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, Learn more about her MS clinical trials by reaching out to her team: MSDietStudy@healthcare.uiowa.edu.

Coming Soon

Dr. Rachel Fresco is founder and CEO of Bio-Botanical Research, located adjacent to Silicon Valley on the Monterey Bay. Her company has been delivering innovative botanical formulas to health care professionals since 1989. These cutting-edge formulations are utilized as key support in the most challenging clinical presentations. Her focus in product development has been addressing concerns relating to GI health, Lyme disease, Autism Spectrum Disorders, as well as oral care and systemic infections. The flagship formula Biocidin®. is recommended by noted authors, clinics and laboratories worldwide. University-based research and published studies on her formulas include Borreliosis, pathogenic biofilms, and immune response in elite athletes. Other ongoing clinical trials include SIBO, H. pylori, periodontal disease, mycotoxins and other topics.

Dr. Fresco lectures at medical conferences both in the US and internationally, in addition to appearing on many podcasts and online summits relating to health and wellness. She “walks the talk” empowering and inspiring others to lead healthy and organic lifestyles, and modeling a new paradigm of corporate culture.

Bio-Botanical Research
18 Hangar Way, Ste. A, Watsonville, CA, 95076
Email drfresco@biocidin.com Ph 831.786.9711

Gut Connection, Endotoxins, and Systemic Illness

Autoimmunity of all forms, including MS, continues to be on the rise. The root cause can be barrier permeability, which is compromised by chronic stress, environmental and endogenous toxins, pathogens, and lifestyle choices. Understanding and addressing these factors is foundational to long-term health. When GI health is out of balance, it can create an environment resulting in immune dysfunction, eventually triggering autoimmunity by a number of mechanisms. Dr. Fresco will discuss these underlying causes associated with many systemic illnesses, including the role of biofilms and LPS. Participants will learn clear steps to restore balance, using clinically-effective, plant-based medicines.

Known as “The Health Engineer,” Garrett has taken his education in Physics (BS) and Engineering (MSE) and applied it into a system for making the human body better. His journey started when he picked up ice hockey as a boy. It was a game he loved, but for which he had little natural aptitude. After several years “skating by,” he decided to delve deeply into the world of strength and conditioning to try to give himself a chance to play at a higher level. Unfortunately, what was popular at the time did not work for him — and he kept searching. 

​In dealing with some injury problems, he learned about the paramount importance of the nervous system, and saw the connections to how the same neurological principles could be applied to fitness. The neurological approach worked, and he never looked back. He became determined to learn as much as possible about how to affect the nervous system. To that end, he spent hundreds of hours in self-study, mentored under several leading-edge practitioners, tested many of his theories on himself and others, and even went back to school for a Ph.D. program in Neuroscience (from which he took a leave of absence to launch the Neubie device). 

​In 2009, he opened his first facility in Austin, TX to start sharing these methods with his community. This has grown into what we now know as NeuFit, which combines an advanced understanding of physiology with the best practices from diverse training and therapeutic practices, and constantly pushes these processes by using technology to accelerate them further. Since that first day, he has worked with people of all ages and in almost all situations, including athletes from MLB, the NFL, the NHL, the NBA, UFC, Olympics, NCAA, and more, helping them get out of pain, improve performance, sometimes avoid surgeries, and live life at a higher level. 

​​He lives in Austin, Texas and is ecstatically in love with his wife, Briana, and their two daughters, Gwenny and Gemma.

Coming Soon

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.

When Can I Stop My Medication?  And How The Wahls Protocol Can Get You There.  

A podium presentation followed by panel discussion with Dr. Ken Sharlin and Dr. Terry Wahls

The first time the words, “You have multiple sclerosis” is heard by anyone must be devastating news.  Perhaps second to hearing the diagnosis is difficult to accept the idea that conventional treatment means a life sentence of medications that are costly and can have serious, life-threatening, side effects.  Until recently, there has not been an examination of when disease-modifying therapy can be stopped. Our presentation will explore the latest information on this subject, including a discussion of how The Wahls Protocol offers a strategy to MS sufferers to take control, and increase the likelihood that they can stop their medication.

Only the Good Die Young: Dr. Roy Walford, ALS, and the Dream of Longevity – Lessons Learned from the Field and the Lab.

Presentation Abstract: Roy’s story is amazing and ironic for a man who said he would live to 120, but died at 79 of ALS. Dr. Roy Walford was a pioneer researcher in the field of longevity, mentor to Dr. Valter Longo who is the inventor of the PROLON diet. He was know to be extremely colorful and multi-talented beyond his work as a scientist. He was an actor, a social activist, an author, a musician, and a leading advocate for the idea that a nutrient dense calorie restricted diet would extend life for (potentially) decades. Infamously, he spent 2 years living in Biosphere 2 in the Arizona Desert along with 7 other “crew members” to demonstrate the viability of closed ecological systems to support and maintain human life in outer space. It was designed to explore the web of interactions within life systems in a structure with different areas based on various ecological biomes. Little did he know that when he emerged from Biosphere 2 with slurred speech and an awkward gait he was showing signs of the disease that would be his demise. However, the 5 year survival of ALS is only about 5% and yet Walford lived for many years beyond the expected survival. I will be using his story to explore ALS from a functional medicine perspective and speculate what may have triggered Walford’s illness but also contributed to his unusually long survival with the illness.

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Tyler J Titcomb is a postdoctoral research scholar at the University of Iowa under the direction of Dr. Terry Wahls. He is a registered dietitian and has a PhD in nutritional sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After an 8-inch growth spurt in 4 months when Tyler was 12 years old, he became extremely injury plagued. His teenage years were full of sports injuries which led Tyler to his family chiropractor who coached him on how to improve his diet to prevent more of these injuries. Turns out these radical things called vegetables were just what Tyler needed, and he has been injury free and hooked on nutrition ever since. 

Prior to joining Dr. Wahls’ research team, Tyler conducted research on the relationship between dietary heavy metal toxins and urinary tract cancer at the University of North Dakota and carotenoid absorption and metabolism from selectively bred, biofortified crops including corn and carrots at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In addition, as a side project in graduate school, Tyler conducted studies assessing dietary intake of B-vitamins in low-income countries and published a large narrative review on the topic.

Tyler’s passion is to research therapeutic diet and lifestyle interventions for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, which led him to apply for the postdoc position to work with Dr. Wahls. The Wahls Diet is rich in carotenoids (think colors) allowing Tyler to not only follow his dreams in researching the effect of diet on neurodegenerative disease but also to bring the expertise he gained from his PhD training to the Wahls research team. There are several mechanisms as to how carotenoids could benefit MS, but currently there is nearly zero research on the relationship. Tyler plans to change this.

Coming Soon

Dr. Ingels is a respected leader in natural medicine with more than 28 years experience in the healthcare field. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Environmental Medicine and Medical Academy of Pediatric Special Needs. His practice focuses on finding root causes of illness for children and adults with complex medical illnesses.

Dr. Ingels has been published extensively and is the author of “The Lyme Solution: A 5-Part Plan to Fight the Inflammatory Autoimmune Response and Beat Lyme Disease”, a comprehensive natural approach to treating Lyme disease. He has also been a Lyme and MS patient and has been able to reverse and control his symptoms using natural methods. Dr. Ingels specializes in Lyme disease, autism and chronic immune dysfunction. He uses diet, nutrients, herbs, homeopathy and immunotherapy to help his patients achieve better health.

Lyme disease is the fastest growing infectious disease in the world, with more than 300,000 new cases in the United States each year. Lyme and other infectious diseases are often underlying causes of autoimmune disease and commonly get misdiagnosed as other illnesses, including MS, ALS, lupus and other autoimmune conditions. Additionally, mold exposure and mycotoxicity have also been linked with causing various autoimmune disorders and is often overlooked by most healthcare providers. In this talk, Dr. Ingels will discuss how identifying underlying infection can help direct treatment of autoimmune disease and get to the root cause of the problem. He will share his personal and professional experience of overcoming Lyme disease using natural methods, such as dietary modifications, supporting gut health, herbal therapy, detoxification strategies, lifestyle management and other novel therapies to modulate the immune system. Dr. Ingels will also discuss how to identify mold in your environment and strategies to reduce your exposure and body burden of mycotoxins, using therapies that work with your body instead of against it can help stimulate better healing.

Dr. Alan Christianson is a Naturopathic Endocrinologist who focuses on Thyroid function, specifically Hashimoto’s, Hypothyroidism, and Graves’ disease.

He has been actively practicing in Scottsdale since 1996 and is the founding physician behind Integrative Health. He is a NY Times bestselling author whose books include The Metabolism Reset Diet, The Adrenal Reset Diet, and the Complete Idiot’s Guide to Thyroid Disease. 

Dr. Christianson regularly appears on national media like Dr. Oz, The Doctors, and The Today Show. He is the founding president behind the Endocrine Association of Naturopathic Physicians.

How to use a Wahl’s Program friendly approach to improve your own thyroid function and reverse chronic thyroid symptoms. 

Those with MS have a higher risk of all types of spontaneously developing autoimmune thyroid disease including both Grave’s Disease and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. Biological and immunosuppressant medications for treating MS also raise the risk of triggering autoimmune thyroid disease.

This presentation will teach the listeners how to work within Wahls’ Protocol Guidelines to improve thyroid function. They will learn how to achieve the narrow target of optimal iodine, how to select foods to improve immunotolerance through better T regulatory cell function, and what are the most commonly undiagnosed comorbidities experienced by those with thyroid disease.

Medical Director -The Ginstitute of Functional Medicine
Board Certified in Anti-Aging and Regenerative Medicine
Advanced Fellowship Metabolic Medical Institute
Advisory Board Member for Functional Medicine University

Dr. Ginsberg completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Bowman-Gray School of Medicine in North Carolina before Houston’s sunny climate brought her to Texas. Dr. Ginsberg has years of experience providing comprehensive obstetrics and gynecology treatment. As her career advanced, she developed a special interest in functional medicine and the manner in which it bridges the gap of a patient’s illness while minimizing severe symptoms and optimizing health.  This passion now encompasses special focus on the understanding of genetics and methylation, optimal hormone balance and overall healthy aging. Being a black belt in Tae Kwan Do and an accomplished marathon runner and triathlete has led her to explore the latest medical advances in wellness for athletes along with anti-aging therapies for both men and women. She is motivated to continue her research in nutritional therapies for many reasons, most significantly for the benefits it has brought to her sons with specific learning needs.

Dr. Ginsberg lectures for Functional Medicine University on the topic of PCOS, its natural reversal, and pathways to fertility. She is the author of The PCOS Environmental Roadmap. Rectangularization of aging is her personal passion, and she is faculty at the American Academy of Anti-Aging where she has lectured about bio-identical hormone replacment, methylation and telomeres (DNA caps) and how instrumental their preservation is for ongoing health. She is now actively involved in a ground breaking infusion study looking at Young Fresh Frozen Plasma and the effect it has on helping reverse symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis and Parkinson’s Disease.  She is lecturing and educating all over the country on the amazing results of this study and how it can help neurodegenerative diseases

Research now on a regular basis is indicating that dysregulation of circulating estrogens observed in peri and post-menopausal women can adversely impact brain cognition. It extends into testosterone levels for both men and women. This age range begins as early as 35 years old.  One of the principal regulators of circulating estrogens is the gut microbiome. The gut microbiota regulates estrogens (estriol, estradiol and estrone). 

When this process is impaired through dysbiosis of gut microbiota, characterized by lower microbial diversity, the circulating estrogens and other hormones may contribute to the development of conditions including the neurodegenerative diseases.

Promising therapeutic interventions including modulation of the microbiome composition, reestablishing hormone balance and subsequently modulating the immune system will have a significant impact on these disease states.

This talk will highlight promising interventions in the field, such as bio-identical hormone replacement, dietary therapeutics, utilization of clinical testing such as salivary and urine hormones as well as DNA stool testing and how to apply them clinically. It will further discuss areas that provide exciting unexplored topics of study.

Dr. Heidi Hanna is the Chief Energy Officer of Synergy Brain Fitness, a company providing brain-based health and performance programs to individuals and organizations, a Founding Partner of the Academy for Brain Health and Performance and a Fellow and Advisory Board Member for the American Institute of Stress. She is a NY Times bestselling author of several books, including The Sharp Solution, Stressaholic, and Recharge.  Heidi has been featured at many global conferences including the Fortune Magazine Most Powerful Women in Business Summit, ESPN Leadership Summit and the Million Dollar Round Table.  Her clients have included Google, Starbucks, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, and WD40 as well as the PGA Tour and the National Football League. Heidi is also a Certified Humor Professional with the Association for Applied and Therapeutic Humor although she won’t admit she’s funny. 

Based on the latest neuroscience of stress, mindfulness and motivation, Dr. Hanna uncovers research-driven guiding principles and a simple framework for optimizing brain health and fitness. Through interactive discussions around best-practices, participants will create a personal Recharge Tool-kit with specific strategies for their daily routine and group/team rituals to best support relationships at home and work.

Dr. Marisol Teijeiro ND, BA is an author, speaker, and director of Sanas Health Practice in Ontario, Canada. She is also the inventor of the Queen of the Thrones™ Castor Oil Pack and castor oil products.  She is certified in Environmental Medicine and Homotoxicology. As an alumni of CCNM, she instituted and teaches a six hour course on castor oil and castor oil packs. She has spoken internationally at the Environmental Health Symposium, the International Colon Hydrotherapy Association, the International Congress of Naturopathic Medicine and shared the stage with greats like Joseph Pizzorno and Walter Crinnion. Her passion and area of expertise is teaching people how to have incredible digestion and the best bowel movements.   Her mission is to create awareness about stools and a new SANAS standardized stool scale that would encompass all the clinical gems she has learned for personal, experience, research and practice on the ideal bowel movement.

A foundation of naturopathic medicine is engaging the healing power of nature. Nothing is more natural than a bowel movement. I suggest it is the most important product of the human body. Why? Because, not only does this process eliminate unwanted waste but it holds valuable information that can direct the clinician and the owner as to their present state of health. The problem is that in our current medical system, we look at stools and teach our patients solely about consistency and stool color as popularized by the Bristol Stool Scale and Stool Color Card for infant biliary atresia. Yet there are a plentitude of other important characteristics that serve as a “diagnostic” tool to elucidate issues within the gut microbiota, deficiencies of important vitamins, minerals and factors required for digestion and problems within regulatory systems such as the nervous, immune and endocrine systems. Years of personal, clinical and evidence exploration has led to the conclusion that there are other ways to look at your stool. So take a seat and learn from Dr. Marisol Teijeiro what classifies the ideal stool.  Her message will empower people around the world of all social classes to optimize their health.

My career started by volunteering at an AIDS hospice in Minneapolis in the early 90s, at the time I was selling computers, but a few weeks into my volunteer work I realized I was supposed to be a nurse.  I earned my RN, moved to Iowa, and began working at UIHC. I then earned my ARNP in 2007 and accepted a position in Neurology, working with MS patients, the true love of my life. My approach has always been integrative, because when constructing a treatment plan, the best outcomes are always achieved when the whole person is taken into consideration.

Have you loved Dr Wahls’ books and videos and are trying hard to apply all the great recommendations but having a difficulty with the 3 cups of sulfur? We will explore one of the main reasons why you could not only not tolerate sulfur containing foods but why you might sometimes feel like you look 3 months pregnant, have foul smell gas or a bad breath even if you have perfect dental hygiene. We will also dive deep into the three different approaches that have scientific evidence to resolve the problem. We will then finish with a Multiple Sclerosis case study.

Dr. Tom treats some of the sickest, most sensitive patients suffering from chronic Lyme disease, tick-borne co-infections, mold illness and children with infection-induced autoimmune encephalitis (PANDAS/PANS). He focuses on optimizing the body’s self-healing systems in order to achieve optimal health with simple, natural interventions; utilizing more conventional approaches when needed. Each individual is a unique unity of body, mind and spirit. Successful treatment strategies are patient-centered and address all three levels. The true source of radiant health is within each of us. Dr. Tom’s goal is to empower each of his patients to get in touch with their inner source of health so they can experience optimal health.

Abrupt behavioral and cognitive changes are becoming more and more common in children (and adults). One of the better known causes is Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections (PANDAS). Children often experience abrupt behavioral and personality changes or food restriction along with a host of neuropsychiatric symptoms, such as OCD, rage, depression, anxiety, regression in school performance, and sensory or motor abnormalities.  The term Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndromes (PANS) was coined to be inclusive of most other toxic/infectious causes of acute behavioral changes. Often overlooked causes include tick-borne infections and mold exposures. In the case of tick-borne infections, these may cause PANS like symptoms without triggering an autoimmune reaction, however the most common situation is the infection triggers autoimmunity and inflammation.

In children, the changes tend to be neuropsychiatric as described; in adults, the changes tend to be more depression, anxiety and cognitive changes, rather than abrupt onset of something such as OCD or rage. Treatment requires identification of the underlying cause, addressing the autoimmune reaction and decreasing the subsequent inflammation in order for the patient to fully heal. Functional approaches to diagnosis and treatment are critical, including the potential use of conventional medications, herbal antimicrobials and detoxification supports, and nutritional/dietary/lifestyle modifications.

Self-care is a critical part of healing, so you truly have control over your own health and healing. We’ll be discussing key strategies for jumpstarting your health right in your own home.

Up until having my own health scare in 2014 I was a Chartered Accountant working at a large investment bank in Australia. My health scare lead me down a new career path. I was told by countless medical practitioners that I was going to die. I spent the next two years in bed, not doing much but being determined that food and nutrition was going to be my way to healing. This was what lead me to discover the Nutritional Therapy Association. 
I am now Certified Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (NTP), and a Certified Gluten Practitioner.

I am  a Certified Restorative Wellness Practitioner, enabling me to specialise in functional laboratory testing to further enhance my functional testing skills. 

I now have my own successful practice in Wellington’s CBD, where I combine all of my training, knowledge and first hand experience to assist my clients to get to the underlying root causes of their health symptoms.  I work with many corporate clients to transform their health, so they too, can live life to their full potential. I also support client’s with chronic illnesses in order to turn their lives around and help them reclaim their own health once again. As a result, I see clients in person and worldwide via Skype depending on their needs. I now have a clinic where I manager other practitioners, we do a range of alternative therapies and I also have an online course, where i teach people to eat right for their bodies. I have now worked with thousand of clients. 

• Marketing- niche your market, have a clear goal and vision. Grow your list, grow your following.
• Systems and structure- Essential to having a successful business. Connections- relationships our foundational to building a successful business. What are your strengths?

The major goal of my research is to develop better treatment options to cure multiple sclerosis (MS). To achieve this goal, my research program focuses on three major interconnected themes: i) to understand the role of gut microbiome and metabolome in the etiopathogenesis of MS; ii) test therapeutic efficacy of human gut derived bacteria as drug (BRUG) in animal models of MS; and iii) utilize transgenic mice expressing MS susceptible and resistant HLA class II molecules (HLA transgenic mice) to understand the mechanisms of disease pathogenesis.

Dr. Shelly Sethi is a double board-certified family physician who provides integrative and functional medicine to people who are looking for clarity and root-cause resolution of their chronic health issues and to people who want to optimize their body and brain to live to their full potential. She provides a step-by-step system that is customized for your unique health condition with a focus on nutrition science,  sleep physiology, stress management, exercise physiology, connection to community and mind-body practices. Her program reverse engineers your health goals by understanding your genetic potential and focuses on recovery from stress exposure. This results in more energy, a clear mind, and an optimized body and spirit which improves your relationships, impact, and lifestyle.

She is the Founder of Dr. Shelly Sethi Personalized Medicine and a national speaker in the field of Integrative Medicine.  Additionally, she is the best selling author of “Built to Thrive. Overcome Chronic Illness, Fatigue and Hormonal Imbalance and Get Your Energy and Vitality Back Without Medication or Surgery.”  She teaches culinary medicine and mind-body seminars in Austin and has been a practitioner and teacher of meditation for over twenty years.

The NIH reports that more than 23 million adults suffer from auto-immune disease and that many of these adults experience pain, inflammation, anxiety and depression. Additionally, people who were diagnosed with a stress-related illness were more likely to be diagnosed with multiple autoimmune diseases, and if younger, had a higher rate of autoimmune disease.  Mind-body interventions have long been known to help reduce stress-related illnesses. Additionally, meditation has been studied as an effective approach for pain relief, and is an intervention for both anxiety and depression. However, only 8% of adults in the US practice or have practiced a daily breathwork or meditation practice and as few as 3% of doctors actually talk to patients about how to reduce stress.  In this talk, we will review how: 

• Mindfulness meditation as well as other forms of mind-body practices can improve self-reported measures of disease symptomatology, and the biological mechanisms underlying human aging and disease. 
• Meditation has direct effects on immune system parameters.
• Meditation has a positive effect on depressive and anxiety symptoms, with secondary outcomes of change in psychological distress, well-being, and disease activity such as fatigue and joint pain.  
• To get started with a meditation and breathwork practice.

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.

Adopting the Wahls Protocol involves huge dietary changes for most people. Many of them haven’t been exposed to gluten free or dairy free and egg free cooking. This will be an overview of the starting points for how to adjust to this way of eating and adjusting their traditional recipes to allergy free.

Includes concepts of:

• Batch Cooking
• Getting to know names for gluten and dairy
• Replacements and Ingredient Swaps
• Pantry Clean Out
• Eating Out

Sachin Patel is a father, husband, philanthropist, functional medicine practice success coach, international speaker, and best-selling author. His philosophy is that “The doctor of the future is the patient” and he is actively doing whatever it takes to keep people out of the medical system by empowering them through education, self-care, and remapping their mindset.

Sachin founded The Living Proof Institute as part of his own personal transformation and now coaches practitioners all over the world on how to step into their power and save their communities. 

To date he has delivered hundreds of community workshops, he is an advocate for changing the healthcare paradigm and he has devoted his life to the betterment of health care for both patients and practitioners.

Includes concepts of:

• Learn the most impactful strategies to reach your community
• Discover the most powerful tool to get your message across
• Uncover the most effective way to communicate a wellness model to your patients