Kara Fitzgerald, ND, IFMCP
Dr. Kara Fitzgerald is actively engaged in clinical research on epigenetics and longevity using a DNA methylation-targeted diet and lifestyle intervention developed in her practice. The first publication from her original clinical pilot study in men, conducted by the Helfgott Research Institute, appeared in the journal Aging in April 2021. Within the eight-week intervention timeframe, the study participants reduced their biological age (as estimated by DNA methylation) by an average of over three years compared to controls, opening the possibility for the reversal of biological aging using an intervention of this kind. She has since published a follow up case series in women, which appeared in Aging in March 2023, in which participants reduced their biological age by an average of over four years compared to baseline, after a similar eight-week intervention. She has published a consumer book titled Younger You, which details the components of the intervention program, as well as a companion cookbook, Better Broths and Healing Tonics. .Kara Fitzgerald, ND, received her doctor of naturopathic medicine degree from the National University of Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon. She completed the first Counsel on Naturopathic Medicine-accredited post-doctorate position in nutritional biochemistry and laboratory science at Metametrix Clinical Laboratory under the direction of Richard Lord, PhD. Her residency was completed at Progressive Medical Center, a large, integrative medical practice in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Fitzgerald is the lead author and editor of Case Studies in Integrative and Functional Medicine and is a contributing author to Laboratory Evaluations for Integrative and Functional Medicine and the Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM)’s Textbook for Functional Medicine.