Alex Vasileski is a Behavioral Change Specialist, Movement Disorder Specialist, Ph.D., CPT, CSCS, CFN and Founder of AV360 Wellness. If you ask him, he’s simply explains, he’s on a mission to help people -whether it’s a high-performance athlete that needs to build muscle strength and memory, or someone diagnosed with a chronic illness (i.e. Parkinson’s , dementia, Alzheimer’s, etc.), he’s doing things different and the success can be seen in his patients.
Alex grew up in the rural farmland of Macedonia during the ethnic cleansing of Yugoslavia and his family fled the genocide to Northwest Indiana area. He graduated top of his high school class and continued his education at Indiana University before being diagnosed with Stage 2 Blood Cancer at just 17 yrs. old. Treatment ensued and he ended up graduating college with a 4.0 GPA and BA in Psychology and BS in Biology. Having been recommended for PhD/MD hybrid program in Chicago, Alex chose to pursue a professional football career until he got hit with horrible news….now 24 years old, he was diagnosed with Stage 4 Blood Cancer that was deemed terminal. But a small gleam of hope presented itself and Alex went from patient to experiment in a short 72 hours when a European company began researching in Chicago and was informed about Alex and his diagnosis. After 63 days of recovery that were lifechanging, Alex discovered his purpose…seeing a correlation between the psychological, physical, and emotional aspect of healing. One that is much different than the standard approach to Western Medicine.
In May 2021, Alex opened AV360 Wellness, an ability lab where he and his team do their own research. So much that they have the support of the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. Dept of Veterans Affairs. AV360 is changing the current treatment paradigm by providing customized treatments for each patient to address physical, nutritional and emotional needs. Alex is using behavior movement therapy and neuropsychology to change the way patients are diagnosed and treated by looking at both the physical and mental sides. In fact, he’s become the “go to” when patients have tried everything else and lost all sense of hope.
FMM: “If I get through this, I will change the world.” What happened that changed your life forever?
I was diagnosed with blood cancer twice. The first time I was 17 years old and had just graduated top of my high school class and was attending college at Indiana University. They told me it was Stage 2, so treatment began immediately. I graduated college with high honors and a BA in Psychology & BS in Biology and was recommended for PhD/MD hybrid program in Chicago. However, I chose to pursue a professional career in football instead when horrible news came again…. Stage 4 Blood Cancer and it was deemed terminal. I was just 24 years old. A gleam of hope presented itself and I went from patient to experiment in a short 72 hours. While I endured what I can only explain as “the worst pain of my life “during a 10-hour stem cell plant surgery that I was awake during the entire time, it was the 63 days of recovery that were life-changing for me, and I discovered my purpose. While assessing the current journey I was on – I was able to see a correlation between the psychological, physical, and emotional aspects of healing. One that is much different than the standard approach to Western Medicine.
FMM: You are a leading Behavioral Change Specialist and the Founder of AV360 Wellness. Tell us about your background and your mission to help people.
For years, I studied fitness and nutrition while in school for orthopedics and psychology. It was a great way to work as a trainer and make money on my time and learn a ton about the human body. However, what became apparent was the amount of behavioral components were involved in the process, if that process was going to be successful. After studying medicine and clinical psychology I knew there was a non-traditional or unorthodox way to embark upon healthcare in order to change the paradigm. The big issue was how to go about doing that as it isn’t something necessarily accepted easily. I was plucked out of the city to be the director of operations for an in-home health company where I eventually saw the way I was going to do this. The gap in the industry was one that was consistently letting people down who were diagnosed with chronic illnesses. They would be put into the skin cycle of healthcare and never get better as the system deemed them hopeless and helpless. In this position these patients were only seen as billable for profit. The cycle was being perpetuated within the industry and my opportunity was born. Developing the “breadcrumb” technique of patient care and onboarding allowed for patients to be tested as individuals instead of a diagnosis or a number. This also led to higher levels of compliance and better outcomes as the ability to know who the patient is and what lead to where they are currently. Fighting for hope and ability for people diagnosed with diseases that they are told to just accept and deal with the fact that every day will be worse than the previous became the drive and still is today. Using psychology with a therapeutic model for neuro-rehab lead to the coined term “Behavioral Movement Specialist.”
FMM: How is AV360 Wellness changing the paradigm?
At AVE360 we focus on the individual and hearing their story or situation that brought them To us. We exam and do the assessment through conversation that allows us to get to know them and their history in a way that does not feel like “intake” but more like someone who cares about who they are and where we can go together. We treat people not the diagnosis.
FMM: Tell us about neuro-rebound.
Neuro-Rebound is an approach and philosophy I created that taps into the neurological functions of the brain and how it communicates throughout the body to affect or cause movement. The idea is to neurologically distract the brain and it’s functions to use pathways that are new or unused, pathways that do not have the symptoms within them so we can reinforce the use of those pathways and avoid things like Parkinson’s tremors!
FMM: Your approach to Parkinson’s has left 70% of his patients (approx. 1500) with the chronic illness either completely off their meds or on a very small amount. Tell us about your approach to health and fitness.
Again, the use of neuro-rebound and behavioral movement (which is our own definition creation and industry first) to reassign the behaviors and responses to everyday life. If we do the same thing the same way every day, we are reinforcing everything along that process, EVEN THE SYMPTOMS! We use neuropsychology and neuro-physical therapy to redevelop and reinforce new behaviors associated with the corrective movements.
FMM: Take us through AV360 Wellness technologies and treatments.
We use some of the most sophisticated technology at AV360 and do our own research applying the successful findings to everything we do. We use Shockwave technology to reduce and cure pain insureds of chemicals and injections, we also use this technology for muscle activation and recovery for stimulation for stroke patients, Parkinson’s, and many items movement disorders and pain management patients. We also use technology such as Synaptec for hand, eye and neurotransmitter functioning and concussion protocols and we have reason to believe that we can use this tech for early diagnosis of some movement disorders! We are the only clinic in the industry talking into this level of progressive technology and applying it through internal research and development!
FMM: Share a few amazing stories.
We have some amazing stories every day. One in particular that really exemplifies what we do at AV360 is a patient that came to us with us wife and daughter and they had to hold him up to get into the clinic. He was in such a condition that I had to do treatment in his home because his family just couldn’t get him to the clinic. He had a hard time getting to the bathroom and just walking in general. As you can imagine, depression set in because of all the loss he was experiencing. Well, after looking and his medication list and making directions through our round table approach, we found issues with the med list and corrected it. That on top of using our neuro-rebound approach, this patient not only got his life back that was taken from Parkinson’s disease, but he now is able to drive himself to the clinic and enjoy going to ouches with his friends and even goes golfing! This is exactly what AV360 strives for with every patient…the sky is the limit.
FMM: What have you learned from your patients?
I’ve learned humility and how much hope is medicine. As a survivor myself I missed out on hope during my time, but it’s because of that that I am able to see it through the eyes of my patients and how much we can do just by positivity and understanding of each other!
FMM: Tell us about your continued research to help patients.
We are continuously looking at current research and applying new ideas daily. We are currently looking at early intervention techniques involving Phyto-chemicals (plant based super concentrated minerals, vitamins and antioxidants) that reduce inflammation all around including neurologically. We are looking at the body’s ability to heal itself through better baselines and no inflammation! This way the body can use other forms that may be needed better as it isn’t struggling to function through severe inflammation as all diseases are based on inflammation! Our goal is to create a new way of treating people through natural uses first then using western medicine as it is our believer that medicine can work better only if we reduce inflammation first!
