Dr Yamate was born in California. She gained her Bachelor's Degree in Biology from Amherst College in 1982. Deciding against attending medical school, she worked in business and then earned her MBA in Marketing and Organizational Behavior from Northwestern in 1991. Returning to work in business for a while, she then graduated with her DVM from the University of California Davis in 2005.

During her veterinary school years, she helped to develop three holistic medicine courses for veterinary students at Davis. After graduation, she worked in an integrative practice, then at the urging of Dr Xie from Chi University, she served as an acupuncture Intern at the University of Florida. She is certified in Acupuncture, Herbal medicine, Food therapy, and Tui Na from Chi University and in Veterinary Spinal Manipulative Therapy from the Healing Oasis. Dr Yamate solidified her training by teaching for Chi University both in the United States and Europe.

After her internship, she founded the Center for Integrative Animal Medicine in Davis, California, where she continues to practice. She has also served as Treasurer of both the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association and the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Foundation.