ACNEM Fellows: M – R

Dr Mehmet graduated from the University of New South Wales in medicine and surgery in 1998. In 2003 he obtained a fellowship from the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. He is a fellow of the Australasian College of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine. He is an experienced general practitioner who has directed medical practices in the past. More recently he has focused his attention on integrative nutritional and environmental medicine because he believes that while mainstream medicine is effective in the treatment of acute problems , chronic problems require more of the practitioners time, are more complex and requires treatment of the whole person not just the disease. In 2017 he founded Complete Nutritional Medicine integrative and wellness clinic. He has undertaken training with: •The Australasian College of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine (ACNEM) •The Walsh Research Institute Medical Practitioner Education Program training in the Pfeiffer Protocol for autism spectrum disorders, behavior disorders, ADD/ADHD, anxiety, clinical depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and neurodegenerative disorders 2018 •The Metabolic, Immunologic, Neurologic, Digestive, Developmental (MINDD) Foundation training. •The additional training in this type of medicine is of course ongoing and Dr Mehmet is constantly upgrading his knowledge with the latest study findings.

MBBS, BPHARM, FRACGP Nicole is a medical doctor with a background in pharmacy and general practice. She has been attending nutrient/herbal seminars for over 20 years and in 2011 began to formalise her education in nutritional and environmental medicine doing courses with ACNEM, Biobalance, AIMA and various online courses. She has completed a Bachelor degree in pharmacy at Sydney University majoring in toxicology and worked as a hospital pharmacist before studying Medicine at the University of Queensland. Nicole and her family live on the Sunshine Coast. Nicole has a long-standing interest in diet lifestyle and nutrients and how these three key components can prevent and treat so many common illnesses we face. As a medical doctor, she sees that most of her patients illnesses including herself and her family, can be linked to diet, lifestyle choices and nutrient deficiencies.

B.Bus (Hons), MB.BS (Hons) (University of Sydney), DCH, PhD (University of Sydney), FRACGP, FACNEM. Wan Yi graduated from Sydney Medical School at the University of Sydney in 2002. She spent a few years working in the hospital before completing her PhD “Identifying Novel Genes in Ocular Diseases” at the Children’s Medical Research Institute in 2014. She completed her Fellowship with the Royal Australian College of General Practitioner in 2016. In 2010, through her own health journey, she was introduced to ACNEM by her naturopath. After achieving noticeable improvement in her own wellbeing and becoming increasingly frustrated as a GP where she witnessed minimal or no improvement in some of her patients, Wan Yi attended her first conference with ACNEM in 2015. That first conference gave her an insight into the science behind nutritional and environmental medicine and its effects on dis-eases and health outcomes (it blew her mind really!). It completely changed the way she practised medicine. Wan Yi believes in seeing the patient as a whole individual, not as a disease process and through listening to their stories, understand where they are today. She also empowers them through knowledge. Wan Yi sees patients of all demographics and has an interest in Children’s Health, Women’s Health and Adrenal/Thyroid conditions. When she is not busy studying or reading, you can find her pottering around her veggie patch, spending time with her 2 young children and husband, crafting or learning the classical flute. She is currently practising in the South Coast of NSW.

M.D, FRACGP, FACNEM, FASLM, B Min Co-director of Queensland Integrative Medicine Specialist Integrative Physician/GP (FRACGP) and Board Certified Lifestyle Medicine Physician Cecilia is passionate about helping her patients live happier and healthier lives by looking at the root causes of their health concerns and looking at ways to optimize their health. She has many years of clinical experience and she has been a speaker in Women’s Conferences, Family Education Events, and Panel Speaker at Health Q&A Forums. Qualifications: Doctor of Medicine (MD) Fellow, Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (FRACGP), Fellow, Australasian College of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine (FACNEM), Board Certified Lifestyle Medicine Physician, International Board of Lifestyle Medicine (IBLM) Fellow, Australasian Society of Lifestyle Medicine (FASLM). Other degrees: Bachelor of Science major in Biology, Saint Louis University, Philippines and Bachelor of Ministry (B Min), Christian Heritage College, Brisbane She is a lifelong learner and continues to attend conferences and seminars particularly in Integrative Medicine. She has attended the Nutritional assessment with the Australasian Institute of Medical Nutrition (AIMN), Genostics, MINDD Foundation, Personalized Lifestyle Medicine Institute (PLMI) USA and many others. In 2015-2019 she trained under Dr William Walsh, Dr Judith Bowman and Dr Albert Mensah (Walsh Research Institute, USA) through Biobalance, Australia, in managing Mental Illness with Nutrients. In 2016-17 she also trained under Dr Elizabeth Mumper and Dr Nancy O’Hara (Integrative Paediatricians from USA) who are specialists in the Biomedical management of children with Behavioral and Learning Disorders. In 2019 – 2020 she trained face to face and online under Dr Cindy Schneider, USA Specialist in Biomedical management of children with Behavioural and Learning Disorders. She has continued to update her skills in 2021 with the Australian Panelists in this field.

Marie works both as an integrative GP and a somatic psychotherapist. Her deep-seated interest in finding the root cause of disease has led her to study many modalities and undergone deep enquiry into the mind-body connection. She attended the University of New South Wales where she pursued a double degree in Medicine and Arts, majoring in sociology and philosophy. From this early foundation, she grasped how fundamentally our mental-spiritual-emotional health impacts on our physical well-being. She went on to formally train in a mindfulness-based, body-oriented psychotherapy and treats both individuals and couples. She is committed to providing a nurturing and safe environment to compassionately explore what makes us who we are and what gets in the way of reaching for the kind of life that will bring most meaning and satisfaction. Her areas of special interest include digestive health, endocrine health, women's health, general health and body-oriented psychotherapy.

MBBS (Qld), FRACGP, DRANZCOG (Advanced), Grad Dip Rural GP, FARGP, FACNEM Dr Barb has lived and worked in Gladstone Central Queensland since 1998. During that time, while looking after hundreds of pregnant ladies and delivering their babies and watching them grow, she became intrigued by the developmental origins of health and disease and came to an understanding that true preventative health lies in changing the environment in which we grow and develop, right from preconception through to old age. Had it not been for her own health challenges which were not responding well to prescribed treatment, she would probably still be unaware of the critical role nutrition and environment play in maintaining good health. Fortunately for Dr Barb, and her patients, those challenges were the catalyst for her to decide to learn more about these issues, and she attended her first Nutritional and Environmental Medicine conference in 2011. The term “environment” is all encompassing, meaning not only the physical environment (pollutants etc) but the nutritional, psycho-social and microbial environment. Humans live in a symbiotic relationship with their environment, and ill- health is often a product of a damaged environment. This is reflected in the burgeoning diseases of affluence – obesity, autoimmune, allergic, cardiovascular diseases, and malignancies. It is difficult to distance oneself from all the potential harms, so to be pragmatic, Dr Barb encourages her patients to start with achievable targets and work toward those. A General Practitioner has a privileged role in being privy to people’s most private thoughts, fears, hopes and dreams. From a doctor’s point of view, much of the joy of medical practice comes when the doctor has helped a patient successfully negotiate a health challenge. More and more, the traditional disease model, which works well for Trauma Care and Infectious Disease, is failing patients with multi-system, multi symptom disorders. This is why Dr Barb decided to learn about Nutritional and Environmental Medicine strategies for her patients. Perhaps there is no cure for that particular dis-ease, but much of the time NEM is able to help people feel better. Health, as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), is “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” Dr Barb strives to help her patients work toward this goal.

Dr Suzanne Perera graduated in Medicine with honours from University of New South Wales in 1991. She then went on to complete a Fellowship of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners in 1995. Dr Perera has spent over 25 years working in General Practice where she has gained extensive experience in all fields of conventional medicine. Having always had a keen interest in diet, lifestyle and preventative medicine and a desire to delve deeper into chronic health conditions Dr Perera completed training with ACNEM and was awarded a Fellowship of the College in 2020. She now practices as a General Practitioner that specialises in Integrative Medicine. She practices holistic care with an examination of the interactions between the body, mind and the environment. She has also undertaken Mental health training with Biobalance and the Mindd foundation. Dr Perera practices in the leafy Sutherland Shire suburb of Alfords Point. Her interest areas include the holistic management of Women’s health problems, Children’s health including behavioural problems, hormonal issues including thyroid problems, mental health, gut health, environmental exposures, metabolic issues, fatigue and chronic illness.

Dr Catriona Quinn is a wholistic medical practitioner, focusing on Nutritional and Environmental Medicine to help people towards enjoyment of better health, wellbeing and happiness. Cat loves to work collaboratively with patients motivated to improve health and lifestyle for themselves and their families. Cat’s specialty areas include gut health, mental health, family medicine – women, children, men and elderly, thyroid and other endocrine issues, and she enjoys a challenge. Cat also enjoys Emergency Medicine and works in the Byron Central Hospital Emergency Department. She is an extremely diligent, and very caring doctor (and a great detective) and her perseverance and support has helped many people improve their quality of life.

Dr Jaimini qualified as a medical doctor from St Mary’s Hospital Medical School, London University in 1982 and has been a medical practitioner of Family and Integrative Medicine for the last 30 years. Dr. Jaimini Raniga applies a multidisciplinary approach to health and wellness, integrating the best of conventional and complementary health care modalities. Her special interests are Integrative medicine, Lifestyle medicine, Functional medicine and Preventive medicine. Dr Jaimini’s conviction that a more personalised approach to treating and resolving medical problems and illness has culminated in a unique, integrated health and wellness programme that draws on the many techniques she has learned over the last 22 years, viz. Nutritional and Environmental Medicine, Lifestyle Medicine, Natural Bio-identical hormones, Ayurveda, Unani-Tibb Medicine, Homeopathy, Cold Laser Therapy and the Bowen Therapeutic Technique.