Although originally having no aspirations to work in medicine, Dr. Lisa Price, ND found that a move to the Pacific NW would be the beginning of a journey to becoming a Naturopathic Doctor and Author on a mission to educate cancer patients on nutrition during treatment. 

Lisa, you began your career as a research scientist in Environmental Microbiology and Biochemistry.  How and when did that change for you?

When I arrived in Seattle, I was intrigued that so many people were using alternative medical therapies, and I was fascinated by the underlying philosophy of “find and treat the cause”, not the symptom.

As a scientist I wanted to know if they worked. My objective in becoming a Naturopathic Doctor was to become a research scientist that explored this question of efficacy so I enrolled in and was accepted to Bastyr University, and waited for the National Institutes of Health to find me and give me a grant which did happen, just not as fast as I wanted it to. After practicing about seven years, I was awarded an NIH Research Fellowship in 2005.

Talk about the power of intentional thinking!  What research did you do?

I studied the effects of a natural product on the immune systems of healthy women and those affected by breast cancer. My grant finished in 2010, and I was asked to join a prestigious clinic that delivers complementary cancer care within conventional institutions around Puget Sound area.

Since then I have taken an interest in the use of specific food during cancer treatment to help decrease side effects and increase quality of life during conventional cancer treatment. 

I co-authored a book entitled “Cooking through Cancer Treatment to Recovery” that was published by Demos Health Inc., NYC (http://amzn.to/1vvN8n).

Nutrition during cancer treatment is my passion and expertise and I am currently a monthly health contributor on a local radio show (KKNW; New Urban Unlimited).

What are your Business Goals?

My business goals are to supply the best care for each patient I see, and to direct them to the most appropriate and safe adjunctive care professionals during treatment and beyond.

Ultimately, I would like to see that cancer, and cancer treatment is a quick blink in time in their lives, and that they regain control over their lives through the implementation of dietary and lifestyle changes, and some key supplementation.

What Motto Best Describes Your Approach to Your Work?

“Be inspired to be well!”

What is Your Inspiration? 

My inspirations that keep me in the line of business are my patients, and the fact that there is

so much education to be done. There are so many therapies/nutrition that can help patients during this very hard time – I’ve seen them working, and many therapies are supported via clinical and basic science studies. 

What are some of the Lessons You’ve Learned?

Keep going. Keep going. Gather information before reacting, regroup and clarify what YOUR personal objective is. Keep your eye on that objective, and be clear. If you have to jump, then jump into that leap of faith with that clarity. But keep going!

What Legacy Would You Like to Leave Behind?

I would like to continue to support the movement that food is medicine, food effect health, and food is choice. We have a powerful ally in nutrition and food. Due to media and conventional agricultural practices much of our food and food choices are contributing to chronic and serious health conditions. 

The good news is that can be reversed though the choices we make. We can even reverse many commonly diagnosed medical conditions via specific food choices! This isn’t easy, especially because each of us has our own special relationship with food that is very intimate, but nutritional changes are not impossible and they don’t have to be enormous or expensive to make a difference.