Precision Over Protocol: Rethinking Immune Support in Integrative Oncology

A cancer diagnosis often triggers an immediate focus on “supporting the immune system,” frequently through medicinal mushrooms, mistletoe therapy, intravenous vitamin C, immune-modulating supplements, oxidative therapies, or other integrative interventions. While these therapies may play an important role in patient care, the assumption that all oncology patients uniformly benefit from immune stimulation oversimplifies a highly dynamic and clinically nuanced immunologic landscape.

Cancer patients may present with profoundly different patterns of immune dysfunction, including lymphopenia, immune exhaustion, chronic inflammation, viral reactivation, marrow suppression, cytokine dysregulation, or functional anergy. In these settings, reflexive immune stimulation may be poorly matched, or in some cases counterproductive, to the patient’s underlying biology.

This lecture will explore a precision-based framework for evaluating immune-supportive therapies in integrative oncology, emphasizing individualized clinical assessment over protocol-driven intervention. Participants will review practical interpretation of foundational and advanced immune markers, including CBC-derived indices such as neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, absolute lymphocyte count, and lymphocyte subset analysis (including T-cell, B-cell, and NK cell patterns), alongside inflammatory signaling, chronic viral burden, and the gut-immune interface.

Additional discussion will address the clinical nuances of oxidative versus antioxidant therapies, endocrine and metabolic contributors to immune resilience, and the impact of chronic physiologic stress on immune function. Through case-based examples, this session will illustrate how recognizing patterns of immune dysregulation can meaningfully alter therapeutic strategy, avoid overdriving already strained systems, and support more individualized, biologically informed oncology care.

The Female Brain in Transition: Navigating Hormones, Mood, and Mental Health Through Life

Women’s mental health is profoundly influenced by hormonal changes throughout life, from the reproductive years through menopause. This session explores the connection between hormones and neurotransmitters, with a focus on PMDD, fertility treatments, postpartum depression, and perimenopausal mood changes. Attendees will gain insight into the biological and psychosocial factors that impact mental well-being and learn integrative strategies to support women during key hormonal transitions. Through a root-cause lens, this presentation highlights opportunities to improve mental health outcomes across every stage of a woman’s life.

The Gut–Brain–Inflammaging Axis: Permeability, Peptides, and Cognitive Decline

A growing body of evidence identifies the gut microbiome as a central regulator of biological aging, systemic inflammation, and cognitive decline. Age related shifts in gut microbial composition have been documented across multiple geographic regions. These biome aging signatures correlate with declining microbial diversity, increased dysbiosis, and intestinal permeability.

Intestinal permeability plays a pivotal role in inflammaging. Elevations in zonulin and disruption of tight junction integrity facilitate translocation of microbial products such as lipopolysaccharides (LPS), amplifying innate immune activation and driving chronic low grade inflammation. This inflammaging state contributes to neuroimmune dysregulation and early cognitive vulnerability. Converging research demonstrates that gut derived inflammatory metabolites influence hippocampal signaling and mitochondrial function, forming a bidirectional gut–brain inflammatory loop that accelerates cognitive aging.

Mitochondrial resilience has emerged as a critical therapeutic target within this inflammaging axis. Mitochondrial derived peptides, including humanin, SS 31 (elamipretide), and MOTS c (mitochondrial open reading frame of the 12S rRNA-c), exhibit pharmacologic properties that enhance mitochondrial efficiency, reduce oxidative stress, and modulate inflammatory signaling relevant to neuronal aging. Complementary gut directed peptides such as BPC 157 (body protective compound 157) and KPV (lysine proline valine) demonstrate mucosal protective and anti-inflammatory mechanisms that support intestinal barrier restoration and may indirectly influence cognitive health through reduction of systemic inflammatory load.

This session integrates clinical cases, gut microbiome science, intestinal barrier physiology, mitochondrial pharmacology, and emerging peptide research to provide clinicians with a comprehensive framework for assessment and intervention. Participants will learn to evaluate and address microbial age, dysbiosis and intestinal permeability, alongside understanding the mechanisms of action regarding peptides to support healthy aging and cognitive resilience.

Removed: Women’s Health and the Hysterectomy Experience—What to Know about this Common Surgery and Whole Body Healing

Women’s health is a rapidly growing sector of the healthcare industry, with increasing emphasis on care options that’s initiated a shift in patient involvement. According to the National Institute of Health (NIH), hysterectomy is the most common non-obstetric medical procedure performed in U.S. women. Approximately 600,000 hysterectomy procedures are performed annually in the United States. Globally, the number of hysterectomies is estimated to be up to 1.54 million. While every hysterectomy procedure removes the uterus (and some also the cervix, ovaries, and fallopian tubes)—in short, the physical body parts that enable reproductive health—there is great variability in how patients, practitioners, pharmacists, and other care providers address this life-changing experience. This session takes a deep dive into lessons learned from pre- and post-hysterectomy surgery through the lenses of the patients who experienced the procedure and follow-up care, and seeks to outline, for consideration, some practical steps designed to improve positive patient mental and physical outcomes.

This session will feature more than a half-dozen detailed case studies of individuals describing their hysterectomy diagnosis, pharmacy, surgery, and pain management experiences, mental resolve, and hope strategies. It will examine what naturopathic physicians can learn from those who have gone through the procedure, including their thoughts beyond the codes and measurable outcomes. It will propose some new ideas for improving hysterectomy care that directly bring patient experiences and questions into everyday healthcare scenarios so physicians of healing and education can better treat the whole person.

Precision Medicine for Cognitive Decline: Applying a Root-Cause Approach to Alzheimer’s Prevention and Early Intervention

Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive decline are increasingly understood as multifactorial processes influenced by metabolic dysfunction, inflammation, vascular disease, toxic exposures, hormonal changes, sleep disruption, and lifestyle factors. This presentation will provide naturopathic physicians with a clinically applicable framework for understanding and addressing the root causes of cognitive decline using a precision medicine approach.

Participants will explore common drivers of neurodegeneration through practical subtype patterns including inflammatory, glycotoxic, atrophic, toxic, vascular, and traumatic contributors. The session will review how foundational interventions—including nutrition, exercise, sleep optimization, stress reduction, and cognitive stimulation—interact with brain physiology and influence long-term cognitive outcomes.

The presentation will also examine emerging tools for early detection and risk assessment, including advanced laboratory testing, metabolic markers, sleep evaluation, and newer blood biomarkers such as p-tau, neurofilament light chain (NfL), and GFAP. Attendees will learn when these tests may be clinically useful and how to integrate findings into individualized treatment plans.

Evidence-based naturopathic and lifestyle interventions will be discussed for improving metabolic health, reducing neuroinflammation, supporting neuroplasticity, optimizing trophic support, enhancing detoxification pathways, and improving vascular function. Clinical case examples will demonstrate how a “cognoscopy” model can be incorporated into routine practice to identify risk earlier and implement targeted prevention strategies before significant cognitive decline occurs.

This session is designed to give clinicians practical tools for applying systems-based, personalized medicine principles to brain health and Alzheimer’s prevention in everyday naturopathic practice.

Autism Kids – The First Steps

How can you immediately help a child with autism and their family? With so many things to consider, and a potentially uncooperative patient, what are the easiest and most effective things a parent can do to help their child? This lecture will review unique issues when talking to a family with autism, diagnosing medical causes of autism, treating behavioral issues and speech delay.

Behind the Mask: Identifying the Nuances of Adult ADHD

Adult ADHD frequently presents with subtle, complex symptoms that traditional childhood-focused diagnostic frameworks often miss. This lecture examines the neurobiological and clinical realities of adult ADHD, highlighting the impact of chronic masking, internalized symptoms, and long-standing coping mechanisms on accurate assessment. Attendees will gain practical, ethical strategies for evaluating adult clients and implementing comprehensive management plans that support executive function and overall well-being.

Microbiome Frontiers: Emerging Science, Clinical Implications, and Future Directions in Whole-Person Health

Microbiome science is evolving at an extraordinary pace, reshaping our understanding of human health, disease risk, and therapeutic intervention. From the influence of chlorinated and fluorinated water on antimicrobial resistance to the emerging use of microbial signatures to predict miscarriage risk, discoveries in microbiome research are transforming both clinical care and public health. This presentation will explore cutting-edge findings in gut and vaginal microbiome research, highlighting the role of key microbial metabolites in immune regulation, metabolism, and chronic disease. Attendees will examine metabolite-based intervention strategies, emerging insights into the microbiome’s role in “browning” white adipose tissue and metabolic health, and the growing concern regarding interactions between the microbiome and environmental exposures such as microplastics and nanoplastics. Designed for clinicians seeking to translate rapidly advancing science into practice, this session will provide an accessible overview of emerging microbiome trends and their implications for patient care in naturopathic medicine.