A board-certified Physician Assistant, Jade transitioned from conventional gastroenterology to functional medicine after undergoing her own IBD healing journey. This transformation sparked the creation of a successful gut health consulting practice, serving clients across 20 US states and 4 countries. Now, through Gut Health Education, she’s helping bridge the gap between conventional and functional approaches; equipping providers with a deep understanding of gut health protocols. Her work has earned features in Forbes and LA Weekly, and she's a trusted educator for organizations like Diagnostic Solutions Lab. Beyond clinical education, Jade mentors practitioners in building successful practices that create lasting patient outcomes.

As GHE's Business and Operations Director, Becca brings her master's in Educational Leadership and years of teaching experience to ensure the seamless delivery of our programs. Her background in education enhances how we structure and present complex information to practitioners. When not directing GHE's operations, Becca homeschools her two daughters and stays active in music and children's ministry.

With over 15 years in higher education and biomedical research, Dr. Besecker serves as an associate professor of human anatomy and physiology. Her research focuses on vagus nerve influence on gastrointestinal health, bringing crucial insights to GHE's curriculum. Her dedication to education and mentorship strengthens our commitment to evidence-based learning.

A Registered Dietitian with a Master of Science in Nutrition for Wellness from Bastyr University, Bree specializes in whole food nutrition and preventative wellness. Her expertise in gut health helps her create effective dietary protocols that support optimal health outcomes. Her practical, food-first approach strengthens GHE's course development and content standards.

Combining 12 years of dermatology experience with functional medicine expertise, Emily founded Holistic Healing Co. to address root causes of inflammatory skin conditions. Her practice focuses on gut microbiome optimization, functional nutrition, and lifestyle interventions. Emily's unique background in both dermatology and gut health brings valuable perspectives to GHE.

A published author and specialist in fertility optimization, Dr. Trisha brings both personal experience and clinical expertise to GHE. After her own fertility journey led her to discover the powerful gut-fertility connection, she transformed her practice to focus on natural and holistic approaches. Drawing from 12+ years as a nurse practitioner and her research published in journals like Nurse Educator, she helps practitioners understand the intricate relationship between gut health and reproductive wellness.

With 9 years of acute care experience and deep expertise in functional medicine, Fletcher specializes in treating complex chronic conditions through an integrative approach. His practice, Dane Functional Health, focuses on regenerative medicine, gut health, and chronic infections including mold exposure and tick-borne illnesses. His ongoing work with the Lyme Disease Practitioner Certification fellowship enhances our understanding of complex disease management and treatment protocols.

Combining 19 years of emergency and urgent care experience with functional medicine expertise, Krista helps practitioners understand the intricate connections between gut health, autoimmune conditions, and whole-body wellness. Her unique background as both a medical professional and someone who navigated her own healing journey through functional medicine brings practical insights to GHE's curriculum. She specializes in helping practitioners understand complex cases involving autoimmune conditions, hormone imbalances, and systemic wellness.

Dr. Miller brings her expertise as a naturopathic physician and owner of Naturopathic Dermatology Group to GHE's peer review process. Her virtual practice specializes in treating chronic skin conditions through root cause analysis, focusing on nutrition, gut health, hormone balance, and detoxification. As a Root Cause Dermatology Certified Practitioner, she ensures our skin-gut connection content maintains the highest standards.

With over 15 years of experience in medical, surgical, and cosmetic dermatology, Kassie is a board-certified physician assistant who brings a deep understanding of skin health to GHE. Her career has been defined by a commitment to helping patients achieve both clearer skin and greater confidence—yet it was her recognition that lasting skin transformation requires more than surface-level solutions that shifted her path.

Kassie's passion for addressing root causes led her to explore the skin-gut connection and adopt a whole-body, functional approach to healing. Now, as adjunct faculty at Gut Health Education, she equips practitioners with the knowledge to integrate gut-focused strategies into dermatologic care—bridging the gap between aesthetic outcomes and internal wellness for lasting results.

A licensed Naturopathic Doctor and recognized thyroid authority, Dr. Katie brings a practical, evidence-based approach to functional thyroid care. As the founder of The Thyroid Academy, she’s on a mission to reshape the standard of care for hypothyroid patients—many of whom feel dismissed and fatigued despite treatment. Her signature clinical framework helps patients reclaim energy, clarity, and a sense of self through root-cause, whole-body strategies.

In addition to running a thriving clinical practice, Dr. Katie regularly lectures on thyroid health and offers professional consultations to practitioners across North America. Her contributions to GHE enhance our curriculum on thyroid-gut connections, helping bridge the gap between conventional protocols and functional endocrinology.

Cindy is a registered dietitian, with a masters degree in applied human nutrition. She is an endowarrior and founder of The Supportive Endo RD, a private practice that uses medical nutrition therapy and functional medicine principles to support women with endometriosis and infertility. Her passion comes from supporting women who, like herself, have said enough is enough to debilitating life-altering symptoms of endometriosis. Cindy supports endowarriors who are looking for improvements in pain, fertility, energy, digestive and hormonally driven symptoms. As a registered dietitian and endowarrior herself, Cindy is proud to be an ally and resource for endowarriors on their symptoms improvement journey.

Dr. Julianna Mann is a licensed naturopathic physician specializing in women’s and family health, with clinical focus areas spanning preconception, infertility, pediatric care, and hormone optimization across the reproductive lifespan. She holds a Doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine from Sonoran University of Health Sciences and a Bachelor of Science in Cell & Molecular Biology. Prior to clinical practice, she served as a research technician at a leading pediatric hospital.

Dr. Mann integrates a strong foundation in evidence-based natural therapeutics with the principles of personalized, patient-centered care. She brings a unique lens to functional medicine through her expertise in epigenetic optimization, cycle regulation, and childhood preventive care. Her work emphasizes the importance of proactive, strategic interventions to improve health outcomes across generations.

At Gut Health Education, Dr. Mann contributes her expertise in integrative pediatric and reproductive health, supporting clinicians in delivering comprehensive, forward-thinking care.

Dr. Lara Zakaria is a Pharmacist and Nutritionist with a focus in implementing solutions for Functional Medicine and personalized nutrition. A graduate of the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, at Rutgers University (BSpharm) and the University of Colorado Skaggs College Of Pharmacy (PharmD), she spent 20 years in community pharmacy practice. After developing an interest in nutrition, she earned a MS in Nutrition from the University of Bridgeport and subsequently qualified as a Certified Nutrition Specialist (CNS) as well as an Institute for Functional Medicine Certified Practitioner (IFMCP). Dr Zakaria’s practice focuses on a multi-disciplinary approach working both one-on-one with patients as well as creating implementation tools and systems for scale. She is also faculty at the Integrative Medicine program at George Washington University, as well as guest instructor for Functional Medicine at LECOM College of Pharmacy.. Lara is passionate about gut health and the prevention and reversal of metabolic, allergic, and autoimmune disease. There’s power in community, working with pharmacy professionals, nutritionists, and other clinicians to leverage their unique expertise to amplify the message of personalized nutrition and FxMed.

Rita is an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner and Clinical Nurse Specialist with a distinct background that bridges the worlds of traditional nursing and modern chemistry. She holds a Baccalaureate in Chemistry and a Master’s in Nursing from UCLA, where she graduated with honors and was recognized as the first nurse recipient of the UCLA Outstanding Graduate Student award.

Rita's clinical journey includes a vast array of work, she was an Acute Care Nurse Practitioner in Interventional Cardiology and Cardiac Electrophysiology.  Rita has also uniquely worked as a Neonatal ICU Clinical Nurse Specialist. Notably, she was part of the team that developed the first two private room NICUs in Los Angeles County, and has also helped support and develop a Neonatal ICU in her hometown in Pune, India.

With over 25 years of nursing experience, Rita now specializes in the field of Microbiome Health. She has developed a deep understanding of how the microbiome influences health outcomes, from infancy to adulthood and now owns and operates iBiome Health and Wellness, PMC, a practice dedicated to integrating holistic and functional biochemistry to address a range of health conditions using Microbiome science.