Redefining Medicine

Charles Brenner, PhD is the Alfred E Mann Family Foundation Chair in Diabetes and Cancer Metabolism at City of Hope National Medical Center. In 2004, Brenner, then a faculty member at Dartmouth College, discovered nicotinamide riboside (NR) to be a vital precursor of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+), which is made available by nicotinamide riboside kinases (Nrks) that are conserved between yeast and humans. In 2007, Dr. Brenner's lab discovered a second pathway by which NR is converted to NAD+ and showed that NR can extend the lifespan of yeast cells by virtue of elevating NAD+ levels and increasing the activity of the NAD+-dependent Sir2 enzyme. In the past decade, Dr. Brenner has made multiple seminal contributions to NAD+ metabolism, which include engineering a yeast strain to convert inexpensive NAD+ precursor vitamins into NR, solving the crystal structure of human Nrk1, developing the methods for quantitative NAD+ metabolomics, and demonstrating the activity of oral NR in animal models of fatty liver disease; obesity; type 2 diabetes; diabetic and chemotherapeutic neuropathy; heart failure; and central brain injury. Dr. Brenner also led the first clinical trial of NR, which established safe oral availability in humans. He is currently focusing on the maternal and neonatal effects of oral NR and translating animal discoveries into evidence-based safe, human clinical practice for human conditions of metabolic stress.

Today's podcast on Redefining Medicine spotlights Peter Diamandis, MD. Named one of the "World's 50 Greatest Leaders" by Fortune Magazine, Diamandis continuously pushes the boundaries of what was once considered possible in the field of healthcare: a thought leader committed to the burgeoning convergence of medicine and technology. Diamandis serves as the Founder & Executive Chairman of the XPRIZE Foundation, which leads the world in designing and operating large-scale incentive competitions. Diamandis is also the Co-Founder & Executive Chairman of Singularity University, a graduate-level Silicon Valley institution that counsels the world's leaders on exponentially growing technologies. A graduate of MIT and Harvard Medical School, Diamandis is equal parts entrepreneur, visionary, and change-maker of the future.

Deborah Simkin, M.D., is a board-certified child, adolescent and adult psychiatrist specializing in Complementary and Integrative (CIM) or Functional Psychiatry for children, adolescents and adults. She is also board certified by the American Board of Integrative and Holistic Medicine and in Neurofeedback and specializes in LORETA neurofeedback. Dr. Simkin uses non-medical and medical interventions that include natural products, meditation, cognitive behavior therapy, genetic testing, validated screening instruments and nutrition, after a thorough bio/psycho/social evaluation is done. Dr. Simkin trained at Harvard's McLean and Mass General Hospitals in child and adolescent psychiatry. She is presently Co-Chair of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry's (AACAP) Committee on Integrative Medicine. In that position, she works with the National Institute of Complementary and Integrative Medicine (NCCIM) at the National Institute of Health (NIH) to increase research among child and adolescent psychiatrists. She has written numerous articles and chapters and lectures throughout the country. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor at Emory School of Medicine where she teaches CIM.

Dr. Jaclyn Chasse-Smeaton, N.D. is a naturopathic physician and founder of Hello Fertility. For over 15 years, she has been the nation's leading expert on integrative approaches to infertility, reproductive, and genitourinary health. She has helped hundreds of couples conceive when they thought there was no hope, and has taught thousands of doctors her successful methods. In addition to reproductive medicine, Dr. Smeaton has a diverse career spanning dietary supplements, health technology and innovation, and strategic leadership and commercial strategy in the integrative medicine industry. She most recently worked with Emerson Ecologics as their Senior VP of Medical Affairs. She has served as adjunct faculty for Bastyr University, as President for both the New Hampshire Association of Naturopathic Doctors and the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians, as an Ambassador for the Academy of Integrative Health and Medicine, and a board member of the Integrative Health Policy Consortium, the American Herbal Products Association, and several others.

Dr. Tara Scott, Hormone Guru, helps people find the cause of their symptoms and get them on a path to optimal health. With over 25 years of experience and 3 board certifications in OB/GYN, Functional medicine and Integrative medicine, Dr. Scott has helped thousands of patients struggling with hormone issues including endometriosis, breast cancer, weight gain and more. She is the founder of Revitalize Medical group and Hormone Guru Academy, a course to help patients improve their hormone problems themselves. After suffering from infertility and curing her own endometriosis, she now helps others achieve that same balance. She recently partnered her practice with Forum Health to take Revitalize to the next level. Dr. Scott has been speaking (including a recent TEDx talk) and educating for over 10 years and has taught doctors her approach in 5 continents. For her expertise, she has been featured on The List TV, Women's Health, Shape, The List, Newsweek, Parents, Authority Magazine, and on numerous podcasts.

Michael Goran, PhD is a Professor of Pediatrics at The Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, which is affiliated with the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. He is Program Director for Diabetes and Obesity at The Saban Research Institute and he holds the Dr Robert C and Veronica Atkins Endowed Chair in Childhood Obesity and Diabetes. Dr Goran also serves as Co-Director of the USC Diabetes and Obesity Research Institute. Dr Goran is a native of Glasgow, Scotland, and received his Ph.D. from the University of Manchester, UK (1986) prior to postdoctoral training in the US (1987 to 1991). He previously served on the faculty of Medicine at the University of Vermont (1991 to 1994), the Department of Nutrition Sciences at UAB (1994 to 1999), the Department of Preventive Medicine at USC (1999 to 2018) prior to joining Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles. His research has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health and other Foundations for the past 30 years during which he has raised almost $50m in funding to support this work. He has published over 350 professional peer-reviewed articles and reviews. He is the Editor of the "Childhood Obesity: Causes, Consequences and Intervention Approaches" published in 2017, co-editor of "Dietary Sugars and Health"published in late 2014, and currently serves as Editor-in-Chief for Pediatric Obesity. He has been the recipient of a number of scientific awards for his research and teaching, including: The Nutrition Society Medal for Research (1996), The Lilly Award for Scientific Achievement from The Obesity Society (2006), The Bar-Or Award for Excellence in Pediatric Obesity Research, from The Obesity Society (2009), the TOPS award for contributions to obesity research from The Obesity Society (2014), and the Rank Prize Lecture in Nutrition (2018). Michael lives in Silverlake, Los Angeles with his wife Lori, a film editor, his 2 teenage daughters, and their cat, Hugo Moon. Outside of work, Michael likes to play tennis, and hang out with his family which typically involves cooking, eating, going on walks and travel.

Joseph Raffaele, MD received his BA in philosophy from Princeton University and his MD from Hahnemann University Medical School in 1989. Dr. Raffaele trained at The New York Hospital/Cornell University Medical Center and was formerly a clinical assistant professor of medicine at Dartmouth Medical School while in practice at the Hitchcock Clinic. Dr. Raffaele is a member of the Endocrine Society, is board certified in internal medicine, and is a diplomat of the American Board of Anti-Aging Medicine. In 1997, he co-founded PhysioAge Medical Group where he exclusively practiced age management medicine with a focus on personalized hormone optimization and physiological age assessment. In 2007, his co-founded PhysioAge Systems, a web-based biomarker data collection and reporting system now used by longevity and integrative medicine practices around the world to assess, monitor, and communicate to patients the effectiveness of their treatments. Since 2009, he has been involved in clinical telomere biology research and published 4 studies of the effect of oral telomerase activators on normal aging adults. He has lectured nationally and internationally on the clinical application of telomere biology. In 2015 he founded Raffaele Medical Group where he practices longevity medicine exclusively; he blogs regularly about telomere biology, hormone optimization, and biomarkers of aging at @Raffaelemd and PhysioAge.com

Svetlana Dubinsky is part of a global network of NeuroChangeSolutions (NCS) corporate consultants trained by Dr. Joe Dispenza, New York Times best-selling author, lecturer, and researcher, to teach organizations how to apply the neuroscience of change to increase employee engagement, collaboration, creativity, productivity, and ultimately — business results. With over 30 years of experience in Healthcare and Healthcare Information Technology, Svetlana is known for inspiring change and transformation, her passion and purpose is to help organizations, leaders and teams thrive in this very turbulent environment by reaching their full potential while delivering outstanding results. Her intrinsic passion for solving challenges and seizing opportunities paved the way to significant optimization on a variety of strategic, organizational, regulatory and growth fronts spanning Digital First, Quality/Pop Health, Revenue Cycle, Clinical Workflow, Experience (consumer, employee), and Health Equity to name just a few. Svetlana has worked with some of the most recognizable organizations and brands in the world. Her clients learn how to develop a sustainable and achievable roadmap by shifting their baseline state of being from survival or stress to one where they operate in creation and flow.

Jeffrey Bland, PhD, FACN, FACB, CNS, is a personable and highly respected thought leader who has spent more than four decades focused on the improvement of human health. He is known worldwide as the founder of the Functional Medicine movement, which represents his vision for a care model that is grounded in systems biology and informed by research that he has a unique ability to synthesize. His pioneering work has created the Personalized Lifestyle Medicine Institute (PLMI), as well as the Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM). Dr. Bland began his career as a Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Puget Sound. He is a natural educator and became involved with numerous academic institutions during the years he spent teaching. This includes the significant contributions he made to the founding and accreditation of Bastyr University, the first federally accredited university offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in natural medicine in the US. In the early 1980s, Dr. Bland was hand-selected by two-time Nobel Laureate Dr. Linus Pauling to serve as Director of Nutritional Research at the Linus Pauling Institute of Science and Medicine. This experience marked both a personal and professional inflection point for Dr. Bland that has become an integral part of his career. As an expert in a field he helped to establish—science-based nutrition—Dr. Bland has become an iconic figure in the natural products industry. He worked alongside other founders to establish standards for evidence-based formulations, quality ingredient sourcing, and ethical manufacturing practices that stand to this day. He continues to serve as a dynamic mentor and advisor to a new generation of industry leaders. Dr. Bland is the author of best-selling books and over 120 peer-reviewed research publications. He speaks extensively, and his engaging style makes him popular with both professional and consumer audiences. Dr. Bland's latest project is Big Bold Health, launched in 2018. He's on a mission to transform the way people think about one of nature's greatest innovations: the immune system. Through Big Bold Health, Dr. Bland is advocating for the power of immuno-rejuvenation to enhance immunity at a global level. It is an ambitious and purpose-driven effort that encompasses his active stance on regenerative agriculture, environmental stewardship, and planetary health.

Dr. Nancy O'Hara is a board-certified pediatrician who specializes in treating PANS, PANDAS and BGE and other neurodevelopmental disorders. She is a leading trainer and mentor of clinicians in the US and globally, educating medical professionals to recognize, diagnose and treat PANS, PANDAS and BGE. Dr. O'Hara graduated with highest honors from Bryn Mawr College, as part of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. She earned her Master's degree in Public Health from the University of Pittsburgh, and completed her residency, chief residency and general pediatric fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh.