2023-2024 Laura Mann Integrative Healthcare Lecture Series

Whole Health Transformation in the Veterans' Administration

Benjamin Kligler MD, MPH

Monday, October 9
8 - 9 am, during Family Medicine Grand Rounds
FREE, online. No registration required. 

This session has been approved for 1 AMA PRA Category 1 credit.

Zoom Link - Meeting ID: 941 8945 2885

The Veterans Health Administration is undergoing a system-wide transformation to a Whole Person/Whole Health approach to care. The Whole Health model of care is described including early outcome data on utilization and effectiveness. Dr. Benjamin Kligler will describe the first decade of this transformation and lessons learned during that process regarding large-scale system change. The Whole Health System being developed and implemented at the Veterans Health Administration is an approach to care which aims to shift the discussion from "What's the Matter With You?" to "What Matters to You?"

Dr. Kligler is responsible for overseeing the work of OPCC&CT in advancing the Whole Health model throughout the VA system. He is a board-certified family physician who has been working as a clinician, educator, researcher and administrative leader in the field of complementary and integrative medicine for the past 25 years. Dr. Kligler was the founding medical director of the Continuum Center for Health and Healing, a large integrative medicine practice which opened in May 2000, and he is former Chair of the Academic Consortium for Integrative Health and Medicine, an organization of over 70 medical schools and health systems working to advance education, research, and clinical care in integrative medicine. Learn more about his work and career. 

We hope you'll join us for this year's first lecture in the 2023-2024 series!

Past Lectures:

Updates in Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome: Improving patient experiences and outcomes with integrative and collaborative care

March 13, 8:00 am - 9:00 am
During Family Medicine Grand Rounds
Davis Auditorium, UVM Medical Center Level 2 or on Zoom

Historically, we have focused on treating polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) with symptom management.  As we learn more about the complex interactions between genetics and the environment in PCOS, we are developing strategies to regulate the hormonal and metabolic pathways causing this clinical syndrome. In this presentation, we will explore the underlying processes causing PCOS, and demonstrate integrative approaches to streamline diagnosis and empower patients in healing.

Julie Thompson DO, FACOG, IFMCP, joined Vermont Gynecology in 2021 after 17 years of training and practice in Western Massachusetts.  Julie is passionate about trauma-informed and patient-centered care, integrating functional and conventional gynecology, offering minimally invasive pelvic surgery and focusing on hormonal and gastrointestinal health.

Valerie Goldberg is a Registered Dietitian and the CEO of No Diet Dietitian. No Diet Dietitian has grown to a team of 8 Registered Dietitians on a mission to help people change their relationships with food and improve their health. Valerie's specialties include PCOS, sustainable no-diet weight loss, eating disorders, and diabetes management.

View the video >>

Building Integrative Oncology for the Future

March 7, 8:00 am - 9:00 am
During Hematology/Oncology Grand Rounds on Zoom

Dr. Greenlee will describe the development of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center’s Integrative Medicine clinical and research programs, and the role of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines in integrative oncology.

Heather Greenlee, ND, PhD, MPH is an Associate Professor in the Public Health Sciences and Clinical Research Divisions at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. She is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Medical Oncology at the University of Washington School of Medicine and an Adjunct Associate Professor of Epidemiology in the University of Washington School of Public Health.  She is the founding Medical Director of the Integrative Medicine Service at Fred Hutch.  Dr. Greenlee trained in epidemiology at the University of Washington and Columbia University and in naturopathic medicine at Bastyr University. Dr. Greenlee’s research focuses on the use of lifestyle modifications and integrative medicine for cancer prevention and control.  She uses observational studies and clinical trials to study what cancer survivors can do, in addition to conventional treatment, to prevent cancer recurrence, decrease side effects of treatment, and improve prognosis.  Dr. Greenlee is Past President of the Society for Integrative Oncology (SIO) and co-chairs the SIO Clinical Practice Guidelines Committee.  Her work is funded by the National Cancer Institute and foundations and she is an inaugural recipient of the Washington State Cancer Research Distinguished Researcher Grant.

View the video >>   View presentation (PDF) >>

Therapeutic Utility of Psychedelics for Palliative Care and the Treatment of End-of-Life Existential Distress

October 7, 2022, 10:30 am - 11:45 am
During Psychiatry Grand Rounds
Davis Auditorium, UVM Medical Center Level 2 or on Zoom

This presentation will review the history of psychedelic research and recent findings from clinical trials investigating psilocybin to alleviate psychosocial and existential distress associated with a life-threatening illness or near the end of life.  The NYU School of Medicine clinical trial published in 2016 (concurrently with a similar trial at Johns Hopkins) demonstrated the efficacy of a single psilocybin-generated mystical experience in helping individuals with cancer cultivate meaning, enhance existential and psycho-spiritual well-being, and foster a greater acceptance of the dying process with less anxiety.  The scientific findings of reduction in depression, anxiety, hopelessness, and demoralization along with improvements in spiritual well-being in cancer-associated distress will be presented. Psilocybin is the psychoactive compound found in specific species of mushrooms. Subjective features of a mystical experience include unity, sacredness, transcendence, ineffability, and an enhanced awareness of positive emotions.  Implications for the future of palliative and hospice care will be addressed.

Anthony P. Bossis, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at NYU School of Medicine, an adjunct professor of classics and religious studies at the University of Ottawa, and an Investigator at The Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation.  For over 15 years, he has been conducting FDA-approved clinical and mystical experience research with the psychedelic compound psilocybin. Dr. Bossis was director of palliative care research and co-principal investigator on the 2016 clinical trial demonstrating a significant reduction in existential distress from a single psilocybin session in persons with cancer or near the end of life. Dr. Bossis is also the study director on an FDA-approved clinical trial evaluating psilocybin-generated mystical experiences upon religious leaders.  His primary research interests in the study of psychedelics are palliative care, the treatment of end-of-life existential distress, and advancing our understanding of consciousness, meaning, and spirituality. He is a training supervisor of psychotherapy at NYU-Bellevue Hospital Center and co-founder of the Bellevue Hospital Palliative Care Service. He is on the faculty of The Center for Psychedelic Therapies and Research at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Dr. Bossis is on the editorial board of the Journal of Humanistic Psychology and a guest editor (with Charles Grob, M.D.) for the journal’s Special Series on Psychedelics. He maintains a private psychotherapy and consulting practice in NYC.

Integrative Health Equity: From Patients to Policy- February 7, 2022

Dr. Sharad Kohli is a family physician who has dedicated his career to advancing health equity. He has spent almost two decades working with Federally Qualified Health Centers in both urban and rural settings in California and Texas. He currently is the Medical Director of the Integrative Pain Management Program at People’s Community Clinic, an FQHC in Austin, Texas.

Keegan Warren-Clem, J.D., LL.M., is a Practice Area Manager at Texas Legal Services Center, overseeing the Legal Aid for Survivors of Sexual Assault program, the Crime Victims program, and the Veteran Legal Assistance Program, and directly managing the Medical-Legal Partnerships (MLP) department. Through MLPs at multiple healthcare sites, she works collaboratively with health care providers to improve health outcomes by bringing patient-centered legal and structural expertise into the delivery of health care.

View the video>>   View presentation (PDF) >>  

Whole Health System of Care: Supporting the Health, Well-Being and Resiliency - December 13th, 2021

Kavitha Reddy, M.D., FACEP, ABOIM, Associate Director of Employee Whole Health in the VHA Office of Patient-Centered Care and Cultural Transformation (OPCC & CT). Dr. Reddy is an Emergency Medicine and Integrative Medicine physician at VA St. Louis Healthcare System in Missouri and Assistant Professor in Emergency Medicine at the Washington University School of Medicine. She previously served as Whole Health System Clinical Director for the VA St. Louis Healthcare System and National Whole Health Champion for VHA OPCC & CT.

View the video >>    View presentation (PDF) >>

COVID and the Climate Crisis: Personal and Ecological Healing - October 11, 2021

With Brendan Kelly, L.Ac., M.Ac., Herbalist, NCCAOM, and author of The Yin and Yang of Climate Crisis. View the video >>

Family Medicine Grand Rounds: Integrated Primary Care for the Underserved - March 29, 2021

With Jeffrey Geller, M.D.
View the Video >>

Family Medicine Grand Rounds: Community as Medicine - Feb. 1, 2021

With Elizabeth Markle, Ph.D., and Ben Emmert-Aronson, Ph.D., co-founders of Open Source Wellness.  View video >>  View presentation (PDF) >>