The symposium was held from April 28–30 in Bellevue, Washington. Metagenics, Inc. is a nutrigenomics and lifestyle medicine company dedicated to reducing chronic illness and improving health.

According to New England Journal of Medicine, the chronic health conditions such as high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, and heart disease that are reducing our life expectancy can be prevented, managed, and perhaps even reversed. Bland has devoted his life to helping people realize optimal health by addressing the causes of impaired metabolism and physiology, and then applying individualized responses. He has inspired many with his groundbreaking work in the fields of nutrition and nutrigenomics—the study of the effects of foods and food constituents on gene expression—and his leadership in the growing specialty of lifestyle medicine, helping people make lifestyle change to promote lifelong health and avoid chronic illness.

Considered the “Father of Functional Medicine,” Bland’s vision, brilliance, and leadership have inspired a worldwide community of clinicians, scientists, and educators to transform clinical practice and educational curricula. With a Ph.D. in biochemistry, Bland became a prominent educator for the natural foods Industry, served as President of the Northwest Academy of Preventive Medicine, and helped establish Bastyr University of Natural Health Sciences in the Northwest. In 1981 he was invited by two-time Nobel Laureate Linus Pauling to become the Director of Nutritional Supplement Analysis at the Linus Pauling Institute in Palo Alto, California. In 1984 he introduced the concept of using foods to create biochemical change, and started HealthComm, Inc. to educate physicians and other licensed healthcare providers. Jeffrey and his wife Susan established The Institute for Functional Medicine in 1991 to educate clinicians about functional medicine.  In 1993, he established the Natural Products Quality Assurance Alliance to develop the quality assurance document for the industry.

As Chief Science Officer at Metagenics, Dr. Bland developed the Scientific Advisory Board, a team of scientists, clinicians and researchers who are at the forefront of research in phytochemicals and the role of nutrition in genetic expression. His publications include four books on nutrition and health for the general public and six books for health professionals, including The Medical Applications of Clinical Nutrition. He is the principal author of more than 100 peer-reviewed research papers on nutritional biochemistry.