Jeffrey Bland, Ph.D., Chief Science Officer of Metagenics, Inc. Receives Linus Pauling Functional Medicine Lifetime Achievement Award

SAN CLEMENTE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jeffrey Bland, Ph.D., FACN, FACB, was honored with the Linus Pauling Functional Medicine Lifetime Achievement Award at The Institute for Functional Medicine’s 2011 International Symposium, held April 28–30 in Bellevue, Washington. He and his wife, Susan Bland, founded the Institute 20 years ago. Bland is the chief science officer for Metagenics, Inc., a nutrigenomics and lifestyle medicine company dedicated to reducing chronic illness and improving health.

“We need to listen to the patient's story and develop a personalized treatment program in response to it”

According to New England Journal of Medicine, the chronic health conditions such as high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, and heart disease that are reducing our life expectancy can be prevented, managed, and perhaps even reversed. Bland has devoted his life to helping people realize optimal health by addressing the causes of impaired metabolism and physiology, and then applying individualized responses. He has inspired many with his groundbreaking work in the fields of nutrition and nutrigenomics—the study of the effects of foods and food constituents on gene expression—and his leadership in the growing specialty of lifestyle medicine, helping people make lifestyle changes to promote lifelong health and avoid chronic illness.

"We need to listen to the patient's story and develop a personalized treatment program in response to it,” said Bland. “The approach to the management of chronic illness is much more important than determining a singular ‘diagnosis.’ Because patients often have multiple symptoms that cut across several diagnoses, the focus for the functional medicine-trained practitioner is to find the root cause of all the problems and address these causes rather than their effects. Today’s new medicine offers a changing view of physiology, more like a patient-specific ‘dance of metabolism’ where genetic expression can actually be changed by intervening in the body’s core functional processes such as cellular metabolism, digestive function, detoxification, and oxidative stress. As function is regulated, illness can be modulated.”

“There have been a thousand lifetimes’ worth of achievements, dozens of honors awarded and infinite accolades given and due to Jeffrey Bland,” said Mark Hyman, M.D., chairman of The Institute for Functional Medicine and the founder and medical director of The UltraWellness Center in Lenox, Massachusetts. “There are stories of the medical school he helped start, institutes and companies he has built, discoveries he has made, and places he has traveled and transformed. But those all pale next to the extraordinary spirit and heart of this one man who has touched the lives of millions in a way few other humans living or otherwise have. That is his real life’s work.”

Considered the “Father of Functional Medicine,” Bland’s vision, brilliance, and leadership have inspired a worldwide community of clinicians, scientists, and educators to transform clinical practice and educational curricula. With a Ph.D. in biochemistry, Bland became a prominent educator for the natural foods Industry, served as President of the Northwest Academy of Preventive Medicine, and helped establish Bastyr University of Natural Health Sciences in the Northwest. In 1981 he was invited by two-time Nobel Laureate Linus Pauling to become the Director of Nutritional Supplement Analysis at the Linus Pauling Institute in Palo Alto, California. In 1984 he introduced the concept of using foods to create biochemical change, and started HealthComm, Inc. to educate physicians and other licensed healthcare providers. Jeffrey and his wife Susan established The Institute for Functional Medicine in 1991 to educate clinicians about functional medicine. In 1993, he established the Natural Products Quality Assurance Alliance to develop the quality assurance document for the industry.

As Chief Science Officer at Metagenics, Dr. Bland developed the Scientific Advisory Board, where he leads the team of scientists, clinicians and researchers who are at the forefront of research in phytochemicals and the role of nutrition in genetic expression. His publications include four books on nutrition and health for the general public and six books for health professionals, including The Medical Applications of Clinical Nutrition. He is the principal author of more than 100 peer-reviewed research papers on nutritional biochemistry.

To learn more about The Institute for Functional Medicine, visit www.functionalmedicine.org, or call Laurie Hofmann, MPH, Executive Director, at 505.471.9020. Functional medicine offers an answer to the current epidemic of chronic disease, with its systems-based, science-driven approach to individualized medicine, focusing on underlying causes rather than simply treating symptoms.

About Metagenics, Inc.

Metagenics, Inc. (www.metagenics.com) is a nutrigenomics and lifestyle medicine company focused on reversing chronic illness and improving health. Founded in 1983, Metagenics serves more than 75,000 healthcare providers worldwide through premium quality, science-based medical foods, nutritional formulas, and lifestyle therapy programs to help their patients achieve a lifetime of good health. Metagenics’ scientific staff—among the largest in the nutrigenomics industry—has published more than 80 articles in peer-reviewed journals and has been awarded more than 50 international or domestic patents. The company’s educational arm, Metagenics University, collaborates with renowned medical experts to annually deliver more than 200 events designed to help healthcare professionals stay on the leading edge of lifestyle medicine and incorporate nutrition into their clinical practice.

Metagenics maintains its corporate headquarters in San Clemente, CA; R&D headquarters in Gig Harbor, WA; and operating subsidiaries in Brussels, Belgium and Brisbane, Australia.