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

FMT: An Emerging Broadband Probiotic for Allergic Disease

FMT: An Emerging Broadband Probiotic for Allergic Disease

Remember the first time you heard about FMT (Fecal Microbiota Transplantation) and maybe it sounded promising yet kinda viscerally challenging? It’s come a long way from humble beginnings and has since covered a lot of health territory (and FMT preparations are increasingly standardized, with some pretty cool research happening well beyond the limited C diff application.). 

Improving Perinatal and Trans-Generational Health with Functional Medicine

Episode 70: Improving Perinatal and Trans-Generational Health with Functional Medicine

Some of the most extraordinary work happening in medicine right now comes from the GrowBaby team of Leslie Stone, MD and her daughter, Emily Rydbom, CNS. In their mostly Medicaid model, they’ve adopted a systems approach to pregnancy, and thereby doing so, have remarkably improved outcomes. Their rates of autism, eczema, ADHD, premature labor, gestational diabetes and pregnancy-induced hypertension fall well, well below national averages.

Episode 69: Sponsored | Telomere Integrity: What Clinicians Need to Know with Dr. Joseph Raffaele

Episode 69: Sponsored | Telomere Integrity: What Clinicians Need to Know with Dr. Joseph Raffaele

Are you thinking about age management with your patients these days? I am. And I’m thinking about it regarding myself, quite frankly. To that end, I just had a tour-de-force conversation with clinician researcher Joe Raffaele, MD. Can we halt, or even reverse, the biological aging process? There are an extraordinary number of variables to consider here, but the take-home appears to be YES.

About the Mouth From The Gut

Everything You Need to Know About the Mouth, You Already Learned from the Gut

It’s high time a solid, clinician and consumer-friendly book is delivered on the oral microbiome, is it not? Cass Nelson- Dooley began researching the topic years ago, and is now arguably one of the foremost leading experts on integrative interventions for oral health. I interviewed her on New Frontiers years ago, and she’s blogged previously on oral endotoxemia.

Episode 68: What’s the deal with Lectins and Autoimmunity? with Dr. Datis Kharrazian

Episode 68: What’s the deal with Lectins and Autoimmunity? with Dr. Datis Kharrazian

If you’re practicing functional medicine, you’re aware of (and likely prescribing) the autoimmune paleo diet. You’re pulling folks off of many foods, lowering carbs, reducing or eliminating lectins (including nightshades). In my conversation with Dr. Datis Kharrazian, we talk about his impressive PhD research (under the guidance of Aristo Vojdani, PhD) in stratifying who’s at risk for lectin intolerance.