief that mental health and physical health are interconnected. Rooted in traditional medical paradigms, yet living with a health-conscious mind-set, Deena believes that good physical and mental health can be optimized with enhanced nutrition, restorative sleep, consistent exercise and deep social and spiritual connection.