Faculty Spotlight: Ryan Bradley, ND

It took Ryan Bradley a little while to find his place in the world. But, once he found it, he was unstoppable. As a 2003 Bastyr University naturopathic medicine graduate and current clinical faculty member, Dr. Bradley is already a leader in his chosen niche: diabetes and cardiovascular care. He is making groundbreaking strides in conducting research and delivering integrative treatment for these conditions, and he has drawn parallels that other physicians may have missed. Not only is he committed to filling this sorely needed gap in the health care system, but he is also devoted to helping naturopathic medicine to achieve recognition as a valid form of primary care for these conditions and others.

His passion stems from the fact that he knows that a naturopathic approach works. Early on in his clinical training at Bastyr, Dr. Bradley saw patients with potentially devastating conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease living high-quality lives. "I have seen patients get so much better using naturopathic medicine," says Dr. Bradley. "I believe diabetes and cardiovascular disease are the perfect areas for naturopathic medicine, because nutrition, exercise and botanical medicine are very effective for them."

To increase the availability of these benefits, Dr. Bradley created a specialty program at Bastyr Center for Natural Health called the Cardiovascular and Diabetes Wellness Program. This program allows Bastyr student clinicians to receive focused integrative training in these conditions while allowing patients to receive integrative treatment. "I wanted our Bastyr clinicians to have more exposure to diabetes as a growing epidemic," he explains, "to understand how severe it is and how the advice we can give has huge implications in health." While initially the appointments were only available one day a week, the patient demand was so great that the program has expanded to two days a week.

Why pair these two conditions into one program? At first glance, they don't appear to have much to do with each other. One condition involves blood sugar and the pancreas; the other involves the heart and blood vessels.

But Dr. Bradley explains one major thing they have in common: inflammation in the body, specifically in the cardiovascular system. "Most people with diabetes die of heart disease," he explains. "There is a very strong oxidative stress component with diabetes that stimulates the inflammation pathways." They also have can have similar treatment strategies.

Although he is now deeply involved in promoting this cause — giving presentations and speeches; pursuing research studies, grants and fellowships; and taking seats on heath-related boards — Dr. Bradley was not always so sure of his career direction. He did discover his love of science way back in high school chemistry lab, but finding a niche in medicine and health care took longer.

Dr. Bradley majored in chemical engineering as an undergraduate, but encountered ethical dilemmas because, as an environmentalist at heart, he felt uneasy about the ecologically devastating practices of chemical companies. So, he decided to shift gears and become a science teacher, pursuing a PhD in pharmacology at Duke University. But only six months into pharmacology school -- where his tuition was completely funded by stipends -- he decided he wasn't comfortable with how much influence the pharmaceutical industry wielded over the field. He would rather help people become empowered to take care of their own health.

Willing to trade his free tuition for a clear conscience, Dr. Bradley started seeking another career path. One night when he was sitting in a basement computer laboratory at Duke, he recalled an incident where he shopping at a health-food store with his mother. The store owner had told them that Dr. Bradley ought to consider Bastyr University. "My mom was really into natural health and natural products," he said. "Of course, we made fun of her at the time."

By then an adult and warmer toward a natural approach, Dr. Bradley proceeded to search for Bastyr University on the Internet. When he found the site and read about the principles of naturopathic medicine, he instantly knew he had found what he was seeking – a field that emphasized science but also focused on prevention, wellness and environmental sustainability.

Since enrolling at Bastyr, Dr. Bradley's love of science has been put to good use, as he has become deeply involved with research studies. As early as his second year as a student, he assisted a faculty member with a research project on garlic's effect on breast cancer cells. He was still planning to become a researcher instead of a physician at that point, but that changed when he began his clinical training, realizing how gratifying it was to work with patients. In particular, Dr. Bradley was astounded by how much some of the patients with diabetes and cardiovascular disease had improved because of the naturopathic treatment they were receiving. "It was very striking to me," he says. "Their quality of life was so good, and I really attributed that to having a naturopathic doctor on their health care team and helping them with appropriate supplementation. It was more because of the ND [naturopathic doctor] care than the MD care."

Through the experience of witnessing those successes, Dr. Bradley's career direction crystallized. He started conducting his own research and became well-versed in both the conventional and natural interventions for these conditions. It was increasingly obvious to him that standard diabetes care falls far short of ideal. "Studies show that 80 percent of diabetes care is delivered by primary care physicians," explains Bradley, "and that only about 35-40 percent of patients with diabetes and cardiovascular disease receive advice about diet and exercise."

Dr. Bradley believes that naturopathic physicians, who are under-utilized as primary care physicians even though their license permits it, could become the primary deliverers of integrative diabetes and cardiovascular care. By doing so, strategizes Dr. Bradley, NDs will position themselves to be more legitimately viewed as primary care providers within the medical community. To raise awareness of and promote this possibility, Dr. Bradley lectures on holistic and integrative medicine in diabetes care for the Diabetes Action, Research, and Education Foundation; for the American Diabetes Association; and for the Washington Association of Naturopathic Physicians. He also serves as a representative on the diabetes clinical improvement team for the Puget Sound Health Alliance.

Additionally, Dr. Bradley was very involved in 2003 with a research initiative called the Naturopathic Medicine Research Agenda, which was a series of meetings hosted by Bastyr University. During those meetings, he advocated for cardiovascular disease and diabetes to become a high priority research issue for NDs, and his efforts succeeded. As a result, Dr. Bradley is now collaborating with researchers at Bastyr and other naturopathic schools to study the effectiveness of integrative interventions in these conditions.

Other ways he advocates within the naturopathic field include serving on the board of directors of the Washington Association of Naturopathic Physicians and chairing a guidelines-development committee on the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians.

Although he is knee-deep in political activities, teaching and practicing medicine, Dr. Bradley still devotes most of his time to his first love: research. Since 2005, Dr. Bradley has been conducting research under the auspices of an NIH research training grant at Bastyr, and he is now beginning a K12 fellowship, which is an NIH five-year career-training grant focused on clinical research at the University of Washington. He was the first naturopathic physician to receive this award from the NIH. He is also involved with a clinical trial on the effects of antioxidants on type 2 diabetes and wrote a grant in collaboration with a Group Health physician evaluating whole-practice ND medical treatment for diabetes patients.

As part of his fellowship training, Dr. Bradley is earning a master's in public health (MPH) at University of Washington with a focus on epidemiology. This degree has expanded his knowledge of research methods and also helped him understand the health care system in more depth, including Medicaid and Medicare delivery. "Through this," he says, "It became more apparent where NDs fit into the health care system." He sees naturopaths as playing a sorely-needed role in wellness and health promotion. He explains that in his advocacy for NDs to find a larger place in the health care system, he is not dismissing the value of conventional care. "I come at it collaboratively," he adds, "Not as an ‘us and them' mentality -- but we have to have a place where we fit in."

As for where he fits in, he sees himself continuing to serve in a dual role as clinician/researcher. His new fellowship requires that he spends 80 percent of his time on research and 20 percent of his time on clinical work, so he will have to close down his private practice that he operates one day a week. In the future, he would like to spend more time with patients. He also has an interest in working on international diabetes research and working with native cultures, where diabetes can be a prominent issue. But for now, he is happy in his work at Bastyr. "I feel very supported and encouraged at Bastyr," he says, "The community at Bastyr is wonderful and there are so many similarly minded people. But it's also a big, big world out there." A big world, and one that Dr. Bradley is already influencing in his own big way.