Meet The Team
At Vital Life Health Center, we are so thrilled to have created a dynamic team to manage your health from birth to 101. Our team is honored that you would choose us to facilitate you on your journey to greater health. At the Vital Life, your health and well-being are our #1 priority. Meet the team below!
The Doctors
KARIMA ARLENE COOPER, D.C.
Dr. Karima Arlene Cooper received her bachelor’s degree from Xavier University and her Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Life University. After chiropractic school, she opened a Family Chiropractic Clinic in Austin, TX, and loves helping her patients get well and stay well. After practicing in Austin for several years, she moved back to Marietta, GA in order to accept a position as a professor at Life University. Dr. Cooper is trained in the following techniques: Thompson, SOT, Toggle Recoil, Activator, Cox Flexion Distraction, Gonstead, Diversified, Pettibon, Webster’s and Extremity adjusting. Dr. Cooper loves helping her community and is the Vice President of a non-profit organization, H.E.L.P., which she also co-founded. She is a loving wife and mother of two beautiful children.
CHRISTOPHER ODOM, D.C.
As a child, Dr. Chris Odom had severe allergies and intense asthma. His childhood was plagued with trips to the doctor and a round-robin approach to prescription medications. At the age of 19, Dr. Odom developed horrible pain in both of his shoulder joints. This turned out to be a pivotal event in his life. After being under chiropractic care for only 3 months, all shoulder pain and all signs and symptoms related to allergies and asthma were gone. Chiropractic changed his life and gave him a new sense of purpose. Dr. Odom graduated with honors from Georgia Southern University in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in exercise science. He received his Doctor in Chiropractic from Life University after graduating with honors in 2008.
NICHOLAS DEFLUMERI, D.C.
Dr. Nicholas DeFlumeri is an innovative healthcare practitioner, a dedicated scholar and an avid travel enthusiast. Having earned his Doctor of Chiropractic from Parker University, he has additionally pursued postdoctoral studies in the fields of Functional Neurology and Functional Medicine. His professional interests focus on traumatic brain injury (TBI), brain optimization, sports performance, and an entire host of neurorehabilitative strategies. He passionately advocates for expanding awareness about functional integrative health care across all professions, while also supporting advances in the field of functional neurology, exploring the intimate links between the brain, the immune system and, ultimately, self-actualization.
RYAN CEDERMARK, D.C.
Dr. Ryan Cedermark graduated Magna Cum Laude from Life University in 2011, becoming an honorary member of the chiropractic honor society Pi Tau Delta. While in school, Dr. Cedermark enrolled in post-graduate neurology courses, earning his Diplomate in Neurology from the American Chiropractic Neurology Board in 2013. Passionate about a multidisciplinary approach to healthcare, Dr. Cedermark graduated Magna Cum Laude with his Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Duke University and is currently enrolled in a Family Nurse Practitioner program at Georgia State University. Dr. Cedermark is also a Certified Functional Medicine Practitioner. Dr. Cedermark splits his time working as a clinical nurse at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta Georgia on a Neurology floor and a clinician at Vital Life Health Systems. Dr. Cedermark’s multidisciplinary educational background creates a unique approach in today’s healthcare environment.
The Patient Advocates
KAT DAAVETTILA
SENIOR PATIENT ADVOCATE
Raised in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Kathleen Daavettila received her B.S. in Health and Facilities Management from Michigan Technological University. The second youngest of nine children, Kathleen had her first chiropractic adjustment as a child and credits her family, four of whom are D.C.s, for instilling in her from a young age the body’s ability to heal. Kathleen’s family testimony of 25 home births out of 32 of her parents’ grandchildren, all born naturally without interventions, has ignited her passion to share principled Chiropractic to the greater Atlanta area. Kathleen’s hope is that all people can experience their God-given health potentials, beginning at the birth process.
MELISSA NEAL
PATIENT ADVOCATE
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Melissa Neal is a Patient Advocate at Vital Life Health Center where she passionately educates families on the importance of nervous system health and advocates to ensure their health goals are reached. A native Wisconsinite, Melissa fell in love with children and decided to pursue a career in elementary education. She received her BS in Elementary Education with minors in Science and Spanish. Teaching 4th graders taught her the importance of health in raising happy and well-adjusted children. Having been powerfully affected by chiropractic care in her own life, she has witnessed the power the body has to heal itself from the inside-out when the nervous system is functioning optimally.
KACEY MOUNTJOY
PATIENT ADVOCATE
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Kacey attended Valdosta State University and worked as a Certified Nursing Assistant throughout college. She has always been extremely passionate about helping others. Kacey grew up with a limited knowledge of the various types of medical approaches to health. As an adult, she began to struggle daily with a variety of symptoms that negatively impacted her ability to function and this further impacted her relationship with her daughter. Kacey began to seek out other options to improve her physical and emotional health. Under treatment and through her career at Vital Life, she has realized that her passion is not only helping others by loving and caring for them but also going one step further and educating them on how the body is self-developing, self-maintaining and self-healing. She hopes that her past experiences will help her reach people and give them knowledge and awareness that there ARE other alternatives to drugs and surgeries, to ensure they live a happy, healthy lifestyle.
The Radiologist
SHANTEVEIS HUDSON
RADIOLOGIC TECHNOLOGIST
Shanteveis is a Radiologic Technologist whose passion for helping people led her into a career in the medical field. In 2001, she earned a certificate in Radiologic Technology at Atlanta Medical Center’s School of Radiologic Technology. Shanteveis is a member of the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists and the American Society of Radiologic Technologists. Her experience as an R.T. spans over 15 years and she enjoys working in the field of Chiropractic.
The Community Relations Managers
NIKOLAOS (NIKO) CHANIOTAKIS
COMMUNITY RELATIONS MANAGER
Nikolaos (Niko) Chaniotakis is a holistic health enthusiast born & raised in Athens, Greece.
In 2016, Niko graduated from Minnesota State University, Mankato with a bachelor’s degree in Community Health Education. Throughout college, Niko cared for hundreds of individuals as a certified nursing assistant, which has allowed him to see firsthand how disease can manifest the human body. For that reason, he is deeply passionate about health care that optimizes disease prevention rather than disease management. With his position at the Life University Health Systems, Niko strives to integrate his knowledge, experience and passion to shape Atlanta into a radiant beacon of health!
EVA ROBINSON
COMMUNITY RELATIONS MANAGER
Eva Robinson has a passion for people and making a positive impact in the lives of others. After graduating from Northwestern University with a B.S. in Communications, she opened an event space that truly catered to needs of her clients and the community. Now she is taking her passion to help build a happy and healthy Atlanta. Eva is a firm believer in vitalism and the body’s innate ability to correct itself. Having witnessed the amazing results of chiropractic in her own life and the lives of others, she knows that the work she does with Vital Life HC is helping to change lives.
ELISSA ALBERT
COMMUNITY RELATIONS MANAGER
Elissa Albert is a holistic health scholar with a longstanding passion for optimal living, sports and yoga. In December 2015, she received her B.S. degree in Health Promotion and Wellness from UW-Stevens Point. During her final semester, Elissa resided on an organic farm in St. Croix, USVI, where she studied sustainable agriculture and organic food for healing the body. She joined Life University Health Systems – Midtown Atlanta to transform the way our community views true health. Her goal is to empower people with the understanding of how a properly balanced and nourished human body is the best defense against disease, sickness and pain. It is also the key to living a long, fulfilled life.