6th Annual Food As Medicine Symposium Agenda

10:45-12 pm Panel Discussion: Partnerships for Implementing a Novel Pediatric Food Prescription Program

1. Moderator: Lucia Leone, PhD 
2. Joshua McGuire 
3. Brianna Wallenhorst, MS, RDN, CDN 
4. Amanda Mikels, MPS 
5. Anne Lally Mathiebe, PhD 
6. Colleen Mattimore, MD, FAAP 

The science is not the barrier. The partnerships are. 

This session offers a real-time case study in what it takes to move a food prescription model from research design into a family’s kitchen. Led by researchers at the University at Buffalo, a study now underway is comparing the effectiveness of three food prescription interventions for families with young children experiencing food insecurity, and this panel brings together the people making it work: the academic team designing and evaluating the study, the food systems partners delivering fresh food to participating families, a health plan-based community nutrition program, and a pediatric primary care practice implementing the intervention at the point of care. 

Panelists will speak candidly about what alignment across sectors actually requires: building communication loops between grant teams, delivery partners, and front-line clinical staff; adapting a program in real time based on what participating families need, and keeping providers engaged with the mission so momentum doesn’t stall between visits. Attendees will leave with a working model for how research, food delivery, health system, and clinical partners can move a Food is Medicine intervention from pilot to practice, and with concrete strategies to bring back to their own cross-sector partnerships.

Learning Objectives 

By the end of this session, participants will be able to: 

1. Describe the potential impact of food prescription programs on participant health-related outcomes. 
2. Identify barriers and challenges to implementing a multi-partner food prescription program and strategies to address them in real time. 
3. Explain how cross-sector partnerships between research, food systems, health plans, and clinical practice can improve scalability. 

2-3:30 pm Panel Discussion: Beyond Conventional Care: Integrative & Functional Medicine Approaches That Deliver Results*

1. Moderator: Sanford Levy, MD, FACP, ABIHM 
2. Siri Chand Khalsa, MD, MS 
3. Leonard Kaplan, DO 
4. Jennifer Jennings, DNP, MS, APRN, FNP-BC  

Learning Objectives: 

1. Differentiate integrative and functional medicine approaches from conventional care in chronic disease management. 
2. Evaluate evidence supporting complementary therapies (nutrition, herbal, and lifestyle interventions). 
3. Apply integrative care principles to enhance patient-centered treatment plans and outcomes. 

This Session is Accredited for AMA PRA Category 1.5 Credits

3:30-4:45 pm Panel Discussion: The Root Cause Playbook: Gut Health, Autoimmunity, and Inflammation Through Nutrition & Lifestyle*

1. Moderator: Catherine Brown, MS, RDN, LD, FAND, CDN 
2. Melissa Mondala, MD, MHA, MS, FACLM, FAIHM, LM, Intensivist 
3. Rachel Kronemann, MS, RDN, LD 
4. Noelle Citarella, MS, RDN, CDN, IFNCP 
5. Mary Margaret O’Neil, MD 

Chronic inflammation and autoimmune conditions are among the most complex and growing challenges in modern healthcare, and the gut is increasingly understood to be at the center of both. This panel unpacks the science connecting gut microbiota, immune dysregulation, and inflammatory disease, translating cutting-edge research into practical, actionable strategies for clinicians. 

Panelists will examine how disruptions to gut health contribute to autoimmune disease development and chronic inflammation, and what the evidence tells us about the most effective nutrition and lifestyle interventions for shifting that trajectory. From microbiome-informed dietary strategies to targeted lifestyle approaches that calm immune overactivation, the conversation will move from mechanism to practice. 

Attendees will leave with a root-cause framework they can apply immediately, including tools for building personalized, anti-inflammatory care plans that address the underlying drivers of disease rather than layering on symptom management alone.

 Learning Objectives: 

1. Analyze the role of the gut microbiota in inflammation and autoimmune disease development 
2. Evaluate nutrition and lifestyle interventions that modulate gut health and immune response. 
3. Apply root-cause approaches to develop personalized anti-inflammatory care plans. 

This Session is Accredited for AMA PRA Category 1.25 Credits

Emcee: Timothy Priano

2-2:30 pm The Role of Stress Physiology in Gut Health and Autoimmune Disease. Sarah Seweryniak, CHHC.

Learning Objectives

1. Explain the relationship between chronic stress physiology, gut barrier function, and immune dysregulation in autoimmune disease.
2. Identify how nervous system activation influences digestion, microbiome diversity, and inflammatory signaling.
3. Apply a more integrated framework for food-as-medicine interventions that considers both nutrition and stress-related physiological factors.

Autoimmune diseases and chronic gastrointestinal disorders are rising globally, yet nutrition interventions often focus narrowly on dietary change while overlooking the physiological context in which digestion and immune regulation occur. Emerging research in psychoneuroimmunology and the gut-brain axis demonstrates that chronic stress, trauma exposure, and nervous system dysregulation can significantly alter gut barrier integrity, microbiome composition, and inflammatory signaling.

This session explores the intersection of food, stress physiology, and immune health through the lens of gut barrier function and autoimmune disease. Drawing from research on the gut-brain axis, inflammatory pathways, and stress-mediated immune activation, the presentation examines how chronic sympathetic activation can impair digestion, alter microbial diversity, and contribute to increased intestinal permeability.

Through both research synthesis and lived patient experience following a celiac diagnosis, the session highlights why dietary interventions alone may fail when nervous system dysregulation is not addressed. Participants will explore how integrating stress physiology, lifestyle interventions, and trauma-informed care can enhance the effectiveness of nutrition-based treatment strategies.

The presentation will translate emerging science into practical frameworks clinicians can use to better understand the relationship between stress, immune regulation, and gut health. By expanding the concept of “food as medicine” to include the physiological conditions that allow food to function therapeutically, clinicians may improve outcomes for patients living with autoimmune and inflammatory disorders.

2:30-3 pm The Matrix Hypothesis: Fermentation, The Gut–Brain Axis, & Why We Overconsume. Vivek Nandur, PhD

Learning Objectives:

1. Compare historical and industrial versions of familiar foods – bread, beer, ice cream, etc. – to explain how changes in physical structure and biochemistry can influence appetite and gut health, even when calories and nutrient contents are unchanged.
2. Analyze how commercial incentives to increase sales volume can favor products that encourage overconsumption
3. Explain how knowledge of heritage fermentations can guide the development, standardization, and clinical evaluation of novel fermented foods

Overconsumption is one of the oldest human conundrums, but the products we overconsume today have changed drastically since antiquity. The modern industrialized food system has stripped our diet of the living foods we consumed for millions of years, replacing them with processed, sterile, and standardized variants that fail to communicate with our biology. Firms have created an abundance of shelf-stable products at the expense of nutrition and gut health.

This session introduces the Matrix Hypothesis: the idea that the harms or benefits of the foods and drinks we consume depend on the physical structure and biochemical matrix that accompany molecules such as caffeine, starch, sugar, and ethanol. We posit that products within the coarse categories we use—bread, beer, ice cream, and others—can drift in composition in response to incentives in capital markets.

Modern pharmacological drugs are frequently discussed as solutions to metabolic disease and other gut axis diseases, yet they structurally cannot restore gut barrier integrity and the gut microbiome.

Conversely, ancient medical frameworks like Ayurveda created heritage fermentations (Nandur, In Prep) that intuitively leveraged multi-kingdom synergies to address whole-system health. Because these complex, multi-pathway interactions resisted standard pharmacological quantification, they have been historically underappreciated and dismissed by the modern medical establishment.

These fermentation systems contain intricate ecological collaboration synthesizes a dense network of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), bioavailable polyphenols, bioactive peptides, and neurotransmitters. This complex biochemical matrix cannot be achieved by single microbial strains or isolated fibers, which remain the reductive paradigms of probiotics and prebiotics, respectively. Thus, heritage fermentations architectures can serve as a novel source of ground truth for designing the future of Food as Medicine.

3-3:15 pm Questions and Answers

3:30-3:50 pm Know Thy Medicine: A Plant-Level Perspective on FIM. Lindsay Springer, PhD, MS

Learning Objectives:

1. Explain how plant genetics, growing conditions, freshness, biodiversity, and postharvest handling influence the nutritional and phytochemical quality of foods used in Food Is Medicine.
2. Identify major plant secondary metabolites—including polyphenols, carotenoids, glucosinolates, betalains, and dietary nitrates—and their relevance to inflammation, oxidative stress, nitric oxide production, gut health, and cardiometabolic wellness.
3. Apply a plant-informed framework for patient counseling or Food Is Medicine program design that emphasizes plant diversity, freshness, preparation, and phytochemical richness.

Food Is Medicine often begins with the recommendation to “eat more plants,” but not all plants deliver the same nutritional or biochemical value. To fully understand Food Is Medicine, we must look more closely at the plant itself: its genetics, growing environment, harvest timing, freshness, biodiversity, and post-harvest handling. These factors influence not only taste and appearance, but also the concentration and diversity of health-relevant plant compounds.

This session explores Food Is Medicine through a plant-level lens, highlighting how secondary metabolites—including polyphenols, carotenoids, glucosinolates, betalains, dietary nitrates, and other phytonutrients—contribute to the color, flavor, resilience, and health-supporting potential of fruits, vegetables, herbs, and edible plants. These compounds are central to the biological conversation between plants and people, with relevance to oxidative stress, inflammation, nitric oxide production, vascular function, gut health, immune regulation, and cardiometabolic wellness.

Attendees will gain a deeper appreciation for how plant selection, agricultural practices, storage, and preparation can shape the nutritional quality of foods used in Food as Medicine interventions. The session will also explore why plant biodiversity matters -not only for ecological resilience and food-system sustainability, but also for dietary quality, phytochemical diversity, microbiome support, and long-term engagement with healthy eating patterns.

By connecting plant biochemistry with clinical nutrition, food systems, and implementation design, this session reframes plants as complex, dynamic sources of bioactive compounds rather than interchangeable servings of produce. Participants will leave with a more nuanced framework for evaluating, selecting, and designing plant-forward Food as Medicine strategies that are evidence-informed, systems-aware, and rooted in the biochemical richness of the plant kingdom.

3:50-4:10 pm Tops Feature Presentation: Plant-Based Living, John Persons, CEO, Tops Markets

4:10-4:30 pm Questions and Answers