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Regenerative Healthcare Conference

The 2024 Rodale Institute Regenerative Healthcare Conference will take place from September 9th – 12th, 2024 at Rodale Institute’s 386-acre experimental organic farm and headquarters in Kutztown, Pennsylvania.

This unique educational event will convene doctors, nurses, healthcare professionals, farmers, and other change-makers in the food system together for an immersive, retreat-style learning experience connecting soil and human health.

Conference Details

Registration for the 2024 cohort will be capped at approximately 75 registrants and will be granted on a first come, first served basis.

Registration for the Regenerative Healthcare Conference includes:

  • Organic, farm-to-table meals prepared by notable Chefs
  • Engaging lectures from leading voices at the nexus of food as medicine and planetary health
  • A personalized tour of Rodale Institute’s experimental farm
  • Book signings with prolific authors and speakers
  • Shuttle transportation to & from the conference & designated hotel each day
  • A Celebration & Bonfire to close the conference
See the full agenda

If you are interested in exploring opportunities to fund the 2024 Regenerative Healthcare Conference or donate to the scholarship fund, please contact nadine.clopton@rodaleinstitute.org.

The Program

This year’s conference theme is "Rooting Health in the Soil". Programming is built on four pillars:

Farmers as Frontline Healthcare Workers

Soil is Medicine: The Role of Regenerative Organic Agriculture in Food as Medicine

Investing in Life-long Health: Regenerative Food Ways & Equitable, Accessible, Community-centered Food as Medicine

Root to Rise: Applying a Regenerative Healthcare framework to System’s Change

The Regenerative Healthcare Conference will feature a diverse array of speakers–from farmers to physicians–who are on the leading edge of transforming our world for the better.

Attendees will have an immersive, hands-in-the-soil learning experience, connecting the dots between the health of Earth’s microbiome (the soil) and our own gut microbiomes.
The conference will include organic farm-to-table meals prepared by Chefs, featuring produce grown on-site at Rodale Institute.

2024 Speakers & Chefs

Dr. Steven Chen, MD

• Chief Medical Officer, Alameda County Recipe4Health
• Board-certified Integrative Family Physician

Anne Biklé

• Author, What Your Food Ate and The Hidden Half of Nature
• Biologist & Environmental Planner

Will Harris

• Regenerative Farmer & Fourth-Generation Cattleman, White Oak Pastures
• Founder, Center for Agricultural Resilience

Christa Barfield

• Founder & CEO, FarmerJawn Agriculture
• Generation Change Fellow, Philadelphia's Community Wellness Leader, & USDA "Food is Medicine" & Nutrition Security Champion

Dr. Geeta Maker-Clark, MD, ABOIM

• Co-Director, Culinary Medicine at University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine
• Director, Integrative Nutrition and Advocacy, Endeavor Health
• Clinical Assistant Professor, Pritzker School of Medicine, University of Chicago

Dr. Scott Stoll, MD

• Co-Founder, The Plantrician Project
• International leader in Lifestyle Medicine & Whole Food Plant-based Nutrition

Dr. Meagan Grega, MD, FACLM, DipABLM, DipABFM

• Co-Founder & Chief Medical Officer, Kellyn Foundation
• Board-certified Family Medicine & Lifestyle Medicine Practitioner
• Faculty, St. Luke's University Health Network Anderson Campus Family Medicine & Internal Medicine Residency

Dr. Michelle Loy, MD, FAAP

• Integrative Pediatrician blending Traditional Chinese Medicine, Seasonal Eating, and Culinary Medicine
• Board-certified physician; Integrative Medicine, Lifestyle Medicine, Medical Acupuncture, & Pediatrics
• Assistant Professor, Weill Cornell School of Medicine

Dr. Gary Soffer, MD

• Director, Integrative Medicine Program & Assistant Professor, Yale University School of Medicine
• Board-certified physician; Integrative Medicine, Pediatric Allergy/Immunology, Integrative Oncology

Dr. Lori Walsh, MD

• Medical Director, Pediatric Integrative Medicine at Advocate Good Shepherd's Children's Hospital and Center for Health & Integrative Medicine

Eric Ruth

• Co-Founder & CEO, Kellyn Foundation
• Co-Chair, Lehigh Valley Food Policy Council

Erin Meyer, MSFS, RD, Chef

• Founder & Executive Director, Basil's Harvest

Dr. Arti Chandra, MD, MPH, IFMCP

• Family Practitioner practicing Functional Medicine
• Faculty, Institute for Functional Medicine
• Advisor, Kiss the Ground

Dr. Drew Smith, PhD

• Chief Scientific Officer, Rodale Institute

Dr. Gladis Zinati, PhD

• Soil Scientist & Director, Vegetable Systems Trial, Rodale Institute

Dr. Courtney Long, PhD

• Director, Agricultural and Marketing Resource Center, Iowa State University Extension & Outreach
• Manager, Food Systems Program, Iowa State University Extension & Outreach

Kacey LaBonte

• Graduate Fellow of the Food Systems Research Center, Gund Institute for Environment, University of Vermont
• Ph.D. Candidate in Food Systems, University of Vermont

Dr. Christophe Merville, PharmD

• Director of Education and Pharmacy Development, Boiron USA
• Leading Expert in Homeopathic Medicine

Dr. Felix Prinz zu Löwenstein, PhD

• German agricultural scientist and farmer
• Author, Food Crash

Chefs Matthew & Tia Raiford

• Founders & CheFarmers, Strong Roots 9

Chef Erik Oberholtzer

• Chef, Author, & Lead for Cohere FoodLab
• Co-Founder, Tender Greens

Dundore & Heister

• Hyper-local, artisanal farm-to-table butcher & caterer

Stay tuned!

• More notable Speakers & Chefs to be announced soon!

Testimonial

“The experience of convening earth/food-caring hearts and minds on farmland that is historically and symbolically at the core of the organic regenerative food and soil movement, was deeply meaningful and allowed for a multi-sensory experience of learning and collaborating. To walk the land, breathe fresh air, have hands in the soil with a diverse group of health professionals was a gift like no other conference has given. The array and quality of the speakers was both highly educational and inspiring. The conference was made to feel more like a retreat where we could leave feeling not just educated but renewed and was well organized and choreographed. Thank you to all of the Rodale team!!” – Dr. Arti Chandra

Registration

Registration for the 2024 Regenerative Healthcare Conference is now closed. For more information about our regenerative healthcare programming, click here.

Scholarship Opportunities

Are you interested in receiving financial aid to attend this conference? Apply for a scholarship at the link below.

Apply for Financial Aid

2022 Conference Program

Look through our 2022 program to get an idea of what you can expect at this conference. This program details everything from food to speaker bios to the daily agenda.

Take A Peek

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Is there a hotel block?

    Yes! Attendees of the conference are encouraged to stay at the Kutztown Hampton Inn & Suites. Upon registration for the conference, you will automatically receive a link to book your hotel at our discounted group rate.

  • Will transportation be provided?

    Yes! Shuttles between the conference and Kutztown Hampton Inn & Suites will be provided each day. We do not have the ability to provide shuttle transportation to and from another hotel.

    If you have your own vehicle, we recommend that you drive to the conference each day to have ultimate flexibility as well as leaving the shuttle for those who will not have access to their own means of transportation.

  • What airport should I fly into?
    • The closest airport to Rodale Institute is the Lehigh Valley International Airport (ABE). It is about a 30 minute drive from Rodale Institute’s headquarters.
    • Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) is approximately a 1 hour and 30 minute drive from Rodale Institute.
    • Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) is approximately a 1 hour and 30 minute drive from Rodale Institute.

    Please note: Transportation to and from the airport is the responsibility of each participant. We will, however, be connecting the 2024 cohort in advance via Slack where you can connect with others on travel plans and coordinate transportation to and from Kutztown together.

  • Are there scholarships or student rates available to attend the Regenerative Healthcare Conference?

    Yes! We want to ensure that the conference is accessible to those who may be from or work with low-income and low-access communities. Please apply for scholarships via the Google Form link at the bottom of the page.

    For students enrolled at accredited universities, we have a $500 discount on registration. If you are registering via the student rate, please provide proof of enrollment to nadine.clopton@rodaleinstitute.org within one week of registering. If you do not provide proof of enrollment, you will be invoiced the remaining $500 tuition.

  • Are group rates available?

    Yes! We would be happy to work with you to arrange a group rate. Please contact nadine.clopton@rodaleinstitute.org for groups of 3 or more looking to register from the same organization.

  • What is Rodale Institute's Refund and Cancellation Policy for the Regenerative Healthcare Conference?

    Refund and Cancellation Policy

    Registrants who have paid for the Regenerative Healthcare Conference and are unable to attend can request a partial refund (full tuition refund minus processing fees) if they call or email to cancel 45 or more days before the event. Rodale Institute cannot accept requests for refunds less than forty-five days before the Regenerative Healthcare Conference. Please note that the processing of refunds may take two to four weeks.

    Please email josh.lilly@rodaleinstitute.org and nadine.clopton@rodaleinstitute.org by Friday, July 26th , 2024 at the latest with notice of your cancellation in order to be eligible for a refund.

    Rodale Institute reserves the right to cancel a scheduled event at any time and for any reason, in which case, registrants will receive a full refund.

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