About Debra Heald
Dr. Heald was born and raised in Calgary. Her healthcare career began in 1979, when she trained as a registered nurse. Her area of specialty in nursing was focused primarily in Emergency Medicine but included several years in community based medicine as well. After 18 years she switched professions and worked as a financial consultant for 6 years. Having developed a full understanding of stress, she then pursued her lifelong dream of practicing medicine. In 2008, she graduated from the Boucher Institute of Naturopathic Medicine, a fully accredited naturopathic medical school in Vancouver, BC.
She has always had an in-depth understanding and great respect for conventional medicine but is passionate about Functional and Integrative medicine. Delving in to biochemistry is her favorite part of solving health riddles! When the body is returned to its ideal environment, it is able to heal itself. The key to maintaining or restoring health is through the microbial inhabitants in our gut! Dr. Heald is working in the field of microbiome and nutritional research in Silicon Valley with VIOME inc.
Dr. Heald has travelled across North America lecturing to healthcare professionals on detoxification and lifestyle medicine. She achieved her fellowship in Functional and restorative Medicine in 2012.
She is board certified in acupuncture and minor surgery, as well as being certified in intravenous therapy, advanced cardiac life support, chelation therapy, neural therapy, ozone therapy, and prolotherapy and has prescriptive rights in California.
Dr. Heald served as a board member of the College of Naturopathic Doctors of Alberta from 2011-2014, chaired the competence committee and was formerly an advisor to the quality assurance committee to the College of Naturopathic Physicians of BC, as well as being a member of the American College for the Advancement of Medicine, the Institute for Functional Medicine and the American Academy of Anti-aging Medicine. She served as an advisor on the customer council for Metagenics Inc. Dr. Heald is currently licensed in the state of California.
Dr. Heald raised three amazing children and now loves to travel with her husband. She has one marathon to her credit but prefers interval training and Ashtanga yoga.
