Speakers

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  David Groeger PhD Scientific Innovation Manager - Novozymes OneHealth
  

  David Groeger PhD

  Scientific Innovation Manager - Novozymes OneHealth

  Dr. David Groeger is a Scientific Innovation Manager in the Science and Medical Affairs team in Novozymes OneHealth. He has 16 years’ experience working in R&D in the probiotic industry, and has also spent significant time doing research in APC Microbiome Institute at University College Cork, and Swiss Institute of Allergy and Asthma Research affiliated with University of Zurich. His main research interest is how the host interacts with beneficial microbes, particularly how immunoregulatory microbes modulate mucosal inflammatory responses.

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  Jeff Bland, PhD Functional Medicine Founder and Pioneer
  

  Jeff Bland, PhD

  Functional Medicine Founder and Pioneer

  Dr. Jeffrey Bland is a personable and highly respected thought leader who has spent more than four decades focused on the improvement of human health.

  He is known worldwide as the founder of the Functional Medicine movement, which represents his vision for a care model that is grounded in systems biology and informed by research that he has a unique ability to synthesize. His pioneering work has created the Personalized Lifestyle Medicine Institute (PLMI), as well as the Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM), the global leader in Functional Medicine education. Since 1991, hundreds of thousands of healthcare practitioners have participated in PLMI and IFM programs, and this collective knowledge has positively impacted the lives of patients all over the world.

  Dr. Bland began his career as a Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Puget Sound. He is a natural educator and became involved with numerous academic institutions during the years he spent teaching. This includes the significant contributions he made to the founding and accreditation of Bastyr University, the first federally accredited university offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in natural medicine in the US. In the early 1980s, Dr. Bland was hand-selected by two-time Nobel Laureate Dr. Linus Pauling to serve as Director of Nutritional Research at the Linus Pauling Institute of Science and Medicine. This experience marked both a personal and professional inflection point for Dr. Bland that has become an integral part of his career.

  As an expert in a field he helped to establish—science-based nutrition—Dr. Bland has become an iconic figure in the natural products industry. He worked alongside other founders to establish standards for evidence-based formulations, quality ingredient sourcing, and ethical manufacturing practices that stand to this day. He continues to serve as a dynamic mentor and advisor to a new generation of industry leaders.

  Dr. Bland is the author of best-selling books and over 120 peer-reviewed research publications. He speaks extensively, and his engaging style makes him popular with both professional and consumer audiences. Dr. Bland’s latest project is Big Bold Health, launched in 2018. He’s on a mission to transform the way people think about one of nature’s greatest innovations: the immune system. Through Big Bold Health, Dr. Bland is advocating for the power of immuno-rejuvenation to enhance immunity at a global level. It is an ambitious and purpose-driven effort that encompasses his active stance on regenerative agriculture, environmental stewardship, and planetary health.

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  Liam O’Mahony Prof. of Immunology - APC Microbiome Ireland, University College Cork
  

  Liam O’Mahony

  Prof. of Immunology - APC Microbiome Ireland, University College Cork

  Prof. Liam O’Mahony is the Prof. of Immunology at the Department of Medicine and School of Microbiology, APC Microbiome Ireland, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland. His research interests are focused on the molecular basis for microbe and metabolite modulation of mucosal inflammatory responses. In particular, Prof. O’Mahony is investigating the basic mechanisms by which microbes influence allergic sensitization and defence from viral infections.

  Prof. O’Mahony has published 206 papers, with over 30,000 citations and a h-index of 81. He is an Allergy editor, and served as EAACI Treasurer from 2019 to 2022.