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https://wholesomebrainmedicine.com/

Wholesome Brain Medicine, 1239 Scott Street, San Diego, CA (2026)

03/02/2026

This moment changed the trajectory of my career…

Almost eight years ago, I sat in a lecture about maternal immune activation with a three-month-old at home… and active autoimmunity in my own body.

No one had ever connected those dots for me before.

Here’s what the research shows:
When a mother’s immune system is chronically activated (whether from autoimmune disease, infection, metabolic issues, or other causes) pro-inflammatory cytokines like IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α increase.

Those cytokines cross the placenta.
And during critical windows of brain development, they can:

👉Activate fetal microglia
👉Alter neuronal migration
👉Disrupt synapse formation
👉Shift neurodevelopment trajectory

Maternal immune activation (MIA) is one of the most extensively studied prenatal environmental risk factors associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

But there’s a more specific layer that many have never heard of…

A subset of mothers produce IgG autoantibodies that bind specific fetal brain proteins. Because maternal IgG crosses the placenta beginning in the late first trimester, these antibodies can interact with the developing brain.

This pathway is referred to in the literature as maternal autoantibody–related autism (MAR autism).

In published research cohorts, specific combinations of these antibodies have shown very high specificity for mothers of children with autism.

The MARAbio assay reports ~99% specificity for the defined antibody patterns studied, representing an estimated ~20% subtype of autism.

Specificity does not mean inevitability. It means that when these antibody patterns are present, they are rarely seen in mothers of neurotypical children within research populations.

This represents a measurable prenatal risk pathway.

We are now collaborating with a California provider offering MARAbio testing for women who want to assess for these brain-directed autoantibodies before or between pregnancies.

If you’re located in California and would like to schedule a discovery call, comment DISCOVER below and I’ll send details.

Follow for conversations that examine the full picture like immune signaling, genetics, inflammation, and the developing brain.

02/16/2026

When people hear “biomedical medicine” in the autism space, it’s often misunderstood.

This is not about chasing a cure. 
And it’s not about blaming parents.

Biomedical medicine asks a different question:

What is happening physiologically in this child’s body that could be contributing to the behaviors we’re seeing?

That includes looking at things like: -inflammation -immune activation -gut–brain signaling -metabolic and mitochondrial function -nutrient status and detox pathways

For some children, addressing these underlying contributors can make a meaningful difference in:
 -emotional regulation -sleep -attention -sensory processing - & overall quality of life

Autism is complex. 
Which means care should be thoughtful, individualized, and rooted in biology…

not assumptions.

If you’re a parent trying to understand why certain symptoms show up the way they do and what might be influencing them, this is the lens I use in my work.

Follow along if you want science-based explanations, without fear, pressure, or oversimplification.

01/20/2026

Comment “VEP” below to learn how to make vaccine decisions based on risk, timing, and your child.

Ever wonder how the same vaccine schedule can lead to very different outcomes for different children?

Because in medicine, outcomes are shaped by risk, benefit, and timing.
We don’t prescribe medications at the same dose, on the same timeline, just because patients share an age.

And vaccines shouldn’t be exempt from that same clinical reasoning.

The vaccine schedule wasn’t created all at once.

It was built gradually over decades as a population-level strategy, adding vaccines when certain diseases were common and widely circulating.

What happens far less often is reassessing urgency as disease prevalence and exposure risk change.

Some diseases are now extremely rare in the U.S.
Others are most dangerous only during very specific windows of childhood.

Clinically, that matters.

For example:

-Polio hasn’t been endemic in the U.S. since 1979; so while protection still matters, the immediate risk today looks very different than it once did.

-Hepatitis A is often mild or asymptomatic in young children, with more severe disease occurring later which can allow flexibility based on exposure.

-Pertussis, on the other hand, carries the highest risk in early infancy (over 60%), with risk dropping significantly by age one.

Two things can be true at the same time:

✔ Vaccines can play an important role and
✔ Every medical intervention carries risk.

And...good medicine doesn’t ignore either.👏

It weighs both and individualizes decisions for the child in front of us.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed trying to make sense of all of this, you don’t have to do it alone.
Right now, the Vaccine Empowerment Program is 50% off but only until 1/22.

It’s designed to help parents understand risk, timing, and options without fear or pressure.
Comment VEP below and I’ll send you the details.

01/12/2026

The MAR-Autism (MARAbio) test identifies a biologically defined subtype of autism known as Maternal Autoantibody-Related Autism (MARA).

In MARA, a mother produces IgG autoantibodies during pregnancy that target specific fetal brain proteins involved in neuronal development, synapse formation, and cortical organization. These antibodies can cross the placenta and interfere with brain development during critical windows.

This subtype has been associated with: 👉Higher likelihood of more severe autism presentations 👉Greater challenges with language, cognition, and adaptive functioning 👉A distinct immune-mediated developmental mechanism, not behavioral or environmental alone

This is not a diagnostic test for autism — it is a risk-stratification and mechanistic test that helps identify why autism may have developed in a subset of children.

Why this matters: ✅It moves autism out of a one-size-fits-all framework ✅It helps identify children whose autism has a prenatal immune origin ✅It informs clinical expectations, research-guided care, and future pregnancy planning

This is precision medicine for neurodevelopment — identifying biology, so we can better support these kids.

👉 Comment MARAbio if you’re interested in using this test.

01/07/2026

My quick thoughts on CDC vaccine schedule changes….

Age is not the only determinant of risk.

Recent updates to the childhood vaccine schedule reflect an established principle of medicine:
 👉 chronological age alone does not capture biological variability.

Children differ in: • Immune system maturity • Genetic and epigenetic factors • Prior inflammatory or infectious burden • Environmental exposures • Neurodevelopmental vulnerability

Assuming identical risk based on age alone oversimplifies a complex biological reality.

This shift represents progress toward precision medicine—not a departure from science.

It allows for: • Individualized risk–benefit assessment • Clinician judgment alongside population data • Appropriate timing based on the child’s health status • Meaningful informed consent • Parents participating as active decision-makers

Informed consent requires understanding—not just compliance.
This framework doesn’t undermine public health goals.
 It strengthens them by aligning recommendations with individual biology.
The objective remains unchanged: ✔ protect children ✔ minimize adverse outcomes ✔ support healthy development

One-size-fits-all was a population tool. Individualized care is the clinical standard.

09/26/2025

I’ve spent the last few days searching for the right words—words that honor both the complexity of this moment and the families who trust me with their most precious gifts.

The internet may be ablaze with debate, but beneath the noise, we’re united by something deeper: our shared commitment to the health and flourishing of the autism community, and our drive to understand the intricate dance between genetics and environment that shapes how our children develop.

As a doctor walking alongside families through biomedical approaches, I’ve never had the privilege of waiting for textbook certainty. Because waiting isn’t just academic—it’s a child’s window of opportunity closing. It’s a family’s hope deferred. It’s potential left unrealized.

Yes, the science is complex, sometimes contradictory, always evolving. But complexity isn’t an excuse for complacency. It demands something harder: the careful application of clinical wisdom, deep humility, and unwavering compassion as we pursue safe, evidence-informed paths toward healing.

What I witness in my practice leaves me in awe daily. I don’t speak from personal experience with autism, but it has become the work that defines me. These children and their families have shown me that love isn’t just an emotion- it’s fierce determined action. I don’t claim to have every answer, but I promise this: I will never stop learning, questioning, researching, and fighting for every child that walks through my door.

Here’s what I know to be true: families see their children clearly. When they tell me certain symptoms aren’t “just autism” but signs of underlying imbalances that can be addressed, I listen. Because this isn’t unique to autism—it’s the human condition. ADHD, anxiety, depression, diabetes, heart disease—every diagnosis represents the complex interplay between who we are genetically and the world we inhabit.

Our calling is to meet each person with radical acceptance and unconditional love—while having the courage to pursue every avenue that might ease their struggles and unlock their potential.

❤️❤️❤️

07/17/2025

🍽️ Picky eating can feel impossible to change. You want to help your child eat better, but the reality hits hard: “They literally won’t eat anything else.”

I sit with parents all the time who feel completely stuck. You’re caught between wanting better nutrition for your kid and knowing that even mentioning a new food triggers meltdowns, anxiety, or flat-out refusal.

But I’ve also worked with families whose kids went from living on Cheetos and Doritos to actually thriving on whole foods. 🥗 Not because it suddenly got easy. Not because their child woke up loving vegetables. But because we figured out what was happening in their body that was making food feel so rigid and scary and the parents were persistent in their efforts.

There’s no magic bullet here. It takes time, patience, and honestly—a lot of support. But when we address what’s going on with the gut, the brain, the immune system, and approach feeding with real compassion—things actually start to shift.

🍽️ Real change happens. Your child’s relationship with food can get better.

You’re not doing this alone, and there’s always something we can try next.

👇 If this hits home, drop a ❤️ to let others know they’re not alone and share your favorite tip!

07/10/2025

My 7+ year breastfeeding journey has officially come to an end.

For 2,631 consecutive days (minus 3 for a conference), I breastfed one or both of my children—day and night.

It’s hard to put into words what I’m feeling. A swirl of emotions: grief over the end of an incredibly special connection… gratitude for a body that carried me through… and profound awe at the gift of being able to nourish my children in a way that so many cannot—not for lack of desire, but because of challenges outside their control.

Breastfeeding wasn’t always easy, but it was powerful.

As a clinician who studies neurodevelopment, I’ve long known what the research says: Breastmilk isn’t “just food.” It’s neurological input. It’s immune signaling. It’s emotional regulation.
🧠 It fuels myelination. 🛡 It trains the immune system. 🤍 It co-regulates the stress response.

So in honor of this chapter closing, I want to share some of what I wish more people knew:
👉 That human milk doesn’t expire at 12 months.
👉 That it evolves with your child.
👉 That it’s immunologically active, neurologically protective, and emotionally regulating long after babyhood ends.

🙏 To every breastfeeding mother—whether your journey lasted 2 days or 2,000—you are doing incredible work. Your body is wise. Your intuition is real. Your effort matters.

🤗Send this to a breastfeeding mama you know, and let her know she’s doing incredible work!

07/09/2025

When the CDC says the DTaP vaccine is “100% effective,” it sounds like total protection. But that figure only applies to a very specific definition—preventing pertussis illness that lasts 21 days or more, and only during the first year after completing all 5 doses.

In reality, breakthrough infections can and do happen.

📊 According to the CDC’s 2024 pertussis surveillance report, the majority of children aged 6 months to 6 years who got pertussis—and whose vaccine status was known—had completed the primary DTaP series. 👉That means even fully vaccinated children can still get sick, especially as immunity wanes over time.
👉By 5 years post-vaccine, protection drops to about 70%, which helps explain why outbreaks continue—even in well-vaccinated communities.
👉And for families wondering about doing just 1 or 2 doses? Unfortunately, the CDC doesn’t offer clear U.S. data on how effective that is.

That’s why and I created the Vaccine Empowerment Program (VEP)—to help you:
✅Understand what vaccine efficacy really means
✅Support your child’s immune system before and after shots
✅Make confident, personalized decisions backed by science—not fear

✨ Comment “VEP” to get 50% off through midnight tonight and join hundreds of families already making empowered, informed choices.

07/09/2025

“Should I vaccinate? Delay? Decline?” We’ve been there too.

and I have navigated this same decision-making process as parents—looking at the data, weighing the risks, and asking hard questions like: ➡️ What am I optimizing for? ➡️ What’s my child’s individual susceptibility? ➡️ How do I protect their neurodevelopment—regardless of what I choose?

We weren’t satisfied with one-size-fits-all recommendations. But we also knew fear-based decisions weren’t the answer either.
That’s why we created the Vaccine Empowerment Program (VEP)—a comprehensive, science-informed resource to help you:
🦠Understand the real risks of each illness we vaccinate for 🧬 Identify which kids may be more vulnerable to vaccine reactions—and why 🗓️ Build an individualized, thoughtful approach to timing and support 💪 Learn how to prep, buffer, and recover if you do choose to vaccinate

This is about nuance. About protecting your child’s health both from illness and from overwhelm. And about having confidence in the path you choose.

💬 Comment “VEP” to join the Vaccine Empowerment Program—now 50% off for a limited time.

07/07/2025

Let’s talk about something that often gets missed in post-vaccine conversations: 
It’s not just about what went in—it’s about how the immune system responds. And in sensitive kids, that response can ripple far beyond the injection site.

❗️Vaccines work by activating the immune system—this is expected and necessary.
 But for some children with underlying neuroimmune vulnerability, that activation can tip into neuroinflammation.

Here’s what research shows: ➡️ Immune signaling molecules—IL-1B, TNF-alpha, IL-6—can spike during this immune activation ➡️ These cytokines increase blood-brain barrier permeability. ➡️ The chemokine CCL2 (also called MCP-1) acts like a beacon, drawing immune cells toward the brain ➡️ And here’s where it gets interesting: aluminum adjuvants can hitch a ride on immune cells—crossing the blood-brain barrier via this “Trojan horse” mechanism.
Once inside, immune cells and cytokines can activate microglia, the brain’s innate immune cells.
 Microglia play a crucial role in shaping synaptic connections and neurodevelopment—especially in early childhood.

So while we can’t say immune activation causes altered neurodevelopment in every case, we do know this sequence is plausible, biologically active, and repeatedly observed in the literature on autism, PANS/PANDAS, and other neurodevelopmental conditions.

The takeaway?
🧠 The goal isn’t to “detox” the vaccine. The goal is to support a balanced, regulated immune response—especially in kids whose neuroimmune systems are already working overtime.
Inside the Vaccine Empowerment Program, I break down exactly how to do that: ✔️ Before vaccines ✔️ In the days after ✔️ And when deeper support is warranted

Comment VEP below and I’ll send you the details (50% off for a limited time).

Because understanding the immune system’s role in brain development changes everything about how we care for our kids.

06/14/2025

I still remember the morning I knew.

Not as a doctor this time, but as a mom. The shift was subtle at first—then unmistakable. Where there used to be patience, now there were quick tears. Joy seemed harder to reach. The clinical part of my brain knew what I was seeing. But the mother in me felt something break.

Encephalitis isn’t just a word in a medical chart. It’s watching your child slip away while they’re standing right in front of you. It’s the raw emotions that seem to come from nowhere. It’s the meltdowns over things that never mattered before, and the sadness that settles in their eyes.

In my office, I see the same distress in parents’ eyes —the one that asks, “Will I ever get them back?”

Whether it’s a loss of joy and peace, new tic, a dramatic shift in behavior, or even a loss in eye contact and words—the child you’re grieving isn’t gone. They’re just asking for support.🙏

Sitting with parents in this space, helping them hold the weight of what’s been lost, is one of the most sacred parts of the work I do. And lately, it’s been on my heart to speak this truth more openly... Because this is far more common than most realize.

You are not alone in this heartbreak. ❤️And the light you see inside them? It’s still there. Never stop holding onto that hope. Because your belief, your presence, and your fight—that’s what helps bring them back.

Wholesome Brain Medicine

03/02/2026

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