Dr Ciara Wright, PhD: Fertility, Female Health and Personalised Nutrition

Ciara Wright, PhD is Director of the Glenville Clinic, Dublin, Ireland and specialises in male and female fertility and women’s hormonal balance. Ciara has a special interest in immune-related subfertility which can result in difficulty conceiving or recurrent miscarriage. She has a PhD in molecular biology from the Institute of Immunology at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth, experience in diagnostic hospital laboratories and a qualification in Medical Laboratory Sciences, and is an independent researcher and author of several important publications. In this interview Ciara discuses nutritional interventions, diagnostic testing and her research related to fertility and personalized nutrition. Further reading: Wright C, Milne S, Leeson H. Sperm DNA damage caused by oxidative stress: modifiable clinical, lifestyle and nutritional factors in male infertility. Reprod Biomed Online. 2014;28(6):684-703. Dalton LM, Ní Fhloinn DM, Gaydadzhieva GT, Mazurkiewicz OM, Leeson H, Wright CP. Magnesium in pregnancy. Nutr Rev. 2016;74(9):549-557. Wright C, Leeson H (2018) Assessing Iodine Status in Frontline Healthcare. J Nutri Med Diet Care 4:028. doi.org/10.23937/2572-3278.1510028

Ron Hunninghake is Chief Medical Officer at the Riordan Clinic, an internationally recognized pioneer of Intravenous Vitamin C (IVC) therapy, and co-author of three books and several research papers on integrative medicine. In addition to his full-time practice as a holistic medical doctor at the Riordan Clinic, Dr. Ron has made multiple trips to Japan, Spain, Ecuador, Columbia, New Zealand, Canada and South Korea to lecture on The Riordan IVC Protocol for Cancer and is actively involved in IVC research. In this interview Dr Ron shares his remarkable history and vision for the future of integrative medicine. Further reading: Mikirova N, Casciari J, Riordan N, Hunninghake R. Clinical experience with intravenous administration of ascorbic acid: achievable levels in blood for different states of inflammation and disease in cancer patients. J Transl Med. 2013;11:191. Published 2013 Aug 15. doi:10.1186/1479-5876-11-191 Riordan HD, Hunninghake RB, Riordan NH, et al. Intravenous ascorbic acid: protocol for its application and use. P R Health Sci J. 2003;22(3):287-290.

William B. Grant, Ph.D. is founder and president, Sunlight, Nutrition, and Health Research Center, San Francisco, California and a leading expert on vitamin with over 275 publications listed at pubmed.gov. His primary research interests are identifying and quantifying the risk-modifying factors for chronic and infectious diseases, with a particular interest in ultraviolet irradiance and vitamin D. In this interview we explore vitamin D research and clinical use with particular focus on the relationship between vitamin D and viral respiratory tract infections including COVID-19. Further reading: Grant WB, Lahore H, McDonnell SL, et al. Evidence that Vitamin D Supplementation Could Reduce Risk of Influenza and COVID-19 Infections and Deaths. Nutrients. 2020;12(4):988. Grant, WB. Preventing a covid-19 pandemic: Can vitamin D supplementation reduce the spread of COVID-19? Try first with health care workers and first responders. BMJ. 2020.

Professor Julia Rucklidge PhD is director of the Mental Health and Nutrition Research Group at the University of Canterbury and a pioneer of research on mental health and nutrition. Her research has explored the impact of nutritional interventions in Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in children and adults, anxiety and stress in adults and children following catastrophe, insomnia, premenstrual syndrome, depression, addictions, emotion dysregulation and more. In this interview she shares her extraordinary work, its powerful implications, and her radical vision for the future of psychiatric care. Further reading: Rucklidge JJ, et al. Vitamin-mineral treatment improves aggression and emotional regulation in children with ADHD: a fully blinded, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. J Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2018;59(3):232‐246. Sarris J, , et al. Nutritional medicine as mainstream in psychiatry. Lancet Psychiatry. 2015;2(3):271‐274. Rucklidge JJ, et al. Shaken but unstirred? Effects of micronutrients on stress and trauma after an earthquake: RCT evidence comparing formulas and doses. Hum Psychopharmacol. 2012;27(5):440‐454.

William S. Harris, PhD, FAHA is an internationally recognized expert on omega-3 fatty acids with more than 300 publications relating to fatty acids in medical literature and author on two American Heart Association scientific statements on fatty acids. Kristina Harris Jackson, PhD, RD has contributed important publications to the omega-3 field specifically related to maternal health in addition to creating the Prenatal DHA test and the Mother’s Milk DHA test. Both are involved with OmegaQuant Analytics and the omega-3-index test. This fascinating discussion explores many important aspects of omega-3 research including the state of the clinical science, testing, absorption, dose, safety and health effects.   

In this remarkable interview Dr Robert Verkerk shares a blueprint for a sustainable healthcare system that incorporates factors such as patient empowerment, nutrition, lifestyle medicine, societal change and environmental ecology. Dr Robert Verkerk BSc MSc DIC PhD FACN, is Founder, Executive & Scientific Director of the Alliance for Natural Health International (ANH-Intl) and has been instrumental in directing legal actions to protect the right to natural health and pioneering the development of novel, scientifically rational risk/benefit analysis approaches to foods and natural health products. Dr Verkerk has Masters and Doctorate degrees from Imperial College London, where he also worked as a postdoctoral research fellow for 7 years and has authored some 60 papers in scientific journals and conference proceedings. He is an expert on a wide range of issues relating to sustainability in healthcare, agriculture, food quality and related fields. Further reading: Alliance for Natural Health. Health Sustainability Blueprint. Available at anhinternational.org

Brad Leech is a Clinical Nutritionist, Ayurvedic Herbalist, lecturer, clinic supervisor and research supervisor at Endeavour College of Natural Health. Brad is currently undertaking his PhD at the Australian Research Centre in Complementary and Integrative Medicine, University of Technology Sydney where his research involves developing a clinical practice guideline for the assessment and management of increased intestinal permeability. He is an international presenter and published author writing both peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters. In the discussion we explore intestinal permeability from an evidence-based perspective including topics such as risk factors, disease associations, assessment and treatment.   Further reading:   Leech B, McIntyre E, Steel A, Sibbritt D. Risk factors associated withintestinal permeability in an adult population: A systematic review. Int J Clin Pract. 2019 Oct;73(10):e13385.   Leech B, Schloss J, Steel A. Association between increased intestinal permeability and disease: a systematic review. Adv Integr Med. 2018;6:23‐34.

Dr. Samuel Yanuk is an adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and creator of Cogence Immunology, a widely acclaimed online functional immunology course for clinicians. Dr Yanuk is also in private practice focusing primarily on immunology and the application of natural methods in cases involving immunological dysfunction. In this remarkable conversation Dr Yanuk unravels the complex landscape of inflammatory and autoimmune illness from a functional medicine-based perspective in a way that is both enlightening and empowering.   Further learning: cogenceimmunology.com

Justine Bold is a researcher and clinician whose remarkable work has improved our understanding of food sensitivities, in particular non-coeliac gluten sensitivity, and how it may contribute to a diverse range of issues, from infertility to mental illness. Justine is Senior lecturer in Nutritional Therapy at the School of Allied Health and Community, University of Worcester, Program Director of Continuing Professional Development at the Centre for Medical Education, University of Cardiff, and delivered the nutrition education element of the SHAPE project that runs within the NHS for young people with severe mental illness such a psychosis and bi-polar disorder. Justine has worked part time in practice since 2003, and is editor of Integrated Approaches to Infertility, IVF and Recurrent Miscarriage: A Handbook. Further reading: Casella G, Villanacci V, Di Bella C, Bassotti G, Bold J, Rostami K. Non celiac gluten sensitivity and diagnostic challenges. Gastroenterol Hepatol Bed Bench. 2018 Summer;11(3):197-202.  Busby E, Bold J, Fellows L, Rostami K. Mood Disorders and Gluten: It's Not All in Your Mind! A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis. Nutrients. 2018 Nov 8;10(11). Bold, J. & Bedford, S. (2016) Integrated Approaches in Infertility, IVF and recurrent miscarriage. Jessica Kingsley Publishers Singing Dragon, London

Dr Jonathan Prousky has been instrumental in the advancement of nutrition and integrative medicine in mental health care for over two decades. He is author of over 70 research papers, 7 books (including Integrative Clinical Nutrition, and Anxiety; Orthomolecular Diagnosis and Treatment), and several book chapters.  Dr Prousky is Professor at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine, Lead Supervisor of the Mental Health Focused Shift, previous Editor of the Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine and maintains a medical practice with emphasis on the evaluation and treatment of mental health concerns. Further reading: Prousky, J. The manifestations and triggers of mental breakdown, and its effective treatment by increasing stress resilience with psychosocial strategies, therapeutic lifestyle changes, and orthomolecular interventions. Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, 2013;28(3):111-130 Prousky, J. Orthomolecular psychiatric treatments are preferable to mainstream psychiatric drugs: a rational analysis. Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine, 2013;28(1):17-32.