Kara Fitzgerald, ND, received her doctor of naturopathic medicine degree from the National University of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon. She completed the first Counsel on Naturopathic Medicine-accredited post-doctorate position in nutritional biochemistry and laboratory science at Metametrix Clinical Laboratory under the direction of Richard Lord, PhD. Her residency was completed at Progressive Medical Center, a large, integrative medical practice in Atlanta, Georgia.
Dr. Fitzgerald is the lead author and editor of Case Studies in Integrative and Functional Medicine and is a contributing author to Laboratory Evaluations for Integrative and Functional Medicine and the Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM)’s Textbook for Functional Medicine. With the Helfgott Research Institute, Dr. Fitzgerald is actively engaged in clinical research on the DNA methylome using a diet and lifestyle intervention developed in her practice. The
first publication from the study focuses on reversal of biological aging and was published 04-12-2021 in the journal Aging. She has published a consumer book titled
Younger You as well as a companion cookbook,
Better Broths and Healing Tonics and has an application-based
Younger You Program, based on the study.
Dr. Fitzgerald is on the faculty at IFM, is an IFM Certified Practitioner and lectures globally on functional medicine. She runs a Functional Nutrition Residency program, and maintains a podcast series, New Frontiers in Functional Medicine and an active blog on her website,
www.drkarafitzgerald.com. Her clinical practice is in Sandy Hook, Connecticut.
Additional publications
Exosomes are having a moment right now, but this is the first time I’ve felt like I was able to sit down and really unpack what matters, the science behind them, the variability in sources, and why not all exosome products are created equal. In our conversation, Alisa Lask, CEO of Rion Aesthetics, helped bring clarity to a field that’s quickly becoming noisy, and I found myself genuinely impressed by the rigor and precision behind the platelet-derived exosomes she describes. For those of us watching regenerative aesthetics evolve, this discussion offers a grounded, thoughtful look at what’s real, what’s emerging, and what clinicians should be paying attention to. I think you’ll find it as illuminating as I did.
2026 is the year functional medicine finally gets an EHR that supports the way you practice. Vibrant Practice is a new, AI-native platform created specifically for functional, integrative, and longevity medicine. It is designed to remove the biggest barriers to clinical efficiency and give you time back to focus on what matters most.
In this webinar, Dr. Kara Fitzgerald will be joined by Dr. Jason Barker, ND, Clinical Lab Educator at Vibrant Wellness to explore how combining advanced functional testing with genomic insights provides a comprehensive upgrade to cardiovascular disease prevention.
The oral microbiome belongs squarely in the functional medicine toolkit, and my conversation with Staci Whitman, DMD, IFMCP, makes that more clear than ever. As a board-certified pediatric dentist and co-founder of the Institute for Functional Dentistry, Staci is reshaping her field into one that aligns with systems biology and root-cause care. She lays out, with real clarity, how oral dysbiosis, airway restriction, sleep, hormones, nutrition, and even dental materials influence systemic inflammation and chronic disease. She also offers clear steps we can take as medical practitioners, including when to consider oral microbiome testing and how to use a straightforward five-question airway screener in patient visits. For clinicians focused on longevity and upstream drivers of disease, this conversation shows how much more powerful our care becomes when dentistry becomes part of the clinical partnership.
Happy holidays, everyone! As you enjoy the festive season, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on some of the highlights from this past year here at Dr. Kara Fitzgerald. One of the biggest was certainly our virtual Functional Medicine is Longevity Medicine™ Masterclass.
New Frontiers in Functional Medicine® Podcast Sponsors Dr. Kara Fitzgerald is eternally grateful to our sponsors who, by blogging, podcasting and advertising with us, enable me and my team to devote energy and time to writing and publication. Exclusive Offer for New Frontiers Listeners Book a practitioner call and receive a complimentary bottle of beta-glucan…
An excellent colleague of mine recently had an unpleasant experience when she discovered that every single citation in an article she’d generated using AI and sent over as a potential guest post appeared fine on first glance, but was completely fabricated. Not one existed. Thankfully, our team caught it very quickly and never would have approved it for publication without checking. But I’ll admit: I understand the temptation. Most of us are balancing a dozen spinning plates. If AI can lighten the load, who wouldn’t be leaning in?
The gut and lungs may seem like separate systems, but emerging research shows they are in constant communication through immune pathways, microbial metabolites, and inflammatory signals, a connection known as the Gut–Lung Axis.
Few guests bring the kind of insight and energy that Dr. Carrie Jones does. She’s a dear friend, a brilliant colleague, and truly deserves her title of Queen of Hormones. With more than twenty years in women’s health and endocrinology, she has helped shape how we think about hormone testing and education in functional medicine. In this conversation, we dive into women’s hormones across the lifespan, with an extra focus on perimenopause, and how it ties back to mitochondrial health. Carrie brings humor and clarity to even the most complex topics, dropping clinical pearls along the way. It’s a fascinating and genuinely hopeful discussion you won’t want to miss. ~DrKF
This cranberry sauce strikes the perfect balance of tart and sweet, and it’s far more versatile than just a turkey companion. Try it with pork or beef, spread it on toast instead of jam, swirl it into your morning yogurt bowl, freeze it in ice cube trays for a sparkling seltzer twist, or use it as a glaze for roasted vegetables. There are endless ways to enjoy cranberry sauce!
