Dr. Terry Wahls is an Institute for Functional Medicine Certified Practitioner and a clinical professor of medicine at the University of Iowa where she conducts clinical trials.  In 2018 she was awarded the Institute for Functional Medicine’s Linus Pauling Award for her contributions in research, clinical care and patient advocacy. She is also a patient with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis, which confined her to a tilt-recline wheelchair for four years. Dr. Wahls restored her health using a diet and lifestyle program she designed specifically for her brain and now pedals her bike to work each day. She is the author of The Wahls Protocol: A Radical New Way to Treat All Chronic Autoimmune Conditions Using Paleo Principles.

Ken Sharlin, M.D., M.P.H., IFMCP, is a board-certified neurologist and functional medicine practitioner.  He received his medical degrees from Emory University, and functional medicine education through The Institute for Functional Medicine.  He was the first physician to be recognized as a Wahls Protocol Certified Health Professional.  In addition, Dr. Sharlin has trained in the Bredesen Protocol for Reversal of Cognitive Decline (ReCODE) in Alzheimer’s disease.  He practices general neurology, conducts clinical research in multiple sclerosis, and directs his functional medicine program, Brain Tune Up!, through his clinic, Sharlin Health and Neurology, located in Ozark, MO.

An Integrative Neurologist’s Guide to MS and The Wahls Protocol – Navigating the Galaxy of Medicine to Discover Your Path to Success

Recall the first time you heard those words, “You have MS”? If you heard them from a neurologist, chances are you were told that you would have to live with MS and that you should plan to be on medication for the rest of your life. Would MS come to define you? Would it guide your decisions, your life? Or could you learn to live alongside the condition, making a spare room for it, recognizing it, but not letting it define you? Dr. Ken Sharlin offers a different path for life with MS, one that requires a shift in thoughts and actions but places you in the center of the narrative, not your disease. An Integrative Neurologist’s Guide to MS and The Wahls Protocol paints a broad canvas. The audience will be invited on a journey that deepens their understanding of the disease and how to regain control. This presentation aims to restore hope, and the possibility of a life where triumph over MS is defined by adaptability and empowered by intention and persistence. Join me to discover your path to success.

Liz Lipski is best known for her pioneering and open-hearted work in nutrition & digestive health, and as a speaker at professional and consumer events. She’s a Nutrition Professor at Maryland University of Integrative Health, and the owner of the Innovative Healing. 

Dr. Lipski holds a PhD in Clinical Nutrition, is a Fellow of the American College of Nutrition (FACN) and holds two board certifications in clinical nutrition (CNS, and BCHN) and one in functional medicine (IFMCP). She is on Gastrointestinal faculty for The Institute for Functional Medicine, and the Metabolic Medicine Institute fellowship program. She is on the advisory board for the Autism Hope Alliance, and Algaecal. She was on the board for the American Nutrition Association and the Accreditation Council for Nutrition Professional Education. 

Dr. Lipski has been a co-author in peer-reviewed papers, textbook chapters, and the author of: Digestive Wellness. 5th ed., Digestive Wellness for Children, and Leaky Gut Syndrome, and The Art of Digestive Wellness online course.

Dr. Lipski devotes her time to teaching, writing, family, her own self-care, and putting nutrition and lifestyle into the core of medicine.

Research on digestion demonstrates that it’s key for immune and systemic health. The microbiome and your gut integrity can be improved by changing what you eat. We’ll look at research and also a questionnaire to help you determine what’s out of balance and help you to figure out which food approach may work best for you, what you want to focus on eating, what you want to eliminate and for how long? Gain tips and tools.

Dr. Darin Ingels is a licensed naturopathic physician, author, international speaker and leading authority on Lyme disease and Multiple sclerosis. 

He is a former Lyme patient who overcame his own 3-year battle with Lyme disease, after having failed conventional treatment and became progressively debilitated. Dr. Ingles found that proper diet, lifestyle management and natural therapies worked with his body to heal instead of against it.  He then applied what he learned about his own healing journey to his own Lyme patients and found they recovered faster and with less side effects. Dr. Ingels has now treated more than 8000 Lyme patients using his novel approach, many who have gone one to live healthy, symptom-free lives. He is also an MS patient and has been able to control is symptoms following the Wahls protocol.

Dr. Ingels has been featured on WebMD, MindBodyGreen, BeWell, ThriveGlobal, Motherly and Dr. Ron Hoffman’s Intelligent Medicine podcast and is the author of The Lyme Solution: A 5-Part Plan to Fight the Inflammatory Autoimmune Response and Beat Lyme Disease.

MS affects more than 2.4 million people worldwide and the incidence continues to rise. Current medical management involves the use of disease modifying drugs designed to slow the progression of disease, but there is currently no known cure for MS. Dr. Terry Wahls has shown through her personal experience and professional research that diet and lifestyle management significantly help slow the progression of disease, improve mobility and overall quality of life.

As a naturopathic physician, Dr. Ingels knows the importance of how overcoming any chronic illness is a function of optimizing the terrain to allow the body to heal. Diet, lifestyle management and targeted nutrients can all help in facilitating better health and improving symptoms of people with living with MS and other chronic illnesses.  In this lecture, Dr. Ingels will talk about how optimizing your terrain from a naturopathic perspective can help reduce inflammation, heal your gut, optimize your nutrition and modulate your immune system to get you feeling your best self.

I was successful for 20 years in clinical and corporate roles, AND by the time I was 44, I had been diagnosed with 7 autoimmune diseases including systemic lupus, fibromyalgia, endometriosis and narcolepsy. I discovered the hard way that if you don’t take care of your mind, body and soul, your body will shut you down for maintenance. I accepted the call to heal and I am happy to say that I am now free of autoimmune disease. I am also a Stage 3 Cancer thriver. I now know that positive psychology coaching is the career where my talents and passion collide. My passion and purpose is to help others achieve mental, emotional, spiritual and physical wellbeing so that they are free to pursue their passion and their purpose – because the world craves each of our unique contributions.

To present 25 fun and creative ways for the whole family to participate in the foundations of wellbeing and healing.

Sheryl focuses on the practical, most direct treatments for her patients to see immediate results.  Her exceptional clinical experience and teaching background enables her to actively involve her patients in their treatment program.  Sheryl has used several key tools/props extensively in acute care, home health, and outpatient settings, including a variety of foam rolls, the Magic Circle, yoga blocks, straps, and STM tools.  She has introduced them to hundreds of clinicians during the last 30 years to help them individualize treatment with every patient.

With a strong foundation in PNF from Northwestern University (PT school) and the Institute of Physical Art, Sheryl has added the Pilates Method and principles of Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement lessons to her rehab, exercise, and movement repertoire.  She has also been incorporating Hatha yoga and Iyengar techniques into her physical therapy practice and is continually impressed at the benefits of yoga-based interventions and cues for the majority of her patients.  Yoga, Pilates, Feldenkrais, and PNF are all important tools for her physical examination, functional assessment, and prescription of therapeutic exercises.

Sheryl’s professional experience ranges from clinical specialist to management in acute care, home health, and outpatient settings.  She currently owns a private practice and lectures nationally.  She also has the unique experience as a certified case manager having worked with insurance companies to determine medical necessity of therapy and manage limited funds for providers.  She contends with the same clinical challenges as most clinicians are because she is currently a treating therapist, clinical instructor, and private practice owner.

While also working as a Physical Therapist for 30+ years, Sheryl has taught at numerous clinics, colleges, and universities, including the Institute of Physical Art, Northwestern University, Morton College, Fox College, University of Illinois Extension, and South Suburban College.  Dynamic and down to earth, Sheryl’s immediate and fluid teaching style brings concepts and techniques to life.  Her enthusiasm and eclectic approach complements her expertise in educating the adult learner.  She shares her synthesis of information, practical tools and strategies, experience, and perspectives to enable you to expand your repertoire of skills to provide the best care for your patients.

Physical therapy has always played a key role in restoring and maintaining function and physical therapists are experts in the movement system. Your physical therapist (PT) may perform your movement checkup once or multiple times a year, and if appropriate, provide recommendations to help you maintain or improve your function. During exercise breaks, Sheryl will share key functional exercise tests that you can perform during her presentation and later as self-tests to monitor your own function. Plus you will receive her “Your Semi-Annual Movement Checkup” form of potential examination items plus a resource and reference list of selected standardized tests.

Arlene Faulk is a teacher, writer, storyteller and accomplished businesswoman. She has a BA in Journalism and MA in Speech Communications. She led Human Resource Departments in  symptoms that she kept secret for over two decades stopped her cold. She laid on her couch for two years, then jumped into the unknown, discovered a health practitioner and Tai Chi that transformed her life. She’s been teaching Tai Chi for over 20 years in Chicago and Evanston, Il. In her award-winning blog, she interweaves Tai Chi principles and her own life experiences to inspire readers to live their best lives.

This presentation will provide basic principles of Tai Chi, a description of some research on benefits of Tai Chi and offer real-time experience of Tai Chi movements for participants, highlighting moves and benefits for people with MS, other auto-immune and chronic conditions.

Andrea is a Health Supportive Chef & Nutritional Therapy Practitioner. She helps clients learn to love food again after food allergies or a healing crisis causes them to radically change their diets.

With over a decade in the culinary business, Andrea first went to culinary school

to learn to cook for herself after a food allergy diagnosis. In culinary school, she

discovered not just her love of cooking, but a new way to feed herself that completely

eliminated the symptoms of the food allergy that had plagued her for years.

Through her own health journey, she discovered the immense healing power food can have and dedicated her life to helping others heal in the same way. She utilizes healing diets like the Wahls Protocol to create nutrient dense menu plans that are also delicious and satisfying. Andrea is a certified Wahls Health Practitioner.

Andrea’s mission is to help people live their best life, focusing on the role nutrition plays in their overall wellbeing.  She is masterful at helping people implement dietary changes that stick. She has a series of online courses focused on allergy free cooking that are designed for both the home cook and professional chefs.

Coming Soon.

I am a board-certified neurologist with subspecialty training in multiple sclerosis and other immunological diseases of the nervous system, and I post new videos about MS every Wednesday on Youtube.  I am also the author of “Resilience in the Face of Multiple Sclerosis” about amazing narrative stories and practical evidence-based advice to develop personal strength.

This presentation will explain what multiple sclerosis is and will cover the following topics:

1. Diagnosis of MS
2. Features on MRI scans
3. Misdiagnosis of MS
4. Myelin and basic neuroanatomy
5. Spinal tap
6. Epidemiology
7. Nutrition epidemiology (Swank’s research, the HOLISM study)
8. Risk Factors
9. Common symptoms
10. Subtypes
11. EDSS
12. Prognosis
13. Medications (both treatments for acute attack) and disease modifying therapy

Dr Juliana Nahas, is a board-certified pediatrician and a Functional Medicine Certified Practitioner, who specializes in treating complex pediatric health conditions like Autism, ADHD,

Autoimmune Disorders, Abdominal Pain Disorders, Obesity, Asthma, Allergies, Eczema and more….

For over 25 years, Dr Nahas has served her community in the tri- counties of Newton, Rockdale and Walton, GA, and is now offering virtual visits for clients who live at a distance.

Dr Nahas is an integrative physician, experienced in both conventional, and holistic/functional approaches, as well as in Mind-Body-Spirit medicine, to help your children have the best overall health possible.

After experiencing her own troubles with an autoimmune condition that almost rendered her cripple, Dr. Nahas searched all types of conventional and alternative modalities to get well again. She knew that taking Advil everyday wasn’t the answer, and she found that energy healing, yoga and mindset meditations as well as a functional medicine approach led her to resume her vibrant energy and vitality, in a few short months.

Now, she combines her knowledge and expertise with her pediatric and adolescent clients, to customize their treatment approach and help them restore their optimal health.

Compiling functional medicine, integrative and conventional medicine approaches, I want to share a more comprehensive way of treating children and teenagers with ADHD, which is not a skill disorder, but a neurobiological disorder that leads to poor execution of behavior. Most conventional doctors and parents are not aware of the triggers and factors that lead to the manifestation of this spectrum of disorders, and I want to expose them to the true underlying issues that trigger these children’s symptoms. I will expand on the 3 critical steps, and share a case study, and if we have time, I can discuss how self-care for the caretakers is so essential for the long haul.

Objectives: To make parents aware that they have the power to affect their children’s health in a huge way, that there are nutritional solutions for ADHD, even though they haven’t become mainstream yet, and that even on a low budget, they can get started right away and gain momentum.

Dr. Kahkshan Ali is a General Dentist, Certified High-Performance, Mental Fitness, and Life Designer Coach. She is the CEO of Always Live Intentionally Coaching and the Founder of the Barefaced Breakfast Club. Dr. Ali is a practicing dentist who has spent the majority of her 25+ year career in a tertiary care hospital working with medically compromised patients. Her extensive international travels and work have added to her cultural agility in connecting with people of diverse backgrounds and experiences. Dr. Ali is a graduate of Wellesley College, Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, and Yale University. She loves golfing with her husband, traveling with her family, and baking and cake decorating with her daughter.

Sometimes life throws extreme challenges at us when they are least expected. As humans, our first instinct may be to fight, flee, or even freeze. Our initial response to a life-changing event does not determine whether or not we are able to overcome it. What does allow us to overcome any trauma or challenge are resilience-building skills that can be learned and developed. The diagnosis of autoimmune disease may be out of your control and sometimes even the recommended treatment can feel like that. However, what is in your control is how you respond to it.