[5] Avni Sali was appointed as a professor and made Founding Dean of the Graduate School of Integrative Medicine at Swinburne University of Technology (Melbourne) from 1996 until its closure in 2005.
[11] NIIM also owns subsidiary clinics offering services including "integrative medicine, osteopathy, naturopathy, IV and chelation therapies, cancer treatments, Chinese herbal medicine/acupuncture, [and] exercise physiology.
[18] Sali has authored, or co-authored, "several books and approximately 300 articles published in medical journals.
"[5] Sali has published several books on surgery and integrative medicine: Many of his publications are available on Google Scholar.
"[20] Avni Sali was born in Shepparton, a regional town in Victoria, Australia, after his parents emigrated from Albania.
[24] In 2016, Sali's biography, Visionary Man, Visionary Medicine: The Story of Professor Avni Sali and Integrative Medicine, written by Lindy Schneider was published and launched by Jana Wendt and Emeritus Professor John Murtagh AM.
[25][26][27] It describes Sali's upbringing as part of an immigrant family of tomato farmers living in regional Australia, to his success as a surgeon and academic and controversy in practicing Integrative Medicine.
[30][31] In 2013, the ABC's consumer show The Checkout claimed that Avni Sali "manipulated tests of a Swisse appetite suppressant to benefit the company.