IFM Announces Slate of Board Officers and Celebrates Growing Number of Practitioners Trained in Functional Medicine

FEDERAL WAY, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Institute for Functional Medicine’s (IFM) Governing Board of Directors (BOD) is pleased to announce reappointments to the BOD and slate of officers. IFM BOD members are nominated and appointed on a staggered schedule. The BOD is responsible for providing strategic guidance to advance the nonprofit’s mission to advance health and healing for all.

IFM’s BOD voted and approved term renewals for Jeffrey Bland, PhD; Mike Bond, MA, MBA; Mark Hyman, MD; David S. Jones, MD; and Joseph E. Pizzorno, ND. In addition, IFM’s BOD appointed the following officers for the two-year term of January 2022–December 2023:

• Joseph E. Pizzorno, ND, board chairman (re-elected for a second term)
• Gail C. Christopher, DN, board vice chair (newly appointed for a first term)
• Terry Cook, CFP, CIMA , board treasurer (re-elected for a second term)
• David S. Jones, MD, board secretary (re-elected for a fourth term)

“I am honored to be re-elected for another term to continue supporting the organization in its mission,” states board chairman, Dr. Pizzorno. “The board looks forward to focusing on the role of health medicine in the transformation of health care.”

As the IFM Board looks ahead to equipping and training more practitioners, they are also pleased to celebrate the addition of 276 clinicians who completed their certification in functional medicine in 2021, bringing the total number of certified practitioners through IFM to 1,783 individuals. In addition, more than 700 clinicians were approved as candidates of the certification program and are on track to complete certification in the coming years. This brings the total number of candidates to 2,849. IFM has been educating clinicians since 1991—and formally through its certification program since 2009. Over the last 30 years, the organization has trained more than 60,000 individuals.

“It is a delight to celebrate the growing number of practitioners trained in functional medicine,” states Dr. Christopher, board vice chair. “We look forward to pushing the envelope further to ensure increased access to functional medicine for all practitioners and patient populations, especially reaching those in underserved and marginalized communities.”

IFM is dedicated to teaching clinicians to be confident and competent in functional medicine to support improved patient outcomes. The organization’s focused effort is to lower the barrier of access to functional medicine education for both practitioners and patients, to drive system change, and to create value-improved individual health outcomes, positive changes in population health as well as lower costs through improvements in the delivery of patient care.

“Functional medicine is essential to the global transformation of health and wellness,” states IFM chief executive officer, Amy R. Mack, MSES/MPA. “Through integration with conventional health care, functional medicine supports personalized patient care that positively impacts population health and provides scalable solutions for the delivery of health care.”

View all biographies of IFM’s BOD members here.

About IFM

The Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM) is the global leader in functional medicine and a collaborator in the transformation of health care. IFM is a nonprofit organization that believes functional medicine can help every individual reach their full potential for health and well-being. Founded in 1991 and dedicated to the widespread adoption of functional medicine, IFM works to advance education and training, clinical patient care, research, and outcomes in functional medicine worldwide. For more information about IFM, please visit IFM.org.

About Functional Medicine

Functional medicine determines how and why illness occurs and restores health by addressing the root causes of disease for each individual. The functional medicine model is an individualized, patient-centered, science-based approach that empowers patients and practitioners to work together to address the underlying causes of disease and promote optimal wellness.