Thought Leaders Consortium discusses new vision for medicine in healthcare

Defining a new vision for medicine was the mission of the consortium of global leaders in healthcare who gathered in Seattle, Wash., April 12 - 14 for the first "Thought Leaders Consortium" hosted by the Personalized Lifestyle Medicine Institute (PLMI).

“With the epidemic of chronic illness across the globe continuing to diminish the ability of individuals to lead full and healthy lives, we need innovative solutions for the current system of medicine”

"With the epidemic of chronic illness across the globe continuing to diminish the ability of individuals to lead full and healthy lives, we need innovative solutions for the current system of medicine," commented Jeffrey Bland, PhD, President and Founder of the Personalized Lifestyle Medicine Institute.

"The presentations and discussions at our first Consortium focused on the connections between 21^st century genomic, behavioral, and functional medicine approaches to redefine the future fabric of healthcare."

The Personalized Lifestyle Medicine Institute is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting the importance of personalized lifestyle medicine as the right solution to address patient specific needs in chronic illness management, and reducing the rising global burden of these chronic health conditions. The PLMI was founded by Jeffrey Bland, PhD, an internationally-known biochemist and educator in lifestyle and functional medicine.

The "Thought Leaders Consortium" featured presentations by Institute for Functional Medicine faculty Drs. David Jones, Mark Hyman, Joseph Pizzorno, and Michael Stone; thirty-five key opinion leaders in global medicine from the United States and China; and experts in health media, nutritional and natural products industry leaders, health science researchers, and academic leaders.

The format was designed to encourage communication among experts of different disciplines on the evolving future of medicine. Questions discussed by the group included:

• How will social media power the evolution of healthcare and empower the consumer?
• How will the genomics revolution be incorporated into chronic disease prevention and management?
• How can more practitioners and patients become involved in personalized lifestyle medicine?
• How will new functional biomarkers be used to improve outcomes?
• How can the functional medicine model be applied to the delivery of personalized lifestyle medicine for improving chronic disease outcomes?

Specific presentations and presenters included:

• Dr. Martha Herbert, from Harvard University who shared her groundbreaking research on autism.
• Marc Brush, Len Monheit, and Fred Linder from New Hope Communications discussed how social media is influencing consumer attitudes about healthcare and driving consumers to seek out genomic testing and personalized care.
• Loren Israelsen, Executive Director of the United Natural Products Association, Mark Blumenthal, Director of the American Botanical Council, and Roger Colman, Vice President of Alticor Corporate Enterprises, explored the changing role of nutritional products and botanical medicines in managing chronic disease.
• Drs. Shirley Wei, Charles Cheng, and James Ho from China spoke on the rising tide of chronic disease and infertility, and how personalized lifestyle medicine can play an important role in delivering improved health.
• Alice Bast, Director of the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness, Dr. Patricia Fitzgerald, health editor for the Huffington Post, and Audra Davies, Vice President for Nutrition at Nutrilite, spoke on the changing health perspectives of the consumer.
• Drs. Roger Newton and Joe Pizzorno addressed the role played by research methods in defining the value and evidence-based support for personalized lifestyle medicine.
• Certified Nutrition Specialists, Mike Stroka and Corinne Bush, spoke on the implementation of personalized nutrition therapies by nutrition professionals.
• Clinicians who are using personalized lifestyle medicine - Drs. David Jones, Michael Stone, Mark Houston, Scott Rigden, Woodson Merrell, Graham Reedy, Joel Robertson, Bill Baer, and clinical dietitian Coco Newton - provided strong evidence from their own experiences of the value of personalized lifestyle medicine as an exemplary way to manage chronic illness.

"All the attendees were drawn together by a common purpose and passion for transforming health care," noted Dr. Bland. "Many opportunities for collaboration were created through connections made at this powerful Consortium. The enthusiasm and synergy from this gathering will inspire innovative solutions to chronic illness for years to come."