PRACTITIONER TRAINING

Calling all doctors, naturopaths, nurses, nutritionists, chiropractors, health coaches and dedicated clinicians to help heal Australia! 

Mindd Foundation is teaming up with the Medical Academy of Pediatric and Special Needs (MAPS) to provide top training in personalised, precision healthcare that tackles the root cause of complex chronic conditions including digestive and autoimmune diseases, mitochondrial dysfunction, neurodevelopmental and neurological disorders, mood and heart conditions and Post Acute Infection Syndrome (PAIS). 

The epidemic in chronic illness threatens the economic and social stability of Australia with over 50% of children and adults affected.

MIF 2025 Speakers

MIF25 speakers are global leaders in Integrative healthcare and will present on a range of effective therapies based on the latest research.

Empower Your Community to Reverse Chronic Illness Trends

Learn about advanced in-clinic practices and therapies from expert clinicians

Explore the latest scientific research in integrative and functional healthcare

Empower patients and communities to reverse chronic illness trends

Earn CPE Points and get listed in 2 directories

Improve patient outcomes by focusing on root cause, personalized healthcare

Connect with like-minds and build networks for ongoing support

Discover the latest in testing, therapies, supplements and tools from vetted companies

Join an international movement dedicated to unbiased healthcare and optimal patient outcomes

Medical Academy of Paeadiatrics & Special Needs

The MAPS Training and Fellowship offers certified clinicians an evidence-based, Integrative Medicine approach for the treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders and complex chronic illness in children.

MAPS Training is accredited for Continuing Education credits.

Mindd Practitioner Training provides in depth training in the effective treatment of complex chronic illness using a range of Integrative modalities including Functional healthcare, energy medicine, muscular-skeletal care and a range of neuro and natural therapies.

Certified Practitioners receive listing at mindd.org

Earn Continuing Education Credits and a Practitioner Listing while Connecting with and Supporting a Community Committed to Patient-Focused Healthcare

The Mindd International Forum is back and in person,

celebrating 20 years of Practitioner Training and CommUnity Education!

VENUE

Mindd International Forum, Sydney, 2025

International Convention Centre, Darling Harbour.
May 1st – 3rd, 2025.

Mindd Foundation is excited to be hosting our 20th year anniversary celebration at the International Convention Center (ICC), Sydney! Located on Darling Harbour’s waterfront in the heart of Sydney, the ICC is ideally situated to help guests enjoy all that the city has to offer including convenient access to all of its most vibrant neighborhoods. 

Barangaroo, the emerging world-class dining and retail precinct, is only a 20-minute harbourside walk away.  Just beyond, The Rocks, a collection of colonial laneways and one of Sydney’s oldest neighborhoods, is home to Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art and is just across from the iconic Sydney Opera House. Galleries, theatres, and some of Australia’s best restaurants are all within walking distance from the venue, making it easy to explore Sydney’s vibrant cultural scene. For your most convenient access to the venue we recommend booking at either the Sofitel Sydney Darling Harbour (Preferential Code; BGPG) or the Park Royal Darling Harbour.

With world-class facilities and stunning views of the harbour, the ICC provides the perfect setting for an inspiring weekend of learning, connection, and celebration. Their world-class chef will be sourcing fresh, local, nutrient- rich food to support optimal learning for our delegates.

Join us as we mark two decades of advancing integrative healthcare and empowering communities with the knowledge and tools to support optimal health!

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  • Learn what causes inflammation & what drives it
  • Understand the brain-immuno-gut link
  • Know what inflammatory foods to avoid
  • Discover anti-inflammatory foods, nutrients, herbs & spices

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Charlie Arnott

Regenerative Farmer

Charlie, an award-winning grazier and passionate advocate for regenerative farming practices, has transformed his family’s 5,000-acre property in Boorowa, New South Wales, Australia, from a conventional high-input farm into a biodynamically principled, holistically managed farm in harmony with nature. Over the past 20 years, Charlie has embraced regenerative agriculture principles that align with his innate connection to the land and his commitment to producing quality food.

Hanaminno now operates using organic, biodynamic, and holistic grazing principles to produce chemical-free, pasture-raised beef, lamb, and pigs. Prioritising animal welfare and the health of both land and consumers, the farm prides itself on being “Certified by Community” – fostering transparency, openness, and strong connections with clients, who are considered co-producers.

Theanna Peters

Pastry Chef, Baker, Nutritionist

Theanna is Founder of The School Food Project. Raised in a food-centric family, she is inspired by her grandmother, a caterer who co-founded the St Canice Kitchen for the Homeless in Sydney. Theanna began her career at Opera Australia as Music Assistant, then pivoted to train in hospitality. She worked under Marcella Hazan’s son Giuliano in the USA and at Sydney’s Bistro Moncur. She passionately supports improving childhood health, nutrition and happiness through school food. SFP can catalyse this.

Blair Beattie

Farmer

Passionate Jack of all Trades finding purpose in his regenerative story.

Having worked in many realms of business and activism, Blair’s true purpose is grounded in the advocacy of Regenerative Agriculture, manifesting itself as the director of  Farmer’s Footprint Australia.

With vast experience in food systems, native ingredients, and soil health, Blair’s knowledge in these fields is equaled by his passion for community, sovereignty, and his family. As he continues to learn, listen, stumble, and be humbled by his journey, his focus is to educate, empower and activate humans toward a regenerative life.

Presenter: Dr Christabelle Yeoh, MBBS, MRCP (London), MSc (Nutrition)

Creating Brain Energy for Neuroplasticity

Cognitive health is on everyone’s mind, with ADHD and cognitive decline rates being higher than it’s ever been. What does it mean to have good cognitive health? This talk focuses on the bioenergetic aspect of neuronal function which is the foundation to creating the behaviours and the plasticity that we want to see in our brains. It is imperative to learn about what blocks it and what makes it flourish!

  • Understand what the important components of brain health are

  • Learn about the underlying drivers for neuroplasticity- mitochondrial bioenergetics and activation 
  • Create a map to sustain the factors which help, and minimise the factors which hinder neuroplasticity

Presenter: Dr Christabelle Yeoh, MBBS, MRCP (London), MSc (Nutrition)

Mitochondria- the Biophysics of Health Creation

Mitochondria are much more than the popular description: ‘powerhouses of the cell’. Mitochondria are transducers which means they convert one form of energy into another form. Chemiosmosis, a fundamental biological process housed by mitochondria (and chloroplasts) are driven by quantum mechanics principles. Understanding these allow patients and practitioners to harness the desperately needed bioenergetics to successfully drive the biochemistry protocols that we prescribe. It is foundational to health creation.

  • Evolutionary biology as the foundation for mitochondrial quantum principles
  • Metabolism: redox and cellular bioenergetics
  • Mitochondrial medicine: past, present, future approaches
  • Epigenetics: through heteroplasmy and mito genetics 

Presenter: Elyse Comerford, Nutritionist

Meat Stock – The Golden Elixir!

Bone broth gets a lot of attention (for good reason), but have you been focussing on meat stock? Elyse will take us through the do’s and dont’s of making the most important healing food for gut and connective tissue repair, how to include it in your diet (it doesn’t just have to be soup!), and how to get it in for even the fussiest eaters. Elyse will also take us through the cases where meat stock is better for healing than bone broth, and share some stories of healing from her clinic, ‘Well Belly Health Clinic’.

  • How meat stock functions as a healing food

  • How to make the most effective (and tasty!) meat stock

  • How to include meat stock in your current diet

  • Including meat stock for fussy eaters

  • Real life stories of the benefits of meat stock

Elyse Comerford

Nutritionist

Elyse Comerford is an Integrative Nutritionist and Certified GAPS Practitioner, Keynote Speaker, Mentor, and most importantly, Mum to Dylan & Bowie! Elyse’s primary focus for the past decade has been in private practice, helping hundreds of families overcome a whole host of health issues through the implementation of nourishing and healing principles, reducing toxic stress, and the GAPS protocol. This has become Elyse’s specialty, and has led her to work with families all over the world becoming well known for her specialisation in complex chronic health conditions. It has been a culmination of her education and experience in Nutrition, but most importantly her experience with her own healing journey that has driven her passion to empower as many people as possible with the key to their own health. Elyse’s approach is based on taking the normal “guilt, blame, shame and deprivation” approach and completely turning it on its head, focussing instead on healing, nourishing, and listening to the body at a deep root cause level.

Brittany Darling

Nutritionist

Brittany Darling is a mum and nutritionist, with over 15 years of clinical experience. Frustrated by the lack of truly effective children’s supplements, she set out to create targeted, science-backed formulations that address specific health concern facing children today. Her multi-award winning supplement brand, I’m Nutrients is purpose led, providing only targeted formulations minus the junk.

Presenter: Liz Mumper, MD FAAP, FMAPS

Case Study in Immune Injury

Dr. Mumper will deconstruct the history of a difficult patient with baseline mold toxicity who worsened after he received a mRNA COVID vaccine.  She will demonstrate the value of constructing a timeline to identify antecedents, triggers and mediators to lead to therapeutic strategies. She will examine lab evaluation of mold toxicity and resources for treatment protocols. Dr. Mumper will look at the pathology associated with spike protein and potential ways to help those suffering from prolonged spike exposure or adverse reactions to COVID vaccines. 

  • To use timelines to organize history considering antecedents, triggers and mediators

  • To interpret labs to diagnose

  • To find resources for a step-wise treatment strategy 

  • To develop treatment strategies for people who regress after mRNA COVID vaccination

Presenter: Nancy O’Hara, MD, MPH, FAAP

A Functional Medicine Guide on Microbes & Mental Health

PANS & PANDAS are complex autoimmune diseases that require a multi-system approach. PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with Strep) involves antibodies from a strep infection reacting with brain tissue (specifically the basal ganglia in the brain) and triggering an abrupt onset of immune dysregulation and movement, learning and behavioral problems including OCD, anxiety and tics. With PANS (Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome), other infectious etiologies besides strep (especially Mycoplasma as well as COVID, viruses, other bacteria, and more), toxic exposures, and metabolic abnormalities are among other potential triggers for the immune dysregulation resulting in an abnormal autoimmune reaction and negative behavior, neuropsychiatric, and cognitive changes.  Dr. O’Hara will discuss the latest research in the assessment and treatment of these devastating but recoverable illnesses.  Participants will learn the research-based functional medicine approach to the care, diagnosis and treatment of these children.

  • The participant will be able to understand the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of PANS, PANDAS and Post Acute Infectious Syndromes (PAIS).

  • The participant will be able to differentiate causes of anxiety, OCD and tics, as it relates to autoimmune encephalitis.

  • The participant will be able to define the triad of treatments for PANS, PANDAS & PAIS.

Presenter: Presenter: Liz Mumper, MD FAAP, FMAPS

Kids and COVID

When COVID first emerged, everyone was confused – doctors, parents, patients,
government officials, and agency workers. However, it emerged rather quickly that COVID was
not a mortal threat for healthy children and adolescents. Nor were children with COVID a
transmission threat to immuno-compromised patients or vulnerable elderly. Dr. Mumper will
share her perspective, derived from four years of COVID research and collaboration, on how
different strategies should have been adopted during the first year of the crisis. She will argue
that mandates were never a good idea, that critical analysis of the initial clinical trials would
have led to different decisions, and that what the public was told differed from emerging
scientific truth.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

  • Parents will understand the concept of stratified risk, in this case by looking at age as a
    risk factor. In COVID, the risk for children was miniscule.
  • Parents will learn how to make risk benefit decisions for their children. How significant
    was the risk associated with in-person schooling during the COVID-19 pandemic? How
    risky were the shots?
  • Parents will be able to identify propaganda in health messaging and value trusted professionals in the context of collaborative relationships as a source of information.
  • Parents will appreciate the value of truly informed consent in any medical intervention.

Presenter: Liz Mumper, MD FAAP, FMAPS

Kids & COVID

COVID in healthy children and adolescents was very different than COVID in sick
adults with multiple co-morbidities. Dr. Mumper will argue that a “one size fits all” strategy
focused on a novel gene therapy technology was misguided. She will review the data about risk
factors, early treatment and potential repurposed medications. She will outline the fallacies
inherent in testing and isolating people without symptoms and review the limitations of PCR
testing.
The vaccine “safe and effective” mantra is not nuanced enough to describe what really
happened during roll-outs of COVID injections. Dr. Mumper will critically analyse evidence that
the shots were not studied for and did not decrease transmission, that those who received
injections were more likely to get COVID multiple times, and that more adverse events were
reported than for other vaccines combined. She will share documentation of adverse events in
the following categories: cardiac, autoimmune, reproduction, cancer, and neurologic.
Clinicians may leave the lecture pondering such topics as the autonomy of healers, the role of
truly informed consent, and the insertion of politics into medical crises.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

  • Clinicians will evaluate the timeline of emerging evidence about the need to stratify risk
    in those with COVID.
  •  Attendees will learn about the value of early treatment and using repurposed
    medications early in the pandemic.
  •  Audience members will explore the pitfalls of testing people without symptoms and using
    PCR testing for isolation decisions.
  • Attendees will get a quick tour through the data of the original trials, with a focus on the conflation of relative and absolute risk and the misrepresentation of the mRNA products as stopping transmission.
  • Clinicians will evaluate the evidence for five categories of COVID injection adverse events that have potential to be life changing.
  • Clinicians will be asked to reflect on their changing perspectives during the COVID crisis and how they will prepare to act during the next real or perceived crisis.

Presenter: Nancy O’Hara, MD, MPH, FAAP, FMAPS

Tick-Borne Diseases, Mold & MCAS

PANS & PANDAS are complex autoimmune diseases that require a multi-system approach. With PANS (Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome), infectious etiologies such as Borrelia, Bartonella and Babesia, are among potential triggers for the immune dysregulation resulting in an abnormal autoimmune reaction and negative behavior, physical, and cognitive changes.  Tick-Borne Diseases and Mold may cause or contribute to an acute or subacute presentation of fatigue, brain fog, anxiety, OCD, tics and more.  These symptoms need to be assessed and treated appropriately. Participants will learn the research-based functional medicine approach to the care, diagnosis and treatment of these children. She will present this informaiton in a case study format.

  • The participant will be able to understand the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of PANS and Basal Ganglia Encephalitis, especially as it relates to Borrelia, Bartonella and Babesia

  • The participant will be able to differentiate causes of anxiety, OCD and tics, as it relates to autoimmune encephalitis caused by Tick-Borne Diseases and Mold.

  • The participant will be able to define the triad of treatments for PANS, including antimicrobials, immune modulators and symptom supports for Tick-Borne Diseases and Mold.

  • something on MCAS 

Presenter: Nancy O’Hara, MD, MPH, FAAP, FMAPS

Post Acute Infectious Syndromes & Mast Cell Activation Syndrome

PANS & PANDAS are complex autoimmune diseases that require a multi-system approach. PANDAS (Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with Strep) involves antibodies from a strep infection reacting with brain tissue (specifically the basal ganglia in the brain) and triggering an abrupt onset of immune dysregulation and movement, learning and behavioral problems including OCD, anxiety and tics. With PANS (Pediatric Acute-Onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome), other infectious etiologies besides strep (especially Mycoplasma as well as COVID, viruses, other bacteria, and more), toxic exposures, and metabolic abnormalities are among other potential triggers for the immune dysregulation resulting in an abnormal autoimmune reaction and negative behavior, neuropsychiatric, and cognitive changes. Dr. O’Hara will discuss the latest research in the assessment and treatment of these devastating but recoverable illnesses. Participants will learn the research-based functional medicine approach to the care, diagnosis and treatment of these children.

  • The participant will be able to understand the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of PANS, PANDAS and Post Acute Infectious Syndromes (PAIS).
  • The participant will be able to differentiate causes of anxiety, OCD and tics, as it relates to autoimmune encephalitis caused by PAIS
  • The participant will be able to define the triad of treatments for PANS, PANDAS & PAIS.
  • something on MCAS and PAIS

Presenter: Dr Kelly Francis MBBS. BSci (Med). FRACGP (2006)

Healthy Home

Our physical environment can have an enormous impact on our health and wellbeing.  Dr Kelly Francis will present to you all the potential hazards you can be exposed to under your own roof, and ways you can mitigate the dangers. 

Learning Objectives:

  • EMF’s: what are they, where are they, and what can you do about them?
  • Water: what should we be drinking, what do the various filtration devices actually filter, what on earth is hydrogen water and more!
  • Light: explanation of the different waveforms of light, what is good for us, when it is good for us, and what to avoid.
  • Air: discussion on airborne toxins, what to look for, how to test, and what measures we can take to improve our home’s air quality.
  • Toxins in the kitchen: what we cook with and cook on, wrap our food with, store our food in, our kitchen appliances- are they safe?  What can we do to make our kitchens safe?
  • Toxins on the body:  what we use on our skin- is it safe?  What can we use instead?
  • Toxins in the garden:  if you are growing your own vegetables, are you doing it safely?
  • Toxins in the bedroom:  We spend 1/3 of our lives in our beds- is your bedroom toxic?  Learn about ways to improve the health of your bedroom!
  • Cleaning products: Learn some healthier options to clean your home with, eliminating a potential major source of household toxins.

Presenter: Soulla Chamberlain

The Fundamentals of Robust Nutrition (from Vegan to Omnivore)

In this presentation Soulla will focus on the key principles of a nutrient-dense diet which provides a solid foundation for a life-long sustainable health. While health is multifactorial (and directly influenced by numerous lifestyle factors), nourishing your body with the anti-inflammatory, nutritionally-dense whole foods that we as a species have biologically evolved to eat is the cornerstone (as well as the fastest and easiest way!) of reclaiming and maintaining spectacular health with the most profound impact. Food is the most powerful medicine available to us to heal chronic illness and to remain vibrantly healthy. Soulla will detail the most nutrient dense foods and well as how to source and prepare them.

Learning Objectives in bullet point format
Attendees will learn the fundamentals of robust nutrition including a brief overview of:

  • The findings of Weston A Price
  • What are the most nutrient dense wholefoods
  • The importance of sourcing, processing and correct preparation of our foods
  • Debunking popular dietary myths  
  • The benefits of eating of an omnivorous traditional wholefoods diet versus modern industrialised diet

 

Soulla Chamberlain

Health Coach

Soulla is a cooking instructor specialising in real & traditional foods, a health coach, an advocate and teacher of toxic free living, a public speaker, a wellness blogger, a lover of the sun and sea, and a mother! Her mission started with bringing nutrient-dense traditional wholefoods back to the modern table for vibrant health and longevity and has grown into empowering people to live a vibrantly healthy life in all areas of their life but focusing first and foremost with the food, personal care products, cleaning products and medicines that people choose to bring into their home. Soulla has been instrumental in pioneering a traditional wholefoods and holistic lifestyle movement across Australia and further afield over the past 2 decades. She is a passionate spokesperson on food as medicine and provides people with the tools and resources to swap out dietary and environmental toxins in their home in a positive and empowering way. Small changes, big impact. It was her first hand experience as a burnt out corporate lawyer and former ‘hard core’ vegetarian/vegan that was the catalyst to seek an alternative approach to heal herself and her family.