In Episode 052 of A Medicinal Mind: Wisdom and Wellbeing, I share space with integrative and naturopathic physician, a pioneer in the field of nutrigenomics, Dr. Kelly Halderman.   Dr. Kelly Halderman completed a Family Practice Medicine internship with the University of Minnesota; has a Naturopathic Medical Degree from Kingdom College of Natural Health where she is the current Academic Dean of Students.  She holds certification in MethylGenetic Nutrition by the Nutrigenetic Research Institute and certification from The American Functional Neurology Institute in Functional Neurology and Neurofeedback.   Despite the temptation to simply geek out in the world of nutrigenomics, detoxification and chronic disease, we spend most of this enlightening conversation exploring the miraculous background and journey of Dr. Kelly.   Beginning with a walk through her early childhood, we are given a glimpse at Dr. Kelly’s spiritual background, the ethos by which her first years were imbued. Sharing reflections from her experiences witnessing her father’s own chronic illness, Dr Kelly provides a rather raw showcase of her first visions of healthcare, physicians and the medical system as a whole.   Stepping away from her years as a witness to medicine, she then leads us into her own years in medical school and residency, ultimately leading to her own period of suffering, disillusionment and incredible awakening into the true power of healing when one surrenders to the powers of something greater. Offering story after story of her life’s journey, Dr. Kelly illustrates the foundation by which she currently practices blending her deep spiritual roots with her fascination with the quantifiable, the biochemical and the poetically physiological.   Stepping away to end our journey in the world of nutrition, genomics, and detoxification, Dr Kelly starts us off with a description and definition of nutrigenomics. From here she guides us into practical applications of how understanding one’s genetic template, its current state of expression, and the nutrients we supply it impact the progression or reversal of chronic disease. Providing a solid foundation for understanding our genetic code Dr. Kelly leads us into a thoughtful explanation of how certain genetic variations or SNP’s when expressed within the context of poor lifestyle habits can lead to compounding negative effects and perpetuation of chronic disease. She even gives us a sampling of some of the most common genetic variants and how she is seeking to support individuals with these SNP’s suffering from a myriad of symptoms and chronic illness.   Dr. Kelly closes the conversation with an elegant summary of detoxification, including the newly understood phase 2.5, and how we can apply an evidence based approach to detoxification so that we do not end up in the world of expensive and potentially harmful green medicine.   Lastly, I am incredibly excited to announce, if you are listening to this upon its initial release, that I have just joined my amazing team of functional clinicians at the Charlottesville Center for Functional Medicine and am now accepting new patients seeking support through functional and lifestyle medicine. Using the links in the show notes below, you can read more about our clinic and how to become a new patient.   Become a New Patient at Charlottesville Center for Functional Medicine   https://cvillefxmed.com/new-patients-1/   Call: 434.260.3284   Email: [email protected]     Link to Dr. Kelly's website:   www.drkellyhalderman.com   Link to longer 2.5 podcast w Better Health Guy (just in case you want to geek out on the science): http://betterhealthguy.com/episode79   Disclaimer: The content at A Medicinal Mind and the content of our podcast are educational and informational in nature. They are not