Osher WISE Course: Lifestyle Strategies to Support Health and Well-being 

Wednesdays, September 4–25, 7:00-8:30 p.m. PT

This course will focus on evidence-based lifestyle choices that have been shown to decrease risk for chronic illnesses such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease/dementia. Join us for four lively presentations from experts on how you can implement healing strategies to support your health and well-being across the lifespan. There will be time for Q&A at the end of each session.

Registration coming soon.

• September 4: Movement and Strength Training to Improve Metabolic Health

  • Natalie Marshall, MD  (Course Chair), is a breast medical oncologist, integrative lifestyle medicine physician, and Medical Director of the UCSF John Muir Health Cancer Center in Berkeley. Dr. Marshall earned her medical degree at the University of Texas Medical Branch and completed her residency in internal medicine at the University of New Mexico Hospitals. She then completed a fellowship in medical oncology at Yale New Haven Hospital and recently completed the faculty fellowship program at the UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Health in 2021. Dr. Marshall works with patients to modify their habits with the goal of making their bodies less hospitable to cancer growth. This includes instruction and encouragement about diet, fasting, sleep, stress reduction and exercise, including strength training. Outside of work, she is a jazz vocalist and lyricist, master’s division Olympic weightlifter, mother, and wife.

• September 11: Mind-Body Medicine to Build Stress Resilience
  • Kavita K. Mishra, MD, MPH, is an internationally renowned radiation cancer care expert and Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology and Clinical Director of the UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Health. Dr. Mishra received her undergraduate degree with honors in Biology at Harvard University, her medical degree from UCSF, and a master’s in public health degree at the Harvard School of Public Health. She completed her radiation oncology residency in 2008 at UCSF and thereafter joined the faculty. She is the Director of the Ocular Tumor Radiation Therapy Program and a global leader in specialized oncology care, as well as Osher Foundation Endowed Chair in Integrative Health. Dr. Mishra strives to improve patient-centered outcomes and healthcare disparities with a team-based strategic approach, particularly in integrative health, oncology, and mind-body medicine. She is passionate about centering care with a personalized, evidence-informed, and inclusive lens, ultimately to help empower patients, providers, teams, and communities.
• September 18: Brain Health, Neuroplasticity, and Aging: Supporting Cognition at Every Age
  • Nancy Isenberg, MD, MPH, FAAN, DipABLM, is the Medical Director of the Center for Healthy Aging and Women’s Brain Health Program at the Swedish Neuroscience Institute in Seattle. She obtained her medical degree and master's of public health from Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons and School of Public Health. She completed residency training at the Neurological Institute, Columbia Medical Center, and a research fellowship in Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Neurology at Cornell Medical Center. Dr. Isenberg is also board certified in lifestyle medicine and committed to the programmatic development and implementation of care services which incorporate the latest evidence-based science of dementia prevention, brain health and women’s health. 
• September 25: Feeding Your Microbiome: Dietary Strategies for Wellness and Disease Prevention
  • Sean Spencer, MD, PhD, is a gastroenterologist and physician scientist at Stanford University, where he works to uncover the role of dietary intake on the gut microbiome and mucosal immune system. Dr. Spencer obtained his medical degree at the University of Pennsylvania and earned his PhD studying nutritional immunology with Yasmine Belkaid, PhD, at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He then completed his residency training at Massachusetts General Hospital and completed his gastroenterology training at Stanford University. Dr. Spencer studies how diet impacts our microbiome and immune system in parallel to better prevent and treat gastrointestinal disease. 

Our educational programming, formerly known as Osher Mini Medical School for the Public, has been reimagined as Osher WISE (Well-being and Integrative Science for Everyone). This public education program offers courses on integrative health topics that are current and compelling, providing an opportunity for community members to become active, informed participants in their own journey to health and well-being.

https://osher.ucsf.edu/Osher-WISE