Gastrointestinal Health

Considered one of the leading experts in the treatment of gastrointestinal conditions with natural medicines, Dr. Hawrelak’s passion for gastrointestinal health, the gastrointestinal microbiota, and probiotics was ignited during the final year of his naturopathic training. Subsequently, Jason did his Honours (First Class) and PhD degrees in the areas of the gastrointestinal microbiota, irritable bowel syndrome, and the clinical applications of pre- and probiotics. He has written extensively in Australian and International textbooks and journals on these topics. Dr. Hawrelak is a naturopath, herbalist, and nutritionist with over 24 years of clinical experience. He regularly consults with patients from all over Australia and overseas who come to him for his expertise, extensive background knowledge, and experience in treating gastrointestinal conditions. It is for these same reasons that he regularly provides mentoring to other healthcare practitioners. Jason believes in the importance of ‘food as medicine’ and an individualised approach to care – using a range of skills and healing modalities, including dietary guidance, herbal medicine, nutritional supplementation, and lifestyle counselling to help patients achieve their health goals. Dr. Hawrelak has taught health professionals at both the undergraduate and postgraduate level for over 20 years. He teaches natural approaches to Gastroenterology within the University of Western States Master of Science in Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine program (Portland, Oregon). In addition, Dr. Hawrelak is Chief Research Officer at ProbioticAdvisor.com and founded the Microbiome Restoration Center. 

Dr. Nirala Jacobi is a naturopathic doctor and internationally recognized expert on small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). She is the creator of the SIBO Biphasic Diet, a resource that has helped tens of thousands of SIBO sufferers around the world. Dr Jacobi is the host of The SIBO Doctor Podcast and the founder of The SIBO Doctor, an online educational platform that includes a practitioner certification program. She is also the medical director of SIBOtest, providing innovative testing options for SIBO and IBS. Dr. Jacobi is known for her systematic and effective approach to diagnosing and treating SIBO and other functional digestive disorders. Having received her naturopathic doctorate in 1998 from the esteemed Bastyr University in Seattle, USA she brings more than two decades of clinical experience and expertise to her clinic, the Biome Clinic.

Dr. Read is a holistic GP who practices both integrative holistic medicine in private practice and as a procedural rural GP practicing both anaesthesia and emergency medicine in rural hospitals. He is an internationally renowned medical educator having taught nutritional environmental medicine at conferences in India, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand for organisations including the CSIRO, ACNEM, AIMA, MINDD and the Australasian Society of Lifestyle Medicine. His post graduate qualifications include a Master of Public Health majoring in Nutrition, a Fellowship of General Practice, Rural Medicine, and Nutritional Environmental Medicine. Dr. Read is a teaching faculty member and previous Vice President of ACNEM. His private practice focusses on complex conditions including chronic fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome, intolerances, chronic pain, mental health particularly PTSD, obesity, and endocrine conditions. He has recently moved to a farm in the Riverina where he will be running health retreats for health practitioners. His new practice All in Health will be located at the Pro Patria Centre an integrative multidisciplinary centre spread over 7 acres of an ex-monastery in Wagga Wagga, where veterans and emergency services workers can access care from art, music, horticultural therapy to transcranial magnetic stimulation, neurofeedback and hyperbaric medicine.

Dr. Michael Ruscio is a doctor, clinical researcher, and author working fervently to reform and improve the fields of functional and integrative medicine. With his clinical and research teams, he scours existing studies to inform his ongoing clinical research, patient care, and guidance for health seekers and fellow clinicians around the world. His primary focus is digestive health and its impact on other facets of health, including energy, sleep, mood, and thyroid function and optimization. Dr. Ruscio’s book, Healthy Gut, Healthy You, has paved the way for a ‘start with the gut’ philosophy that has enabled doctors and patients to see improved outcomes with minimal expense and effort. Since 2011, Dr. Ruscio has pioneered the way to providing practical, cost-effective functional medicine care by pragmatically applying evidence-based therapies to thousands of people with real symptoms. Dr. Ruscio’s ability to objectively analyze medical literature has made him a trusted voice of reason, which he shares in his top-rated podcast and blog, and in a newsletter for functional medicine practitioners.

Dr. Anil Asthana is originally from the UK. He completed his undergraduate medical degree from King’s College London in the UK and is currently a member of both the Royal College of Surgeons of England (MRCS) and the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP). He has published multiple papers in peer-reviewed journals, textbook chapters and continues his research interests with a focus on training physicians using ultrasound in both inflammatory bowel disease and functional gut disorders. In particular, he believes in holistic medicine and has a passion for advocating and educating the public and clinicians on digestive disease care. His particular areas of expertise include the brain-gut-microbiome axis, irritable bowel syndrome, food intolerances and inflammatory bowel disease (Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis). Dr. Asthana is the founding Chair for GENIUS (National Intestinal Ultrasound Committee) and is the national founding and current chair for GESA (National Gastroenterology Society) Private Practice Network. He received the prestigious VESKI award from the Victorian Government for his work on intestinal ultrasound in Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. His practice is based in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne including Cabrini Health (Hawthorn and Malvern) and Knox Private Hospital (Wantirna). He has an honorary appointment at The Royal Melbourne Hospital.