Dr. Melissa Barber

04/10/2026

Balancing being a dedicated clinician and contributing to research to advance patient care is quite the feat! It was inspiring (and reassuring:) to be with others who are doing it.🤝

The conference this year was full tilt!📈 I started with sunrise yoga before 7am and was in sessions/events late into the evening x4 days- so fun! 🌅🌙

Advancing the ways we approach pain and actually treating it has been my mission. I'm so honored to have received the award for Best Research Presentation in collaboration with Drs. Terry Manning and Rahul Desai. 🏆

​A huge congratulations to for being the first ND to receive the IROM certification! Many notable awards given, Lifetime Achievement to 👏👏👏

Stoked to be in this medicine and genuinely work to get patients better 💓

Thanks to for being on Dad Duty ❤️

01/01/2026

09/24/2025

Hi! It's time I introduce myself 👋💓

✨️ Dr. Melissa S. Barber, ND, MSc, E-RYT 500, NTP
I help patients move beyond symptom management to true healing. 🌿

I take a whole-person, multi-system approach🔍—connecting the constellation of symptoms to diagnose and treat root causes 🧩 so you can restore function, return to activity🤸‍♀️, and live with vitality🌟

Clinical Focus:
• Musculoskeletal pain + sports performance 🏋🏽‍♀️
• Hormone, immune & gut health 💓
• Cardiometabolic + neurological conditions (incl. migraine)🧠
• Healthy aging & longevity medicine (incl. MHT)🌻

In addition to conventional & integrative testing & treatment, Restorative Therapies I Offer:
💉 Trigger point + ultrasound-guided regenerative injections (PRP, prolotherapy)
🧍🏾‍♂️ Traction therapy
👐 Craniosacral & visceral manipulation
🫶 Soft tissue + yoga therapy
💡 Red light therapy
💧 IV nutrient therapy

✨ I am:
🧬 Evidence-informed | 🎯 Results-driven | ❤️ Patient-centered | 🌍 Bilingual (English + Español)

With nearly 20 years in healthcare — from 🔬 research at institutions like the NIH to 🌱 service in the Peace Corps & community clinics, to 🩺 integrative clinical care — I bring science, heart, and innovation💡 together to address the chronic pain epidemic🌀 and beyond.

Come see me in person 🏫 or virtually💻 at Wild Oak Medicine!

07/15/2025

I had the distinct pleasure of presenting at the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians (AANP) Convention in Palm Springs on "A novel autologous orthobiologic procedure for cervical spondylosis with degenerative disc disease: A retrospective chart review". I am all about advancing treatment for musculoskeletal pain including arthritis (or spondylosis) of the spine! Shout out to Dr. Terry Manning for his collaboration.

This year marked the 40th anniversary of the - it was amazing to be with the ND Clan who is so heart- and patient-centered - true stewards of supporting whole person health for global communities. My dear friends and colleagues .chris.holder at , as well as Dr. LaDeana Jean, who spearhead were honored as Physicians of the Year for their dedication to serving first responders involved in natural disasters. Firefighters/first responders selflessly serve our communities and experience high levels of toxic exposures. It is time they have treatment options to mitigate their risk for health conditions such as cancer.

Shout out to my sister-in-law and niece .huber0 for helping with Gabriel - Dr. Mom/Dr. Parents is so hard without help!

03/23/2022

First JAMA publication in the books 😁 A letter to the editor 📄 providing critical feedback on a negative platelet-rich plasma (PRP) for ankle osteoarthritis trial🦶. Post-publication peer review is SO important and can impact decisions made in clinical practice🩺.



Barber MS, Manning T, Desai R. Platelet-Rich Plasma Injections vs Placebo for Patients With Ankle Osteoarthritis. JAMA. 2022 Feb 22;327(8):777-779. doi: 10.1001/jama.2021.24751. PMID: 35191931.

03/02/2022

TEDx event coming up!! My sister-in-law, Dr. Jacqueline Kerr, will be delivering a talk on "Using Behavior Science to Dismantle the Causes of Burnout" this Saturday 3/5/22 at 11:20 ET. If you are interested in registering for the virtual event ($25), please follow this link, https://www.tedxmcmaster.ca/events/tickets
😁🧡

01/14/2022

I figured it's time to share this article😊 I've been behind the scenes working on some papers and this is one of them📃- most notable is the well-referenced treatment protocol (table 3) and the discussion section. Some considerations for COVID-19 management...

Please note this is an observational study, therefore no conclusions can be made about cause/effect. And, this is not medical advice, please see your healthcare provider🩺

PMID: 34748955

Full text article available:

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34748955/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965229921001291

In this retrospective chart review, a multi-nutrient, herbal, and probiotic therapeutic approach for mild and moderate COVID-19 appeared to be well-tolerated. Delay in seeking treatment after symptom onset, as well as more symptoms at presentation, were correlated with a longer duration of illness.....

07/05/2021

Yumm!!😋 Happy 4th!🇺🇸 Hope you're enjoying some tasty food. Bacon🥓 doesn't have to give you a guilt trip😉, esp if eaten on occasion, slowly cooked (and not crispy) and paired with avo avocado 🥑 and dark leafy greens 🥬 including bitter greens like dandelion. Might as well throw in some oregano straight from the garden🌱with that bacon, it really does grow like a w**d. And some garden grown basil... chives... Balance the bacon with the greens😁

07/02/2021

Bachelor of Science (BS) in Biology, Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Spanish, Minor in Chemistry, yoga and nutritional therapy training, Master of Science (MSc) in Integrative Medicine Research👩🏽‍🎓, and now Doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine (ND)👩🏽‍⚕️ Throw in working in various facets of research🔬, the Peace Corps in Peru 🇵🇪, other service and you'll find myself in my mid-30s. I wouldn't have it any other way. I am committed to becoming a well-versed and seasoned clinician and I know the learning game continues every single day📚. I love what I've been doing and what I get to do. I love naturopathic medicine: patient-centered, individualized care that offers many tools to patients and supports co-decision making with patients. I'll finish up this summer (I took a leave of absence last summer due to the impact of the pandemic on in-person clinical training) and will soon be Dr. Melissa Barber ❤ Thinking about going by "Dr. Bliss" (combo of my 1st and last name), TBD 😉

🌈❤️💗💜💛💚💙

05/07/2021

I sat in the garden🌱 and ate my breakfast🍳 and my body thanked me. Eating is a parasympathetic process which I constantly remind patients (and myself 😉) about. If we are busy, stressed, distracted... digestion doesn't go so well, as we are in sympathetic mode.

The sympathetic division of the automomic nervous system, the "fight or flight" mode, diverts blood to our skeletal muscle, releases cortisol to increase blood sugar levels, and gets us ready to mobilize🏃🏽‍♀️. Therefore, blood is diverted away from digestive organs (and reproductive organs), salivary👅, pancreatic, and gastric secretions slow, and peristalsis/the migrating motor complex (MMC) doesn't function optimally.

Being in a parasympathetic mode, or the "rest and digest" state, while eating is step 1 to facilitate digestion and absorption of nutrients🥑. I think eating outside/in the garden🌻 can definitely facilitate entering a parasympathetic state.😊