Our Story

From one woman's search for answers to a healing home by the ocean

Santa Maria did not start as a business idea.

It started with a question:

"Why do I feel so sick when every test tells me I am 'fine'?"

My name is Mariya Kurilina, and for eight years I lived with more than twenty mysterious symptoms — crushing fatigue, brain fog, pain all over my body, inflammation, mood swings, and a feeling that my life was slowly shrinking. More than 60 doctors in five countries examined me. I saw specialists in Russia, Germany, Switzerland, the U.S., and elsewhere. I tried different diagnoses, different pills, different opinions. Nothing truly explained what was happening to me.

We moved to San Diego, hoping that in one of the best medical systems in the world I would finally get answers. Instead, we met the same wall: "Your tests look normal."

At that moment, my husband Yuri, a scientist, geneticist, and molecular microbiologist, decided to treat my case like a research project.

He drew my blood, isolated DNA, and sent it to a startup in Silicon Valley that worked with cutting-edge genetic sequencing. Their answer was the first real clue in years:

"There is an infection in the blood. You need to keep looking."

That led us to IGeneX in Palo Alto, a reference laboratory for tick-borne infections and Lyme diagnostics. There, we finally discovered the truth:

I had chronic Lyme disease.

It was both a relief and a new challenge.

Very quickly we realized that standard protocols for Lyme — long courses of antibiotics alone — were not enough for chronic, multi-system disease. My symptoms were too complex, my body too exhausted. We needed a different approach.

Because both of us came from a scientific background — Yuri as a life scientist and systems biologist, and myself as a university graduate who later entered postgraduate studies — we naturally turned to medical research. We spent countless nights reading papers on Lyme, chronic infections, immune dysregulation, mitochondrial dysfunction, and integrative therapies. We attended conferences, spoke with doctors in Europe and the U.S., and tried to piece together a model that actually matched what I was living through.

Mexico: the place where science met possibility

Our path then took us south — to Baja California, Mexico.

Mexico welcomed us with open arms. It's a country of generous hearts, vibrant culture, and an unusually open attitude toward innovative medical protocols. Here, on a piece of land overlooking the Pacific Ocean, we decided to build a house for our family.

Daytime, I was on the construction site, choosing tiles, watching the walls grow.

Evenings, I was in a completely different world —

looking at my own blood under a microscope,
trying different protocols on myself,
comparing "before and after" blood pictures,
tracking symptoms, reactions, and small shifts in how I felt.

Yuri brought his knowledge of genetics, microbiome, systems biology, and translational medicine; I brought my body, my intuition, and my stubborn refusal to give up. Together, we experimented carefully, always guided by science and safety. We combined oxidative therapies, IV protocols, detox, nutrition, herbal and integrative methods, and we watched the changes in real time through live and dry blood microscopy.

After about six months of this intense work, something shifted.

My blood looked cleaner.

My inflammation decreased.

Energy started to come back.

I could think clearly again.

For the first time in years, I felt like myself.

From one patient to many

We finally moved into our new oceanfront house — but word of what we were doing traveled quickly.

First, close friends began to ask for help.

Then friends of friends.

Then people who had heard of "that couple near Rosarito who understand Lyme and chronic illness."

By that time, we had:

a professional microscope,
a library of protocols and data,
my new education in nutrition and naturopathic / integrative medicine,
and, most importantly, a living, breathing proof that this approach could work — me.

At some point, it became clear that this was no longer just about our family.

We made a big and very emotional decision:

We gave our family home to become Santa Maria Clinic.

We opened in the middle of the Covid era — a time when the world felt uncertain, but in our corner of Mexico, people were still able to travel, breathe ocean air, and seek real healing. From the very beginning, our patients came not only from Mexico and the U.S., but from all over the world — people with Lyme, chronic viral infections, autoimmune diseases, post-Covid complications, long-standing fatigue, and complex, "mysterious" illnesses.

Today, almost seven years later, Santa Maria has grown into a full integrative and regenerative medicine retreat with a multidisciplinary team, over 60 procedures, and structured health programs based on P4 Medicine — Predictive, Preventive, Personalized, Participatory. But we have never forgotten how it all started: with one woman who was sick, tired, and refused to accept that "nothing can be done."

What we believe

Our journey taught us some core truths that now shape everything we do at Santa Maria:

There is no "small symptom." Knee pain, headaches, low thyroid, anxiety, and even "just being tired" are often signs of deeper systemic imbalance. We always look for the root cause, not just a convenient label.
The body is a supersystem. More than 100 trillion cells and an enormous microbiome communicate through electrical, biochemical, and even quantum pathways. When we respect this complexity, we can design treatments that truly work with the body, not against it.
Prevention is the highest form of medicine. It is always better — and often cheaper — to invest in health now than to pay later with years of illness and hospital bills. European medical resorts have shown this for decades; we have adapted this model to the U.S.–Mexico border, making it more accessible and effective.
Science and heart must go together. Advanced lab tests, imaging, IV protocols, and regenerative procedures are powerful — but without empathy, listening, and emotional support, they don't reach their full potential.
Mexico and the U.S. are stronger together. Our clinic sits at the meeting point of two worlds: American innovation and Mexican warmth. Many of our patients drive just 40 miles from San Diego or fly in from across the U.S., and leave feeling not only physically better, but also deeply touched by the kindness of our local team and community.

For our guests from Mexico and the U.S.

If you are reading this from Tijuana, Rosarito, Ensenada, San Diego, Los Angeles, or any corner of North America, we want you to know:

Santa Maria is not a "miracle place" —
it is a place where serious science, modern medicine, and the human spirit work together.

Here, in Mexico, we found not just the freedom to create new protocols, but a true home — a country that allowed us to transform one family's healing story into a clinic that now serves patients from around the globe. We are deeply grateful to the Mexican people who welcomed us and proud to offer, on this land, a level of integrative and regenerative care comparable to leading centers in Europe and the United States.

And to all those who, like I once did, feel lost in the medical system, we want to say:

We see you. We were you. And we built Santa Maria for you.