GW Integrative Medicine

Today we’re joined by Paul Marvar, PhD, associate professor, in the Department of Pharmacology and Physiology and the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences here at GW. We’re going to discuss the GW Biomedical Cross-disciplinary Seminar Series, a new annual lecture series co-organized by Dr. Marvar and Leigh Frame, PhD, MHS, program director, Integrative Medicine, executive director of t...

Earlier in 2019, we collaborated with the GW OB/GYN Department and the GW Center for Integrative Medicine on a Grand Rounds lecture and Q&A on taking an integrative and functional medicine approach to Women's Health. It was so impactful that knew we had to bring it to the podcast. Today we're joined by certified nurse midwife Kimla McDonald, an associate clinical professor with the GW School of Me...

Today we’re joined by Sahar Swidan, PharmD, RPh, to discuss using supplements, medical marijuana, and cannabinoids for inflammation and pain management. She talks about the THC-CBD entourage effect, curcumin, boswellia and what the literature now tells us. Dr. Swidan obtained her doctor of pharmacy degree from the University of Michigan, where she completed a 3 year bio-pharmaceutics research fell...

Apart from skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common type of cancer and and second leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States. However, many women don’t know that lifestyle factors—especially food choices—can reduce the risk of developing breast cancer and help after a breast cancer diagnosis. Today we’re joined by breast cancer surgeon and author Kristi Funk, MD, to discus...

Changing one's behavior isn't easy even when it concerns a preventable chronic condition. Health and wellness coaches are relatively new members of the health care team, but they are making an impact on patients who just want to be able to take a walk with a grandchild or those with diabetes seeking to reverse the disease. Health and wellness coaches like Elizabeth Ahmann, ScD, RN, PCC, NBC-HWC, h...

Today we’re talking about bodywork, specifically neuromuscular therapy, with Elizabeth Goldberg, a licensed massage therapist and wellness coach. Neuromuscular therapy, sometimes called trigger-point massage, is a form of soft tissue manipulation that aims to treat underlying causes of chronic pain involving the muscular and nervous systems. This medically-oriented form of massage therapy addresse...

Today we’re talking food as medicine with Laura Pole, Director of Nourishment Programs at Smith Center for Healing and the Arts in Washington, DC. An oncology clinical nurse specialist, oncology nurse navigator, and health-supportive chef, she has more than 30 years of experience in oncology clinical care and innovative professional education. Chef Laura provides trainings and “informances” across...

The GW University recently launched an concentration in nutrition for health care professionals pursing a Master of Science Health Sciences (MSHS) in Integrative Medicine. Designed by Leigh Frame, PhD, MHS, Integrative Programs Director and GW Integrative Medicine co-host, the new program seeks to close the nutrition education gap that persists among most health care professionals. We talk to Dr....

Today's guest is Andrew Heyman, MD, Medical Director, Integrative Medicine Programs, at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Dr. Heyman is an expert on stress response and neuroendocrine system. We discuss the physiologic stress response, evaluate the impact of cortisol on nervous and immune system, examine common illnesses in the context of hypocortisol states...

Today we’re talking Energy Work and the autonomic nervous system with Mara Benner, a Certified Energy Medicine Practitioner, Reiki Master, and Spiritual Director at the GW Center for Integrative Medicine. Mara has more than 30 years in the health care and aging fields. She began her career majoring in gerontology and working at various times in hospitals, nursing homes, home health, hospice and el...

Today we’re going to learn about the oral microbiome and systemic health from Bonnie Feldman, DDS, MBA, Chief Collaboration Officer, DrBonnie360/Your Immunity Connection. With her unique experiences as a healthcare provider, researcher, analyst, scientist, and patient, Dr. Feldman bridges diverse industries and helps propel the growing convergence of science, tech, and patient demand towards indiv...

Today we’re going to delve into the much anticipated report from the Lancet Commission on the Global Syndemic of Obesity with Bill Dietz, MD, PhD, Commission Co-Chair. The Commission used a syndemics approach to examine the health consequences of identifiable disease interactions and the social, environmental, or economic factors that promote such interaction and worsen disease. A nationally renow...

Today we’re going to talk about the Integrative Medicine Track Program of the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS). Our guests are Mikhail Kogan, MD, Integrative Medicine Track Director; Lauren Vilardo a second-year GW medical school student; and Kami Veltri, MD Candidate, GW SMHS. The Integrative Medicine Track is one of nine Scholarly Concentrations, an educ...

Today we talk about the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd edition, with GW's Loretta DiPietro, PhD. She was one of 17 nationally recognized experts in physical activity and health to be appointed to the 2018 Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee. The Advisory Committee did a systematic review of the scientific evidence over a two year period. In February 2018, they submitte...

Today we’re going to discuss the challenges of making integrative health care accessible to the medically underserved with Mikhail Kogan, MD, founder and chairman of the board of AIM Health Institute. AIM is the first non-profit organization in the DC metropolitan area to provides Integrative Medicine services to low-income and terminally ill patients regardless of their ability to pay. It seeks t...

Today we’re talking mind-body medicine with James S. Gordon, MD, a Harvard educated psychiatrist, author, and world-renowned expert in using mind-body medicine to heal depression, anxiety, and psychological trauma. In 1991, he founded the Center for Mind-Body Medicine (CMBM), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization that has become a worldwide leader in making self-care, group support, and c...

The gut microbiome has been linked to a wide range of diseases including diabetes, autism, anxiety, and obesity and may affect how patients respond to chemotherapy or other medicines. How can the gut microbiome have so many roles? How does nutrition and the diet affect this? Scott Jackson, PhD, leader of the recently created Complex Microbial Systems Group at the National Institute of Standards an...

"Transformation is sustained change, and it is achieved through practice." -- B.K.S. Iyengar A growing body of research shows the health benefits of yoga to manage chronic diseases. Studies suggest yoga helps reduce pain, relieve anxiety, lower heart rate and blood pressure, and more. Integrative yoga therapist Yael Flusberg and cancer survivor Nadia Taran joined GW Integrative Medicine Podcast to...

Nature’s dirty needle. That’s how Lyme disease researchers and physicians like Andrew Heyman, MD, MHSA, refer to the ticks that have spread the bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi, throughout the northeastern, mid-Atlantic, and north-central United States. Earlier this month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that illnesses from mosquito, tick, and flea bites have tripled, with m...

What is the current state of scientific evidence and research recommendations on the health effects of cannabis and cannabinoids? This podcast delves into the topic with Donald Abrams, MD, one of the world’s leading clinical researchers on medical cannabis, and Mikhail Kogan, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Associate Director of the Integrative Geriatric Fellowship, the George Washington U...

Welcome to GW Integrative Medicine – the podcast about Integrative Medicine, disease prevention and health promotion – from the Office of Integrative Medicine and Health (OIMH) at The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. We talk to John Pan, MD, OIMH founding medical director, about the silo mentality in medicine, aha moments, and Integrative Medicine and Health as...