Friday – Saturday • November 20 –21, 2020 • Virtual Summit
This year’s speakers include leading investigators into the role of NAD+ in cellular functioning and health—and its implication in a variety of degenerative diseases and conditions. Speakers also include pioneering researchers, physicians and mental health providers who are helping patients combat debilitating addictions, depression, post-traumatic stress, and chronic and acute anxiety through intravenous administration of NAD+.
TOPIC:
The Opioid Epidemic
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Dan Schneider
Dan Schneider is best-known as the Louisiana pharmacist who inspired the Netflix true-crime documentary series, The Pharmacist. Born in New Orleans and a graduate of Xavier School of Pharmacy, Schneider worked as a pharmacist for 41 years, until his retirement in 2016. However, his life was changed forever the day his son was murdered in 1999, apparently in the course of a drug transaction. While still a grieving father, Schneider underwent a shocking education regarding the volume of opioid drugs that were being prescribed—often to healthy young Americans—decades before the nation declared the problem a national emergency. He set himself on a mission: to combat the over-prescription of opioids and combat the pharmaceutical and insurance industries’ ability to set policies that affect millions of individuals caught in a battle with addiction—and the millions more who love them.
Drawing upon the success of The Pharmacist, Schneider launched his own nonprofit—Tunnel of Hope (www.tunnelofhope.org) —to enlist the help of millions in refocusing “the drug war” on helping, rather than criminalizing, users. He is now called upon to speak at conferences and gatherings all over the world, the spokesperson of a worldwide movement.
TOPIC:
Intranasal NAD: A New Way to Go
(Joint presentation with David H. Workman, MD)
Patty DiBlasio, MD, MPH
Dr. Patty DiBlasio is the co-founder of Speranza San Clemente Clinic, an innovative online and on-site clinic and medical and business consulting practice for mind, body, and spirit. Dr. DiBlasio specializes in integrative and regenerative medicine, is board-certified by the American College of Preventive Medicine, and is the author of more than 30 scholarly publications and a book: Love Trumps Fear: 8 Medical Insights to Heal Your Heart and Transform Your Health.
Topic:
Intravenous Administration of Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide Significantly Improves Withdrawal Symptoms Associated with Chronic Opioid Exposure
Susan Broom Gibson, PhD
Dr. Susan Broom Gibson is an associate professor of psychology, School of Natural and Behavioral Sciences, William Carey University, in Hattiesburg, MS, and a research consultant for Springfield Wellness Center in Springfield, LA. She received her PhD in experimental psychology from the University of Mississippi in 2002 and completed research associate/fellowship positions at Boston University School of Medicine and Tulane University School of Medicine. Her areas of specialty include: the neuro-mechanisms of drug abuse and withdrawal, animal models of drug abuse and stress, and alternative treatment for substance use disorders. Over the past 10 years, she conducted research in the therapeutic potential of IV administration of NAD for the treatment of acute withdrawal symptoms associated with substance use disorders.
https://www.naadac.org/assets/2416/susan_broom_gibson_ppt.pdf
TOPIC:
Magnetic resonance-based NAD imaging for preclinical and human brain applications at ultrahigh field
Wei Chen, PhD
Dr. Wei Chen is a professor in the Departments of Radiology and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Minnesota. He received his B.S. degree in physical chemistry from Fudan University in Shanghai, China, before completing his PhD at Washington University in St. Louis in 1990. He spent three years as a postdoctoral fellow and research associate at Yale University Medical School before joining the Center for Magnetic Resonance Research (CMRR) at the University of Minnesota, where he became a full professor in 2002. His research focuses on the development of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)/spectroscopy (MRS) methodologies and technologies for noninvasively studying cellular metabolism, bioenergetics, function and dysfunction of the brain and other organs. He is a pioneer in developing in vivo NAD imaging for brain applications. He has been a principal investigator for a large number of NIH grants including three BRAIN Initiative grants, has served as a grant reviewer for many funding organizations, and is on the editorial boards for imaging journals.
TOPIC:
Alpha Waves Effects on Neurotransmitters
Krishna Doniparthi, MD
Dr. Krishna Doniparthi is the director and physician at Functional Medicine of Georgia and at NAD of Georgia located in Milton, Georgia, just north of Atlanta. He has been practicing medicine since 2002 in both private family medicine practice and hospital-based emergency medicine. He is board-certified in regenerative and functional medicine, family medicine and obesity medicine.
TOPIC:
Testing blood NAD+ levels; why and how?
Ross Grant, PhD
Dr. Grant is a biochemical pharmacologist in the School of Medical Sciences UNSW, a clinical associate professor at the Sydney Adventist Hospital Clinical School, University of Sydney, and head of the Australasian Research Institute. Dr. Grant’s research focuses on characterizing, at the molecular level, how lifestyle and environment (e.g. emotional stress, diet and exercise) produce changes in the body’s biochemistry that lead toward either health or disease, including oxidative stress, inflammation, and changes in metabolism. A practical goal of this research is identification of early subclinical disease (often linked to accelerated aging), enabling effective intervention before irreparable damage to tissue occurs.
TOPIC:
NAD and your genome: Where do they Interact?
Sharon Hausman-Cohen, MD, ABIHM
NAD and your genome: Where do they interact?
In this presentation, Dr. Hausman-Cohen will look at what particular genomic pathways may be potentially addressed or modified by NAD. Topics will include various detox pathways as well as brain repair.
Dr. Hausman-Cohen is the co-founder, chief science officer, and medical director of IntellxxDNA,™ which provides licensed health professionals with an advanced, medical-genomics and nutrigenomics clinical decision support tool. IntellxxDNA™ is designed to make genomics actionable by helping clinicians understand gene function and potential genomically targeted modifications. In addition to being a well-regarded doctor and researcher, Dr. Hausman-Cohen teaches across the country on genomics, personalized medicine, and integrative medicine. She received both her master’s and medical degrees from Harvard Medical School; is board-certified in family medicine; and possesses additional board certification in integrative medicine through the American Board of Physician Specialties. She has published review articles on the role of genomics in susceptibility to environmental illness and genomics and brain health. She was also one of the authors, along with Dr. Dale Bredesen, of the Reversal of Cognitive Decline; 100 patients publication. She has been practicing full spectrum family medicine and integrative medicine for more than 20 years.
TOPIC:
NAD, Hydrogen Sulfide, and Nitric Oxide
David J. Lefer, PhD
NAD, Hydrogen Sulfide, and Nitric Oxide
Dr. David Lefer is the director of the Cardiovascular Center of Excellence and a professor of pharmacology at LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. His research is focused on myocardial protection and heart failure with an emphasis on the translation of novel drugs and devices to treat the failing heart. Earlier research focused on the pathological consequences of myocardial inflammation and coronary endothelial dysfunction following myocardial ischemia and reperfusion injury in clinically relevant animal models. Dr. Lefer was among the first to study the beneficial effects of nitric oxide-based therapeutics in acute myocardial infarction and heart failure. More recently, Dr. Lefer has performed pioneering research investigating the cardioprotective effects of hydrogen sulfide in the setting of acute myocardial infarction and heart failure. Dedicated to the training of junior scientists and clinicians, Dr. Lefer has trained a large number of undergraduate, graduate, and medical students as well as post-doctoral research fellows, and junior faculty—a number of whom are currently leaders in cardiovascular research. Dr. Lefer received his PhD degree in physiology and pharmacology from Wake Forest University in 1991 and then accepted a postdoctoral research position in cardiology at Johns Hopkins University. He has held faculty positions at Tulane University, LSU Health Sciences Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and Emory University.
TOPIC:
NAD+ and Ketamine Combination Therapy Case Presentations
Henry Liang, DO
Dr. Henry Liang is a board-certified anesthesiologist at Klarity Clinic of Las Vegas and serves the Henderson, Las Vegas area as well. As a ketamine specialist, Dr. Liang uses the anesthetic as an off-label therapy to treat major depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), chronic pain and drug and alcohol abuse. He was the first physician ever to combine ketamine and NAD+ on a patient in 2018 and has achieved remarkable results with his combination therapies.
After graduating from Washington University in St. Louis with a degree in biology, Dr. Liang went on to medical school at the University of Health Sciences College of Osteopathic Medicine in Kansas City, Missouri. He then served in the US Navy as the Chief Medical Officer for the 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment during the second Gulf War and spent eight months in Iraq. After his tour of duty, Dr. Liang returned to St. Louis to complete his residency training in anesthesiology at Des Peres Hospital in Missouri. He then served as the staff anesthesiologist at Robert Bush Naval Hospital in Twentynine Palms, California. Upon completion of his service in the military, Dr. Liang opened his own practice as an independent anesthesiologist in Las Vegas and Henderson areas, and eventually joined the largest anesthesia group. Dr. Liang now manages an anesthesia department at a community hospital, manages Klarity Clinic of Las Vegas and serves as a consultant for other Klarity Clinics around the country.
TOPIC:
The Dos and Don’ts of NAD Treatment
Paula Norris Mestayer, M.Ed., LPC, FAPA
Paula is the groundbreaking therapist who pioneered the development of American protocols for utilizing NAD (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) to effectively treat addiction and other brain disorders—with minimal withdrawal symptoms and without substituting another narcotic. The founder of Springfield Wellness Center and the author of Addiction: The Dark Night of the Soul; NAD+: The Light of Hope, she has helped thousands of people successfully break the rehab/relapse cycle.
Since 1979 when she completed her graduate degrees in education and mental health counseling at Tulane University and her clinical internship at the Manhattan Children’s Psychiatric Center in New York, Norris Mestayer has devoted her professional life to helping patients deal effectively with a wide variety of mental health conditions, including depression, anxiety disorders, chronic and post-traumatic stress, alcohol and substance abuse, and marital and family challenges. She is experienced in the use of psychotherapy in both acute and sub-acute psychiatric settings, including an open unit of a hospital psychiatric ward and a variety of residential and non-residential treatment programs. With her husband, Dr. Richard Mestayer, III, she developed the BR+NAD protocol and, with him, has administered intravenous NAD to more than 1,500 patients. She continues to engage in research into the uses of NAD in delivery of BR+NAD protocols and to speak at lay and professional conferences.
TOPIC:
Moderator
Richard F. Mestayer, III, MD
Dr. Richard Mestayer, III, earned his M.D. at Louisiana State University Medical Center in 1974 and completed an internship in medicine at Alton Ochsner Medical Foundation, New Orleans, LA, in 1975, where he was named medical “Intern of the Year.” He completed his residency in psychiatry at the University of Virginia Department of Psychiatry in Charlottesville in 1978 and is board certified in psychiatry and neurology. Dr. Mestayer was co-Chief Resident of Psychiatry at University of Virginia Medical School.
In his 39-year career as a practicing physician, Dr. Mestayer has helped countless men and women overcome chemical dependencies, traumatic stress, depression, anxiety, panic, and affective personality disorders. For 27 years he directed the behavioral medicine and stress treatment units at Ochsner Foundation Hospital, taught courses in psychosomatic medicine and personality disorders to residents accepted into Ochsner’s Psychiatric Residency program, where he was named “Teacher of the Year” in 1996. Other awards include “Best Doctor in New Orleans” by New Orleans magazine and the Ochsner Department of Psychiatry’s “Outstanding and Dedicated Service Award” in 2005.
Since his retirement in 2005 he has focused his efforts on addiction recovery and in 2008 as Chief Psychiatric Consultant at Springfield Wellness Center, a non-residential mental health clinic pioneering a proprietary formula of NAD (nicotine adenine dinucleotide) for the treatment of alcoholism, addiction, chronic and post-traumatic stress, depression, anxiety, and sleep disorders. Since February 2012 he has also served as President and Medical Director of NAD Research, Inc. and, since April 2014, as the sole proprietor of BR+ M.D. Consultants, LLC., a training program for medical practitioners who seek certification in BR+NAD methods and protocols, the pioneering work of Paula and Richard Mestayer. He is currently working with NAD Research, Inc. investigating new data regarding the efficacy of BR+NAD with addictions (alcohol and opiate) and Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases.
Dr. Mestayer’s papers and presentations include “Stress-Related Disorders: Recent Developments in Hospital Treatment,” Journal of Applied Medicine for the Primary Care Physician, May 1, 1985; “Amino Acid-based Nutritional Supplementation Facilitates Abrupt Cessation (‘Stopping Cold Turkey’) of Substance Use by Addiction Patients. Reduction of Withdrawal Symptoms with Minimal Abuse Potential,” Society for Neuroscience, Washington, D.C., November 2008; “A Pilot Study Investigating Changes in the Human Plasma and Urine NAD+ Metabolome During a 6-Hour Intravenous Infusion of NAD+,” Front. Aging Neurosci., 12 September 2019; invited panelist on “Clinical Trials of Neurotransmission Restoration” by the California Association of Alcohol and Drug Educators (CAADE), Costa Mesa, CA, April 2008; “Compounding products for pain control,” interview in International Journal of Compounding, 2010; and “Intravenous Administration of NAD Significantly Reduces Self-Reported Cravings Routinely Associated with Opiate and Alcohol Withdrawal” at the Society of Neuroscience meeting in Washington, D.C., November 2014. He is currently co-authoring a chapter in a soon to be released book addressing Metabolic Pain.
Throughout his tenure as a practicing physician, Dr. Mestayer was a member of the American Medical Association, the Southern Medical Association, the Orleans Parish Medical Society, and the Southern Psychiatric Association.
TOPIC:
Arwen Podesta, MD, ABPN, FASAM, ABIHM
Practicing in New Orleans, Arwen Podesta, MD is a board-certified adult psychiatrist with sub-specializations in addiction medicine, forensic psychiatry, and integrative medicine.
After finishing residency at LSU and forensic fellowship at Tulane, Dr. Podesta served as medical director of the largest public addiction treatment center in the gulf coast south. As well she is medical director of an integrative addiction IOP, consultant Criminal Court, Drug Court and Re-entry Services. Dr. Podesta’s primary focus has been and continues to be access to integrative mental health and addiction treatment, and rational prescribing practices.
Dr. Podesta maintains an active role in the academic community as a clinical faculty for Tulane Psychiatry Residency, Louisiana State University Psychiatry Residency, and Tulane Addiction Medicine Fellowship. She serves as President of the Louisiana chapter of the American Society of Addiction Medicine since 2017. In 2019 she was awarded the honor of Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. A renowned speaker, Dr. Podesta regularly travels to teach and speak on the topics of Addiction Medicine and Integrative Psychiatry.
Since opening Podesta Psychiatry LLC in 2012, Dr. Podesta has been voted into the ranks of New Orleans Magazine’s Top Doctors on an annual basis. The Podesta Psychiatry team includes some of the best treatment providers in the Gulf Coast, and Podesta Psychiatry continues to evolve toward the multi-disciplinary collaborative model that embodies Dr. Podesta’s wellness model for whole health.
TOPIC:
Tom Ubl
Tom Ubl, founder of Bell Eve Treatment Center, has developed a comprehensive evolving protocol that is restoring hope to people who are struggling with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) and facing dialysis as their only option short of transplantation.
Ubl’s personal history with kidney disease has given him a single-minded focus on making dialysis obsolete. Ubl’s father died of complications resulting from a dwarf kidney, dialysis, and kidney transplantation complications. After witnessing the effectiveness of intravenous NAD for his center’s addiction detox patients, Ubl teamed with Dr. Daniel Woodard, NASA Aerospace MD and Institutional Review Board (IRB) participant, to develop kidney restoration (KR+NAD) protocols. Early results of the treatment have restored GFR (glomerular filtration rate) to levels indicative of stable kidney function in 100% of patients with chronic kidney disease—keeping them off of dialysis. Ubl’s participation in the Summit is with the goal of funding a larger IRB-approved study.
Direct all inquiries to: info@kidneyrestorationplus.com
TOPIC:
Theories of How NAD+ works: The Adenosine Hypothesis
and
The Role of NAD+ in Defense from Viruses, Such as SARS-CoV-2
James P. Watson, MD
Dr. James P. Watson is a clinical professor in the UCLA Division of Plastic Surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. He has been awarded over $1.3 million in federal grants for research in tissue engineering and biodegradable medical device research. He has started two biotechnology companies and has also been active in the study of NAD+, collaborating with Dr. Ross Grant at the University of New South Wales in Australia. Their paper on the pharmacokinetic effects of NAD+ was published in 2019. In addition to teaching, surgery, and research, Dr. Watson is the co-author of a website that educates the public on the molecular biology of aging. Anti-Aging Firewallsfeatures a six-part section on the biology of NAD+, including a discussion of cellular NAD+ synthesis, NAD+ consumption, Sirtuins (SIRT1-7), the molecular functions of NAD+ as a cofactor, PARPs, NQO1, CD38, and more. Dr. Watson will be discussing the topic of NAD+ metabolism and the physiological effects of the NAD+ metabolite, adenosine.
TOPIC:
Intranasal NAD: A New Way to Go
(Joint presentation with Patty Diblasio, MD, MDH)
David H. Workman, MD
Dr. David Workman is a graduate of the University of Utah school of medicine. He is board-certified in Family Medicine and has spent his 30 year career in family medicine, emergency medicine, and rehabilitation medicine, with a recent interest in addiction medicine. He was one of the first 4 doctors in the country to have learned to use the Sphenocath Device, and has trained many doctors and other practitioners nationwide during the past 6 years. It has previously been used for the treatment of migraines and other headache types, as well as facial pain conditions using Lidocaine primarily. He was the first to try the use of NAD+ by this method a little over a year ago, and is very excited about the potential benefits of this delivery method as a valuable tool in the hands of practitioners utilizing NAD+.
TOPIC:
Magnetic resonance-based NAD imaging for preclinical and human brain applications at ultrahigh field
Xiao-Hong Zhu, PhD
Dr. Xiao-Hong Zhu graduated from Fudan University in Shanghai, China in 1985 with a B.S. in chemistry. She came to the U.S. in 1987, obtained a PhD in chemistry from the University of Missouri-St. Louis in 1991, and completed postdoctoral training at the Magnetic Resonance Center, Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry, Yale University. She joined the Center for Magnetic Resonance Research (CMRR) at the University of Minnesota in 1994, where she focused on developing and utilizing MR imaging and spectroscopy technologies for basic biomedical research. Dr. Zhu has over 90 publications in peer-reviewed journals and became a full professor in the University of Minnesota Department of Radiology in 2018.