Thank you for attending.
For conference registrants only, recordings of each of the five sessions are now available until December 31, 2022 at this password-protected webpage:
https://nwveg.org/health-conference-2022-presentations
Conference registrants should have received an email with the password on May 25, 2022. If you lose the password, email healthconference@nwveg.org with your name and we will send the password to you.
If others who did not attend the conference wish to hear the presentations and receive continuing education credits, you can still register for the conference and view the presentations after the fact by using the registration link on this page, up until December 31, 2022.
Friday, May 20, 2022
8:30 am – 4:35 pm Pacific Daylight Time - Online Virtual Conference
2022 Faculty
Professional Presentations for Health Care Providers and the Community
The Northwest Health and Nutrition Conference is a golden opportunity for you to learn the latest information on plant-based nutrition, the effects of diet on chronic disease prevention and control, and about designing an optimum plant-based diet for patients and clients in a clinical setting. This conference is designed for healthcare professionals, offering up to 6.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ for many medical professionals, but others with strong interests in nutrition and health are welcome to attend.
Update: The conference will be held online-only in 2022
Click Here to Register
Registration: Online, streaming
$114 - Standard
$94 - Member of Supporting Organization
$49 - Student (proof of status required)
Full refund if you cancel by May 19
Can’t attend all the sessions on May 20? A recording of each session will be made available to all conference registrants through the end of 2022.
2022 Faculty Profiles
Dean Sherzai, MD, PhD, MPH, MAS, and Ayesha Sherzai, MD, MAS
As co-directors of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Program at Loma Linda University Medical Center, the Sherzais, through research and their extensive collective medical backgrounds, work to demystify the steps to achieving long-term brain health and the prevention of devastating diseases such as Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Dean Sherzai, MD, PhD, MPH, MAS, trained in neurology at Georgetown University School of Medicine, and completed fellowships in neurodegenerative diseases and dementia at the National Institutes of Health and UC San Diego. He also holds a PhD in Healthcare Leadership with a focus on community health from Andrews University.
Ayesha Sherzai, MD, is a neurologist and co-director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Program at Loma Linda University where she leads the Lifestyle Program for the Prevention of Neurological Diseases. She completed a dual training in preventative medicine and neurology at Loma Linda University, and a fellowship in vascular neurology and epidemiology at Columbia University. She is also a trained plant-based culinary artist.
teamsherzai.com @BrainHealthRevolution
Talk title: Why Focusing on the Brain is the Highest Imperative for Any Community
Michael Klaper, MD
Dr. Klaper resolutely believes that proper nutrition — through a whole food, plant-based diet — and a balanced lifestyle are essential for health and, in many cases, can make the difference between healing an illness or merely treating its symptoms.
Dr. Michael Klaper is a gifted clinician, internationally-recognized teacher, and sought-after speaker on diet and health. In addition to his clinical practice and private consultations with patients, he is a passionate and devoted educator of physicians and other healthcare professionals about the importance of nutrition in clinical practice and integrative medicine.
Dr. Klaper has produced numerous health videos, webinars and dozens of articles for both scientific journals and the popular press. As a source of inspiration advocating plant-based diets and the end of animal cruelty worldwide, Dr. Klaper contributed to the making of two PBS television programs, Food for Thought and the award-winning movie, Diet for a New America (based on the book of the same name). Dr. Klaper teaches that “Health Comes From Healthy Living” and he is dedicated to the healing and flourishing of all living beings and our planet.
Talk title: Disease Reversal Using Plant-Based Nutrition: Why It Works and How to Optimize it
Desiree Nielsen, RD
Desiree Nielsen is a registered dietitian and bestselling author of three books, including Eat More Plants (2019) and her upcoming Good For Your Gut (Penguin 2022). She is the founder of Desiree Nielsen Nutrition, a private practice and nutrition consulting firm in Vancouver, BC with a focus on chronic inflammatory and digestive disorders, and plant-based nutrition. A vocal advocate for progressive approaches to evidence-informed nutrition practice, Desiree is a past-chair of the Integrative and Functional Nutrition Network of Dietitians of Canada as well as past dietitian advisor for the Institute of Personalized Therapeutic Nutrition at UBC. A frequent contributor to local and national media, Desiree is a nutrition columnist for Maple magazine and has authored or been featured in hundreds of publications from USA Today and People magazine to The Globe and Mail and Eating Well magazine.
Desiree will be speaking on the interactions between plant-based nutrition and digestive health, including a review of the evidence on plant-based diets and digestive health outcomes. She will present an understanding of the different nutrients and components of plant-based diets that interact with digestive function and the microbiome. In addition, she will look at practice-based strategies for practitioners to identify and remedy common digestive challenges and complaints that may occur during adaptation to a whole foods plant-based diet for those with digestive conditions such as IBS.
Talk Title: Your Gut On Plants: Plant-Based Nutrition for Optimal Digestive Health
Matthew Nagra, ND
Matthew Nagra received his BSc from the University of Victoria and his ND from the Boucher Institute of Naturopathic Medicine. He has consumed a strictly plant-based diet for over 11 years, which has helped him on his own health journey, and is a tool he uses with his chronic disease patients in his practice in Vancouver, BC. He also volunteers for the non-profit NutritionFacts.org and acted as a scientific reviewer for The Proof is in the Plants by Simon Hill, MS.
As the popularity of plant-based diets continues to rise, so does pushback from those with concerns around the adequacy of such diets. In this talk, Dr. Nagra will review the data on controversial topics regarding plant-based diets, such as plant protein vs animal protein, the health effects of soy, iron deficiency risk, and bone health, so you can better understand where many of these claims come from and what the science actually says about the topics.
Talk title: Plant-Based Nutrition Myth Busting
Vivian Chen, MD
Dr. Chen is a UK doctor with 15 years of clinical experience. She is board-certified in the UK in internal medicine and family practice.
Her world turned upside down when her daughter was hospitalized soon after birth with symptoms no doctor could figure out. Through her own research, she was able to help her daughter recover. She also realized that the many years of chronic fatigue, acne, and brain fog she had were due to environmental toxicity. This opened the world of root causes she had never considered before as a conventional medical doctor.
When she moved to San Francisco, she decided to ditch her prescription pad and adopt a different paradigm of helping people.
Dr. Chen has built a large instagram platform (@plateful.health) where she shares information she wishes she had learned at medical school, and today she coaches clients back to health through nutrition, lifestyle changes, and toxin reduction.
Talk title: Environmental Toxins: A Missing Link
Special Lunchtime Cooking Demo / Break (optional - not for credit)
Join Chef Nutritionist Emily Forbes (www.loveandplants.com) for a cooking demo during our lunch break. Emily is a veteran of the NW Health & Nutrition Conference. In years past, she has spear-headed coordinating the fabulous lunches served on-site at the conference. This year join Emily in the kitchen and cook along with her, creating a delicious and nutritious, whole food, plant-based meal. Emily will be creating a Watermelon Toona Poke. If you wish to cook along with Emily during her demonstration, here is a link to the recipe, so you can procure your ingredients. Otherwise, you can sit back and enjoy your lunch while watching the cooking demonstration to learn tips for your next cooking endeavor.
Schedule (Pacific Daylight Time)
Time Presentation
8:30–8:35 am Opening Remarks
8:35–9:50 am Desiree Nielsen, RD
9:50-10:00 am Break
10:00–11:15 am Vivian Chen, MD
11:15–11:30 am Break
11:30 am–12:45 pm Matthew Nagra, ND
12:45–1:45 pm Lunch break and food preparation demonstration by Emily Forbes, starting at 1:00 pm PDT
1:45–3:00 pm Michael Klaper, MD
3:00–3:15 Break
3:15–4:30 Dean Sherzai, MD, PhD, MPH, MAS, and Ayesha Sherzai, MD, MAS
4:30–4:35 Closing Remarks
Note: the speaker order is tentative and subject to change.
Continuing Education Credits
Note: There is no additional fee to receive these credits.
MD, DO, RN, PA: This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the California Medical Association (CMA) through the joint providership of Adventist Health Ukiah Valley and Northwest VEG. Adventist Health Ukiah Valley is accredited by the CMA to provide continuing medical education for physicians. Adventist Health Ukiah Valley designates this live activity for a maximum of 6.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
RD, DTR: The Commission on Dietetic Registration, the credentialing agency of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, has approved 6.25 CPEU hours for dietitians for this conference. (Approval 170116).
ND: The Oregon Board of Naturopathic Medicine has approved 6.25 general CEUs for Naturopathic Doctors. (Approval 22-148) .
DC: The Oregon Board of Chiropractic Examiners will allow 6.25 hours of continuing education credit for Oregon DCs for nutrition instruction.
Other Health Professionals: Many credentialing bodies accept the AMA PRA Category 1 Credit for continuing education credit if the topic is appropriate to the profession or discipline. Check with your certifying or governing body to see if they will apply.
Past Conferences
2018 Conference: October 19, 2018 - Oregon Convention Center
2019 Conference: October 4, 2019 - Oregon Convention Center
2020 Conference: October 17, 2020 - Online virtual conference, due to Covid-19
Information for earlier conference, from 2010 to 2017, is not currently available on this website