Scientific and Clinical Advisors

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The Naturopathic Physicians Research Institute's Scientific and Clnical Advisors are a body of individuals lending their wisdom and networking to augment the achievement of common scientific goals in public health and naturopathic medicine.


Timothy C. Birdsall, ND, FABNO, is Vice-President of Integrative Medicine for Cancer Treatment Centers of America and on staff at CTCA’s Western Regional Medical Center in Goodyear, AZ. At CTCA since 1998, he helped pioneer an interdisciplinary approach to cancer care, the first to fully incorporate naturopathic physicians in the care of every patient. A 1985 graduate of Bastyr University, he is active in numerous professional organizations, including the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians (AANP). He currently serves on the board of the Oncology Association of Naturopathic Physicians, and is a Fellow of the American Board of Naturopathic Oncology. He was the founding editor-in-chief of Alternative Medicine Review, the first journal edited by naturopathic physicians indexed in MEDLINE, and is currently an Editorial Consultant for Integrative Cancer Therapies. In 2000, he received the AANP’s President’s Award, and in 2009 was named its Physician of the Year. In 2007, he was appointed to the NIH National Advisory Council for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. An active clinical researcher, he holds a US patent, and since 2006 has been an author on over 20 abstracts accepted at major medical meetings, including the American Society for Clinical Oncology, the Society for Integrative Oncology, and the AANP. 

Ryan Bradley, ND, MPH is a Research Assistant Professor and Core Clinical Faculty at Bastyr University and an Affiliate Clinical Researcher in the Division of Cardiology at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle. In 2005, he initiated the Diabetes & Cardiovascular Wellness Program at the Bastyr Center for Natural Health. He completed his ND at Bastyr University in 2003 and his MPH in Epidemiology at the University of Washington in 2009. His research is in two primary areas: evaluation of clinical outcomes from “whole-practice” naturopathic care in diabetes and cardiovascular disease, and human translational research on oxidative stress in diabetes and vascular disease. Ongoing studies include an NIH-funded observational study of adjunctive naturopathic medicine in Type 2 diabetes at Group Health Cooperative, an epidemiologic study evaluating emerging oxidative stress biomarkers in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis cohort and a randomized, controlled clinical trial of natural mixed carotenes in food versus supplement for oxidative stress. He has presented his research at national and international conferences in both complementary and alternative medicine and conventional medicine forums including the American Diabetes Association, the International Diabetes Federation and the International Congress on Complementary and Integrative Medicine Research.

Ian Coulter, PhD is a senior health policy analyst at the RAND Corporation, where he holds the Samueli Institute Chair in Policy for Integrative Medicine. He is also a professor at the UCLA School of Dentistry and a research professor at the Southern California University of Health Sciences. Coulter has more than 20 years of experience conducting both qualitative and quantitative research on chiropractic and has authored or coauthored more than 40 articles and two books. He is the principal investigator of the Evidenced-Based Practice Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at RAND, which is funded through the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in cooperation with the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), and is the principal investigator on a case study of integrative medicine, also funded by NCCAM. Coulter is a former director of the UCLA/Drew University Center for Minority Oral Health; was a member of the National Institutes of Health's Cancer Advisory Panel for Complementary and Alternative Medicine; and serves on the advisory committee for the NCCAM Center for Chiropractic Research. In addition, he serves on the editorial boards of Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine and the Journal of Evidenced-Based Dental Practice. Coulter received his Ph.D. in sociology from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Peter D'Adamo, ND is a Distinguished Professor of Clinical Sciences at University of Bridgeport where he directs the Center of Excellence in Generative Medicine. He is also founder and Academic Dean of the Institute for Human Individuality (IfHI). He was the recipient of the 1990 American Association of Naturopathic Physicians Physician of the Year award for his work in establishing the Journal of Naturopathic Medicine. His work detailing the use of common human polymorphisms such as blood groups (ABO) and secretor status (FUT2) are well known. He enjoys worldwide fame for his series of New York Times bestselling books, in  particular Eat Right For Your Type a multi-million copy bestseller that has been translated into over 65 languages. He has authored authorative reviews on the subject of human polymorphisms for the Textbook of Natural Medicine and Alternative Medicine Review. Dr. D'Adamo has been called the "Most creative scientist in the Western World" by the famed lectinologist/glycobologist Gerhard Uhlenbruck, head of the department of Immunobiology at the University of Cologne and discoverer of the molecular structure of the Thomsen-Friedenreich Antigen. Dr. D'Adamo has authored several software applications for computational biology, including DataPunk, a semantic accumulator and network designer for naturopathic knowledge; QuodLibet, a molecular pathway analytic tool that uses hypergraph theory, social networking algorithms and motif detection to parse biological languaging in signaling and transcription circuitry; and SWAMI (Serotyping With Advanced Modifying Inventories) a program that devises complex one-of-a-kind diets for individuals in a real-time clinical environment.

Patricia Herman, ND, PhD is an NIH/NCCAM-trained research methodologist, a resource economist, and a naturopathic physician. Her training and experience in research methodology includes statistics, biostatistics, epidemiology, econometrics, psychometrics, and program evaluation as well as general and whole systems research design and health services research methods. She has been an economist for 29 years and worked in the areas of policy and cost-effectiveness analysis for energy, water and health. In 2009 Dr. Herman was invited to co-author a commissioned paper on the economics of integrative medicine for the Institute of Medicine’s Summit on Integrative Medicine and the Health of the Public. She has been the methodologist and economist for a number of research studies, and has completed one systematic review of the economics of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) and is presently finishing a new, more comprehensive review. Her PhD in psychology focused on research methods relating to self-report measures, and individuals’ attitudes and behavior, especially relating to health. Dr. Herman received her ND degree in 2003 from Bastyr University in Kenmore, Washington, and is presently licensed in Arizona and practicing at an in-patient facility using botanical and nutritional interventions for addictions, trauma, mood, pain, and eating disorder patients.

Thomas A. Kruzel, ND is a naturopathic physician who is in private practice at the Rockwood Natural Medicine Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona. He received a BA in Biology from the California State University at Northridge, and his Doctorate of Naturopathic Medicine degree from the National College of Naturopathic Medicine.  Dr. Kruzel is also a board certified Medical Technologist. He completed 2 years of Family Practice Medicine residency at the Portland Naturopathic Clinic where he was chief resident prior to entering private practice. He also completed a fellowship in Geriatric Medicine through the Oregon Geriatric Education Center and the Portland VA hospital. He has been an Associate Professor of Medicine at National College of Naturopathic Medicine where he has taught Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Geriatric Medicine and Clinical Urology.  He is the author of the Homeopathic Emergency Guide A Quick Reference Handbook to Effective Homeopathic Care published by North Atlantic Books and has published numerous articles in The Journal of Naturopathic Medicine as well as other publications. He has been a member of the Alternative Medicine Review Editorial Review Board since 1997 and editor of the Clinical Medicine section of the Foundations Medical Textbook. He is also the past president of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians and was selected as Physician of the Year by the AANP in 2000 and Physician of the Year by the Arizona Naturopathic Medical Association in 2003.

Joseph E. Pizzorno, Jr, ND appointed by President Clinton in December 2000 to the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy and by President Bush’ administration to the Medicare Coverage Advisory Committee in November 2002, is one of the world’s leading authorities on science-based natural medicine. A physician, educator, researcher and expert spokesperson, Dr. Pizzorno is founding president of Bastyr University. He is Editor in-Chief of Integrative Medicine: A Clinicians Journal, a member of the scientific review board of the Gateway for Cancer research and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Institute for Functional Medicine. Licensed as a naturopathic physician in Washington State since 1975, he has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors for his academic, professional and public affairs leadership. Dr. Pizzorno is the co-author of the internationally acclaimed Textbook of Natural Medicine, the best-selling Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine (1,000,000 copies in six languages), and six other books.

Dugald Seely, ND, MSc is the Director of the Department of Research & Clinical Epidemiology at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine. He completed his Masters in Science conducting lab work in cancer research at the University of Toronto and is currently most active in the exploration of CAM therapies with a primary clinical and academic focus in the area of Integrative Oncology. Awarded competitive grant and trainee funding from CIHR, the SickKids Foundation, the Canadian Breast Cancer Research Alliance, and the Lotte and John Hecht Memorial Foundation, Dr Seely is the principal investigator for a number of clinical trials and synthesis projects. He strongly believes in the ability of evidence based medicine to effect change in the health care system and is an active contributor to this base with over 35 peer reviewed papers and book chapters published. As an educator, frequent speaker, and Editor-in-Chief for the International Journal of Naturopathic Medicine, Dr Seely is seeking to further research capacity and understanding in naturopathic medicine across North America and internationally.

Lynne Shinto, ND, MPH is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Neurology and Obstetrics and Gynecology at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) and adjunct faculty at the National College of Natural Medicine in Portland where she recently served as the IRB Chair. She earned her naturopathic degree from Bastyr University in Kenmore, WA, in 2000 and her Master of Public Health from OHSU in 2006. Her research interests are evaluating the safety and effectiveness of complementary therapies in neurodegenerative disease and in women’s health. She was PI of a randomized trial of whole practice naturopathic care in MS and currently is Principal Investigator on a NIH funded R01 evaluating the safety and effectiveness of alpha lipoic acid plus fish oil concentrate in Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Shinto is a naturopathic provider at the Neurology Wellness Clinic and the Center for Women’s Health Integrative Medicine Clinic at OHSU.

Leanna J. Standish, PhD, ND, LAc, FABNO is currently a research professor for the School of Naturopathic Medicine at Bastyr, a clinical professor for the School of Public Health at the University of Washington, and affiliate research professor in the University of Washington's School of Medicine's radiology department. Dr. Standish is also the medical director of the Bastyr Integrative Oncology Research Center (BIORC) and has served as principal investigator on several National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grants since 1994. Dr. Standish was the director of the Bastyr University Research Institute from 1987-2001. Previously, Dr. Standish was senior fellow in biophysics, assistant professor at Smith College, and also completed postdoctoral work at Yerkes Primate Center and the University of Massachusetts.