Board Spotlight

Wanting everyone to share in the miracle that changed her life, Barbara Cahill brings her lifelong passion for health and humanitarian projects to the BoT

Barbara Cahill has a knack for finding virtual treasure in sometimes unexpected places and circumstances. Bastyr was a hidden treasure Cahill discovered serendipitously a dozen years ago, and now she's sharing the wealth by serving as a community liaison for the university in her role as a Board of Trustees member. "I'm enthusiastic about the university," says Cahill, "and I'm doing everything I can to get the word out to the community. My impression is the university is actually better known nationally than locally, so I'm working with the development committee to increase its visibility by cultivating local relationships."

If anybody knows how to build relationships and raise support for worthwhile causes, it's this 50-year-old dynamo. The active wife and mother of two (Ben, 16, and Sam, 12), not only promotes Bastyr but supports and serves on an impressive number of other volunteer organizations, community boards and humanitarian groups, most of which are related to health care or science education.

Ever since she was a little girl growing up in Seattle, she wanted to become a doctor. Looking for every opportunity to immerse herself in the world of medicine and healing, as a preteen she volunteered at Children's Hospital, reading to and playing with patients as part of their recreational therapy. Through these and other activities, she developed a passion for volunteerism which, to this day, fuels much of her life.

Not surprisingly, Cahill went through college with a biology pre-med major, graduating with a BA in 1976 from Mills College, a small women's school in Oakland, CA. Already bitten by the volunteering bug, she spent part of her college years serving on the school's board as a student representative. She later served an additional two terms on the Mills College Board of Trustees as a recent graduate.

After graduating, she accepted a position in her father's real estate business—William Todd Cahill and Associates. She joined her father, thinking of it as a temporary move, but once again she discovered treasure in an unexpected place. "I found I had a natural knack for real estate. I'm always learning new things, and I enjoy educating others about the local real estate market." Cahill never looked back, and today she is a highly successful realtor with Windermere Real Estate.

Like many people, Cahill's first encounter with naturopathic medicine and, ultimately, Bastyr, came after an illness, which refused to respond to conventional medicine. "My son Ben was born prematurely, and from the start he suffered from medical problems. By age four, he was dealing with recurrent sinus and ear infections, allergies and asthma. He was taking so many medications, and the doctor just wanted to give him more. One day I was looking at all his medicine bottles lined up on the kitchen windowsill, and it just hit me. This isn't right. I need a second opinion."

Fortunately for Cahill, she found that second opinion in the father of another student at her son's school: Joseph E. Pizzorno, Jr., a leading naturopathic physician and a founder of Bastyr. He recommended she take Ben to an environmental allergist who quickly discovered that Ben was most likely suffering from multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) and undiagnosed food allergies. "I became like a sponge, soaking up all the information I could about environmental toxins and food sensitivities," says Cahill. "I was reading book after book and learning a great deal about natural medicine. We began seeing a Bastyr graduate, Dr. Lucy Smith, and together we found solutions for Ben."

Cahill's son was put on a restricted diet, weaned off all his conventional medicines and started taking herbs and vitamins. He received regular acupuncture treatments to boost his immune system and to prevent asthma. "It was amazing," says Cahill. "Within two years, this process helped him completely regain his health." Trips to the pediatrician's office became limited to yearly well-child check-ups. Cahill, too, had altered her own lifestyle and had begun seeing Walter Crinnion, ND, another Bastyr alumnus. "Our lives changed. I was so grateful, I wanted to acknowledge this and give back in some way." So Pizzorno invited Cahill to visit the Bastyr campus and get involved.

"I support Bastyr because I think it's crucial to do so," says Cahill. "We need to help others see that preventive medicine is key, to look at the underlying causes of disease rather than to just treat the symptoms. We have to reevaluate our lifestyles and be willing to make healthier choices rather than simply taking a pill. I'm seriously concerned about the future of health care in our country. There has to be much more emphasis on wellness and prevention rather than diagnosis and treatment of chronic diseases." Cahill would like to see Bastyr as a leader in collaborative programs between natural medicine practitioners and allopathic physicians. "This has to happen if health care is ever to change."

When Cahill isn't serving on the Bastyr board, she finds time to travel. Most recently she went to Tibet, Bhutan, Cambodia, Thailand and Nepal with fellow Bastyr board member Julie Tall to support the Tibetan Healing Fund, which provides funds to midwifery and educational programs in rural Tibet. She continues to be an active leader in advancing education through the Achievement Reward for College Scientists (ARCS) organization, which raises money to support graduate students in the natural sciences, medicine and engineering at University of Washington and Washington State University.

Part of Cahill's humanitarian effort is in response to a profound need she feels to give back to those who give so much to others. "How grateful I am to all those practitioners who've dedicated themselves to careers in natural medicine. I'm indebted to Bastyr for educating them and providing them with the skills for natural healing. These skills are so needed in the world today."