The Role of Naturopathic Medicine in Cancer Care
Heather Wright, ND, FABNO & Christina Shannon, ND, FABNO
Speaker Biography:
Dr. Heather Wright is founder of Goodapplewellness.com, a telehealth consulting practice, and is currently a co- Research Director for KNOWintegrativeoncology.org- a database of human studies in integrative oncology. Having graduated from Bastyr University in Seattle in 2005, Dr. Wright then worked as an integrative provider within the department of internal medicine at Claxton Hepburn Medical Center in upstate NY. Dr. Wright completed naturopathic oncology training at a cancer treatment hospital in Philadelphia Pennsylvania and became a Fellow of the American Board of Naturopathic Oncology (FABNO) in 2011. Dr. Wright worked in hospital based cancer care for 10 years, advancing academic research projects and having team trained 8 other naturopathic fellows. After writing and running a clinical trial for pancreatic cancer patients receiving intravenous vitamin C, Dr. Wright has been active in working with patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer since 2014. In addition, Dr. Wright serves to advance the mission of several boards including the Oncology Association of Naturopathic Physicians, The Cancer Support Community & Gilda’s Club of Greater Philadelphia, The Pennsylvania Association of Naturopathic Physicians, and Cancerchoices.org. Dr. Wright believes all people diagnosed with cancer should have access to safe integrative and supportive therapies as part of their cancer care.
Christina Shannon, ND, FABNO is the Clinical Director of Naturopathic Medicine at Cancer Treatment Centers of America at their Midwestern Regional Medical Center. Dr. Shannon is responsible for directing naturopathic clinical care of 16 naturopathic doctors and setting naturopathic departmental strategy. She is also responsible for working with the Naturopathic Medicine Residency Manager to lead the direction of our naturopathic residency program. Clinical work includes being a part of an integrated clinical team, which specializes in treating women with breast cancer for the past 7 years. She has been in practice for 12 years and prior to joining CTCA was in private practice in Connecticut specializing in treating chronic diseases in women and children.
She is a member of the Clinical Practice Committee and Scientific Review Committee for the Society for Integrative Oncology (SIO). She is a new board member for the Oncology Association of Naturopathic Physicians. Dr. Shannon is also a board member of the Regional Cancer Center IRB which serves all five Cancer Treatment Centers of America hospitals.
Dr. Shannon is a graduate of Bastyr University and is currently a 2016 candidate for her MBA in Health Care Management from Loyola University Chicago.