We’re witnessing an exciting shift in how we understand gut health and disease—and it’s all thanks to the powerful metabolites produced by the microbiome, like short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) and secondary bile acids. In today’s episode, Dr. Tom Fabian shares groundbreaking insights into how these postbiotics influence intestinal barrier integrity, immune balance, and even muscle regeneration. These compounds are also connected to key processes like glucose metabolism and healthy aging. What’s t...
Mar 11, 2025•1 hr 2 min
It’s very difficult (often impossible) to completely avoid many of the environmental toxins that can cause harm - like air pollution and forever chemicals that contaminate our water and food supply. But Drs. Bob and Rosalind Wright at Mount Sinai have a hopeful solution to this dilemma. They are pioneering the study of “resiliency factors,” not just “risk factors,” that can offset the risks of harmful exposures. It’s a fresh and welcome take on exposomics that I am very excited to share with you...
Feb 20, 2025•1 hr 10 min
Join me and Dr. Colleen Cutcliffe, my brilliant friend, scientist, and the powerhouse CEO of Pendulum, for our deepest dive yet into all things Akkermansia. This free-flowing conversation will take your understanding of this extraordinary strain to a whole new level. We’ll explore Akkermansia’s pivotal role in metabolic health—think cravings, weight regulation, A1C—and why we’re deficient in the first place. Plus, we’ll discuss its connection to stress, anxiety, and even neurodegenerative diseas...
Feb 10, 2025•54 min
For many struggling with depression, the message they often hear from traditional care is "just live with it" or "there’s nothing more we can do." In today’s episode, we’re challenging that narrative. I’m joined by Dr. Achina Stein and Silvia Covelli from the Healing Depression Project - a groundbreaking residential treatment and research program. Dr. Stein, a functional psychiatrist, and Silvia, who’s personally battled chronic depression, are offering a fresh approach to treatment-resistant de...
Jan 13, 2025•1 hr 11 min
We’re doing a deep dive into NAD, a molecule that has received a lot of attention but still confuses many of us, clinicians included. My guest today is able to unpack the complexities of NAD in a way you’ll find extremely illuminating and useful. I’m excited to have Dr. Greg Kelly Senior Director of Product Development at Qualia, back with us, explaining how NAD is foundational for energy, longevity, and overall cellular health. Dr. Kelly brings clarity to how NAD influences mitochondrial functi...
Jan 08, 2025•57 min
After my conversation with Dr. Greg Fahy in August, I realized that I had additional questions that we didn't have time to address the first time around. Importantly, since here I am studying the effects of dietary and lifestyle interventions on aging, I wanted to know his thoughts on the dietary components of the TRIMM study and beyond. Dr. Fahy shares his thoughts on my question and some others on side effects on different medication and supplement interventions, the mechanism by which he thin...
Dec 06, 2024•19 min
The brain’s ability to recover after trauma is astonishing—and often overlooked in conventional care. In this episode of New Frontiers in Functional Medicine, I sit down with Dr. David Musnick, a long-time friend and brilliant clinician, to explore how we can unlock the brain’s full potential for healing. Dr. Musnick challenges the standard of care for traumatic brain injuries and post-concussion syndrome, introducing a functional medicine approach that integrates advanced tools like Frequency-S...
Nov 25, 2024•1 hr 24 min
For anyone who has been paying attention, you may already know that the takeaways related to hormone replacement therapy (HRT) from the original Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) study have been completely overhauled. It’s about time! As a result, it’s not an understatement to say that we are in the midst of a total transformation in hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and it’s essential that as providers we (1) get up to speed on the nuances of the new interpretations and (2) learn how to personali...
Nov 19, 2024•1 hr 5 min
Talking with Dr. Julie Faitg was a powerful reminder of just how much we’re discovering about mitochondria and aging. When you pair an elite mitochondrial scientist with a breakthrough nutrient like Urolithin A, the insights go beyond what you’d expect. Julie gives us this incredible look into how we can actually change the course of aging at the cellular level. This conversation made me rethink what we know about supporting long-term health and resilience, and I think it will do the same for yo...
Nov 11, 2024•59 min
It’s not overstating it to say that I have cited Dr. Artemis Simopoulos’ work in virtually every lecture I have ever given that included the topic of omega-3 fatty acids. She is an incredible human being, indomitable NIH researcher, and absolute legend in her field. In our conversation on New Frontiers, Dr. Simopoulos reviews those essential truths about the evolution of our dietary intake of omega-3 vs. omega-6 fatty acids, the increase in ultra-processed food consumption, and how these play in...
Oct 29, 2024•1 hr 9 min
The centrality of gut health in total body health and aging means it’s a key topic for us to keep revisiting and updating our knowledge on. For instance, how confident do you feel about interpreting analytical indices such as phyla distribution, dysbiosis index, diversity score, as well as the myriad bacterial populations that can be resident in the GI tract? Join me and Dr. Julia Malkowski as we dive into advanced stool testing and how the insights gleaned from the GI360 test can tell us a lot ...
Oct 10, 2024•1 hr 7 min
It's important to me to include a variety of voices in the sphere of aging and longevity, and Matt Kaeberlein PhD is certainly one that I appreciate for his tempered and rational arguments. I value his insights and his work with other scientists who are tussling with the challenging questions and research interpretations in this field. We are at this extraordinary inflexion point where scientists are debating the very definition of aging itself, which has important implications for how we then m...
Sep 26, 2024•1 hr 25 min
In this episode of New Frontiers, Dr. Kara Fitzgerald sits down with Dr. Valerie Gershenhorn, a leading expert in functional dermatology and a Clinical Team Member for Diagnostic Solutions Laboratory, to explore the profound impact of the gut-skin axis and autonomic nervous system on chronic skin conditions like acne, eczema, and more. Dr. Gershenhorn shares her comprehensive approach, including the use of functional testing, targeted nutrition, and specific supplements to address the root cause...
Sep 09, 2024•1 hr 7 min
Your thymus isn't talked about much, but this small organ in your upper chest is a key component of your immune system that is solely responsible for the essential "education" of the immune cells that protect your body from invaders. Through this action it also affects levels of inflammation (an immune-mediated process). It's also interesting to note that most of us end up dying of an immune-related dysfunction - even cardiovascular disease, as Dr. Greg Fahy points out in this New Frontiers podc...
Aug 22, 2024•1 hr 2 min
Cardiovascular disease might be the leading cause of death, but after my conversation with Dr. Mark Houston, I'm more convinced than ever that we have the power to change that narrative. We delved into the power of diet and lifestyle changes, the essential role of nitric oxide and the impressive results of innovative supplements like Vascanox HP by Calroy Health Sciences in managing blood pressure and cardiovascular disease risk. Dr. Houston's passion for prevention and the practical tips he sha...
Aug 12, 2024•54 min
What a tour de force conversation with Dr. Terry Wahls, who is, with her groundbreaking research, changing both conventional and functional medicine's approach to multiple sclerosis and ultimately patient care. I'm very excited to see the findings of her ongoing clinical trials, which evaluate the use of several popular dietary patterns, using MRIs to measure brain volume loss, microbiome data, metabolomics, and more. And folks, if you want to be a research participant there's still time - regis...
Jul 19, 2024•1 hr 3 min
*Save the date! Join me and Dr. Alessandra Zonari for a free webinar on July 25th 2024 and get your questions answered on all things OS-01 peptide and biological aging. Register at https://www.drkarafitzgerald.com/webinars/ I'm thrilled to be joined by Dr. Alessandra Zonari to take a deep dive into a breakthrough in skincare science that has caught my attention—OneSkin's OS-01 peptide. This episode explores how OS-01 targets cellular senescence, the core of aging, potentially transforming skin h...
Jul 09, 2024•58 min
Practitioners, if specialized pro-resolving lipid mediators (SPMs) aren't already on your radar, you'll be a convert by the end of this New Frontiers episode. In functional medicine, we excel at addressing inflammation through nutrition and lifestyle. However, brilliant researchers like Dr. Charles Serhan from Harvard have shown us that resolving inflammation requires a two-phase approach. We need to shift gears, rally the cleanup crew, start the repair process, and turn down the volume on the i...
Jun 25, 2024•59 min
What if we could actually identify and even correct significant autism risk factors in utero, before a baby is born? This is the promise of the game-changing research of Dr. Janine LaSalle, epigeneticist extraordinaire from UC Davis. With autism rates continuing to increase at alarming rates (the latest data from the CDC, released in 2023, is 1 in 36 children in the US, an increase from the prior 1 in 44), new ways to prevent and treat this condition are of utmost importance. Dr. LaSalle is on a...
Jun 12, 2024•1 hr 5 min
Addressing adverse food reactions goes way beyond simply cutting out the culprits, so I’m thrilled to have Dr. Tom Fabian join us again on New Frontiers to highlight the interventions that will move the needle for our patients. We explore the mechanisms through which specific strains can either exacerbate or alleviate both immune-mediated and non-immune-mediated food reactions, and discuss the fascinating connection between circadian rhythms of mast cells and intestinal permeability, feeding tim...
May 21, 2024•1 hr 11 min
Dr. Elisa Song is one of those clinicians that I could just keep talking to! She's a respected colleague and pioneer in pediatric functional medicine with so many practical tips for navigating childhood illness and health. Need to get your kiddo/patient through a blood draw they don't want to do? Or get your picky eater to take their supplement? Dr. Song has the answers. I appreciate her candor as she talks about how and why her practice has evolved in certain areas (such as in the use of target...
May 11, 2024•1 hr 8 min
Even as we prioritize natural interventions in functional medicine, GLP-1 agonist drugs such as Wegovy and Ozempic offer sometimes life-changing support for those who have long struggled with resistant overweight/obesity and high blood sugar. However, there are side effects, including the risk of substantial muscle loss and sagging, aged skin ("Ozempic face" as it's indelicately known). It's a concern that hits home for me, considering the pivotal role we know that muscle plays in overall health...
Apr 25, 2024•32 min
Dr. Sandison confesses that when she first heard Dr. Dale Bredesen talk about his work reversing cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease she was skeptical. But when she started to apply the Bredesen principles in her clinical work and saw just how meaningful the improvements were to patients' symptoms and quality of life, as she puts it: "...how do I do anything else with my life, but basically tell as many people who will listen that this is possible?" She then went on to found the first two ...
Apr 09, 2024•42 min
Get ready for a deep dive into the world of cellular senescence and its implications for aging. Dr. Greg Kelly joins me on New Frontiers to explain the science behind targeting this Hallmark of Aging and share natural compounds and activities that target cellular senescence. I am particularly excited for you to hear his thoughts around dosing and cyclical timing of exposure to senolytic compounds, such as fisetin, luteolin, quercetin, and piperlongumine, and why that may make the difference betw...
Mar 28, 2024•1 hr 16 min
I'm excited to welcome Dr. Barry Sears, the renowned creator of the Zone Diet and a pillar in our field. Dr. Sears has not only authored bestsellers but has also made incredibly important contributions to clinical practice which we still rely on today: He is, for instance, the scientist who put the use of the AA:EPA ratio on the map. Dr. Sears provides elegant and accessible explanations of the unassailable importance of diet in addressing inflammation, metabolic health, chronic disease, and lon...
Mar 18, 2024•1 hr 9 min
Gear up for an enlightening dive with Dr. Tara Harding, a vanguard in the realm of women’s health and fertility. Renowned for her exceptional work as a family nurse practitioner and fertility coach, Dr. Harding brings a wealth of knowledge from her battle against infertility and medical gaslighting, all while breaking barriers and fostering a supportive community for those navigating the complex journey of infertility. This conversation not only highlights innovative diagnostic tools like Mira b...
Feb 29, 2024•1 hr 2 min
Fellow clinicians, get ready for a mind-blowing conversation with Dr. Nathan Price, Chief Scientific Officer of Thorne HealthTech and author of The Age of Scientific Wellness. Imagine harnessing AI to predict outcomes of our functional interventions (diet, supplements, lifestyle) by implementing a “digital twin” model that is populated with all of your patient’s bio data. And being able to test the response of our treatments (and importantly, the synergistic response of multimodal interventions)...
Feb 14, 2024•1 hr 33 min
It was a career-defining (and perhaps life changing) moment when Dr. Vittorio Sebastiano, a reproductive biologist by training, realized that because we are able to create life, that same body of information could be harnessed to create youth - that is, radically reverse our biological aging process to a younger time point without losing cellular identity. In 2014, he and his lab began unpacking this epiphany. They made the radical decision to conduct their investigations in human cells and tiss...
Jan 16, 2024•1 hr 49 min
Aging itself stands as the paramount driver of disease. As functional practitioners, the question arises: How can we assess biological age to make precise corrections that foster both healthspan and lifespan? Enter the era of omics, where metabolomics emerges as an exceptional tool with transformative potential. I'm thrilled to welcome back Dr. Betsy Redmond, longtime friend and the senior education specialist at Diagnostic Solutions Laboratory, to New Frontiers to lead us on this discussion.Tog...
Dec 18, 2023•1 hr
Working in healthcare brings a unique set of challenges and stressors. But the truth is that any of us can get to burnout through challenging circumstances of work or study. And the consequences can range from severe to devastating. Burnout still hasn't been fully understood or recognized by the medical profession and other industries - there is still no official diagnosis classification. Along with other mental health disorders, it is often still (wrongly) stigmatized and can even sometimes be ...
Dec 07, 2023•1 hr 6 min
