Dr. Leslie Mendoza Temple serves as the Medical Director of the Integrative Medicine Program at NorthShore University HealthSystem and as a Clinical Associate Professor in Family Medicine at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. She is a board-certified Family Medicine physician who cares for adults, children and infants with a wide variety of conditions and preventive health needs. She served as Chair of the Medical Cannabis Advisory Board for the Illinois Department of Public Health and Chair of the Policy Working Group for the Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine and Health.
Dr. Mendoza Temple believes in the practice of combining conventional Western medicine with safe, evidence-based complementary medicine therapies to improve the health of her patients. As Medical Director, she leads one of the largest, most established teams of holistic practitioners in the Midwest. After residency training at Northwestern, she completed a two-year fellowship in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona under the supervision of Dr. Andrew Weil, internationally recognized pioneer of Integrative Medicine. She also completed a two-year fellowship in Family Medicine Faculty Development at Northwestern. She loves teaching the next generation of physicians the art of combining holistic practices with conventional medicine.
Prior to medical school, Dr. Mendoza Temple received her bachelor's degree in Economics while pursuing premedical studies at the University of California, Berkeley. While earning her medical degree at the University of Santo Tomas Faculty of Medicine and Surgery in the Philippines, her passion for complementary and integrative medicine evolved as she became increasingly aware of the success of these therapies among indigent patients. In addition to gaining a rigorous allopathic medical education, she witnessed her patients' common use of herbs, folk medicine and spiritual practices in the face of challenging access to basic medical care, food and clean water.
Dr. Mendoza Temple believes that excellent support systems, positive outlook, good nutrition, adequate rest, and regular exercise provide the foundation for longevity. If herbal supplements, homeopathy, acupuncture, counseling, massage, Yoga and exercise, prescription medications, lab tests, specialty referrals, or other treatments are needed, she will recommend these. She works collaboratively with her patients’ primary care physicians, specialty physicians and holistic practitioners to ensure safe and effective treatment plans. Her practice includes adults, infants, children, and expectant mothers.
Mingle Juice Bar started in Dr. Temple's kitchen when she and friend Kimberly King began a juicing quest. In 2012, she and her business partner began planning the concept for the juice bar to increase healthy eating options for the community, opening its doors to the public on July 9, 2014. Mingle Juice Bar is located in the Glen Town Center, walking distance from Dr. Temple's patient clinic in Glenview, Illinois.
Since opening, the business has partnered with the local healthcare system to promote healthy lifestyle and increase access to medical care. Most recently, Mingle has provided healthy meals to frontline COVID-19 healthcare workers. Mingle has donated annually to the University of Chicago "Food As Medicine" symposium at the Chicago Botanic Garden, which educates over 300 healthcare professionals and patients on the scientific and logistic methods to support eating a plant-based diet and healthy lifestyle.
Mingle has also contributed funds and goods-in-kind to patients to the annual Integrative Medicine Benefit Concert at Metro, a Chicago independent music venue hosting over 1,000 people. These funds directly pay for acupuncture, massage therapy, nutrition, and talk therapy consultations to patients with cancer who cannot afford these services that insurance usually does not cover.
Dr. Temple is married with 3 boys and attempts to balance family, work life and self-care…one day at a time.
