the NUANCE // a community health podcast.

Dr. Pooja Amy Shah is a dual board certified physician in Integrative Medicine + Family Medicine. She is an Assistant Professor at Columbia University Medical Center, Director of Integrative Medicine and Director of Musculoskeletal Education at the Center for Family and Community Medicine. Dr. Shah teaches Eastern mind-body practices. She has a unique and diverse toolbox to heal her patients including medical acupuncture, herbs, meditation, and yoga. Dr. Shah has received many awards including the Columbia University Medical Center/New York-Presbyterian Hospital Faculty Teacher of the Year Award, New York-Presbyterian Hospital / Columbia University Medical Center Staff Choice Attending Physician of the Year Award, and a 3x Weil Grant recipient. Dr. Shah has an extensive resume, so we’ve only touched on some of the certifications, experiences, awards, and recognition she has received!

Jeff Tkach serves as the Chief Impact Officer for the Rodale Institute. He is responsible for expanding Rodale Institute’s global influence in healing people and the planet by unlocking the transformational power of regenerative organic agriculture. As Chief Impact Officer, Jeff leads the development and execution of the Institute’s core strategies, overseeing opportunities for partnership and co-investment that drive positive outcomes for Rodale’s philanthropic and programmatic initiatives. For 70 years, Rodale Institute has been leading game-changing research, expertly training farmers, and educating the community to help heal broken agricultural systems. Together, we can transform not only the way we farm, but what and how we eat. We can harness the power of regenerative organic agriculture to secure the future health of the planet and transform lives.

Professor Felice Jacka is Director of the Food & Mood Centre at Deakin University and an international leader in the transformative field of Nutritional Psychiatry research. She is also founder and president of the International Society for Nutritional Psychiatry Research (ISNPR) and immediate past president of the Australian Alliance for the Prevention of Mental Disorders. She has been responsible for the development of a highly innovative field of research establishing diet and nutrition as of importance to common mental disorders. These include the first studies to document a role for diet in adolescent depression, the first study to identify both maternal and early life nutrition as important predictors of children’s mental health, and the first trial to show that dietary improvement can address depression. The results of the studies she has conducted have been highly influential Professor Jacka’s current research focuses closely on the links between diet, gut health, and mental and brain health. Professor Jacka has published >160 peer-reviewed scientific papers, the majority in high-impact journals in the mental health field including the American Journal of Psychiatry, BMC Medicine and Lancet Psychiatry. She is listed in the top ten most highly-cited researchers in mood disorders in Australia (Scopus). She has written a book for the lay public called ‘Brain Changer’, which we HIGHLY recommend. She is also passionate about prompting changes by policy-makers to improve the global food environment.

Dr. Margaret Adamek received her PhD from the University of Minnesota. She is an expert in Adult Learning Theory, Community-Based Knowledge Systems, Philosophy of Consciousness, and Methodological Development for Consciousness Research. She blends her skills as an organizer, network weaver, adult learning expert, capacity builder, social change movement designer, strategic communicator, and facilitator to equip and empower diverse communities to thrive. Nationally recognized for her unique, impact-oriented approach to helping people and partnerships create healthy communities, Maggi provides clients with clear, strategic counsel and comprehensive, creative support as they execute initiatives designed to benefit the public good. Maggi serves on the American Swedish Institute’s Board of Directors and is a former Bush Foundation Leadership Fellow.

Dr. Marney A. White, PhD, MS, is a clinical psychologist, specializing in eating and weight disorders. In addition to her appointment as Associate Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences in the Yale School of Public Health, she holds a secondary appointment in the Department of Psychiatry (Yale School of Medicine). Dr. White has provided clinical training and supervision for graduate and postdoctoral trainees at Yale University, where she is a faculty member in the departments of psychiatry and public health. She has written more than 150 scientific journal articles and book chapters on eating disorders and weight problems, and has conducted eating disorders treatment studies funded by the National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association. Current projects include curriculum-based interventions to improve student mental health on college campuses. Professor White's innovative "Self Care" course, Health Behavior Change: From evidence to action, is now publicly available through Coursera.

Dr. Daisy Robinton challenges the assumptions we hold about the world and about ourselves. Her work as a molecular biologist, writer, public speaker, and lifestyle and fitness model, all contribute to the unique lens with which she examines the intersection of science and culture. Robinton completed her PhD in Human Biology and Translational Medicine at Harvard University in 2016 and landed on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2017 for her scientific discoveries. Her writing has been published in periodicals such as Nature, Developmental Cell, Vanity Fair and NEO.LIFE. Working with brands like Neutrogena, lululemon, Powerade and Reformation, Dr. Robinton has traveled all over the world for her work in marketing campaigns and in developing the next generation of consumer products informed by biotechnology. Her passion for the effective translation of science has fueled her years of teaching, speaking, and consulting on numerous projects in the US and abroad. She is currently working as a Scientist in Residence developing novel preclinical programs and therapeutic strategies targeting women's health, menopause, and human healthspan. Instagram: @daisy_robinton Twitter: @DaisyRobinton

Dr. Stacy Beller Stryer is a board certified pediatrician and associate medical director for Park Rx America, where she educates providers, schools and park agencies on benefits of nature and nature prescriptions; and works with the core team to strategize ways to move this mission forward. She is also a frequent speaker at conferences and other media outlets and has published on this topic. Dr. Beller Stryer served as the health promotion and disease prevention coordinator within the Indian Health Service, and a pediatric subject expert for an online health website, Revolution Health. She also works with her local school system to increase awareness and promote outdoor classrooms and green schoolyards and serves on Governor Hogan's task force for "Project Green Classrooms.” She wants others to benefit from nature as much as she has through the years.

Dr. Jaycie Loewen, PhD is a Clinical Neuroscientist who received her Doctorate of Neuroscience at the University of Utah. Her background includes the study of basic and clinical brain injury, including the publication of research regarding mechanisms of epilepsy pathophysiology. Dr. Loewen is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Scholar, with a Master's in Clinical Investigation awarded in 2018, as well as a recipient of the Higher Education Teaching Specialist Certificate. Through these degrees, she obtained experience with patient care and education as well as an understanding of the necessity of respecting patient experience and symptoms. At Cognitive FX, a clinic that specializes in addressing concussion symptoms, Dr. Loewen’s focus is firstly patient care and education.

Dr. Alina Fong earned her PhD in Clinical Psychology in 2008. During her academic career, she received the national American Psychological Association Clinical Neuropsychology Division 40 Graduate Student Research Award in 2004. She also started treating patients with severe traumatic brain injuries at Utah Valley Regional Medical center and now holds the position of director of clinical training for the neuro-trauma rehabilitation clinic and sports medicine/concussion clinic. In tandem with Dr. Mark Allen (who we have a conversation with in the next episode), she has published numerous articles that detail their discoveries and successes with combing neuropsychology and neuroimaging to improve the diagnosis and treatment of brain injuries (as well as various mental and emotional disorders). Dr. Fong built her own clinic with Dr. Allen in Utah in 2014, called Cognitive FX. She is the clinical director and co-owner. Her expertise has led her to create the most comprehensive concussion care and brain rehabilitation available and vastly improves the diagnosis, treatment, and long-term planning of mTBI. Cognitive FX has treated almost 2,000 concussion and other brain injury patients, including professional athletes from the NFL, NHL, and the Olympics.

Dr. Sara Warber received her MD from Michigan State University. She is the former co-director of the U-M Integrative Medicine program and was a practicing physician at the Integrative Medicine Clinic. Her research interests include Human-environment relationships, Integrative medicine and Reproductive and Women’s Health. In 2000, Dr. Warber became a founding diplomat of the American Board of Holistic Medicine, and, in 2003, she expanded her clinical practice to include Holistic Women’s Health and Holistic Herbal Medicine consultations. In 2014 Dr. Warber won a Fulbright Scholarship to study integrative medicine therapies and environmental values at the University of Exeter in Cornwall, United Kingdom. Dr. Warber retired as a professor at the University of Michigan Department of Family Medicine and remains with the Department as an active emeritus professor.