Happy spring everyone! 🌺🌷🌼
I have some big news! I am moving on to a different role and saying goodbye to the Hub and Nova. From the people, to the love-centered work being done, my time with Nova has been so full. I’ll miss it all but plan to stay connected. I’ll be popping into the Hub and Campfires for sure so see you all soon!
This month we have an update about our Coffee and Conversations series, provide details on the upcoming Nova Campfire, and highlight posts about intriguing lectures and reports shared by users. Enjoy catching up!
Hub User Spotlight
This month we turn our spotlight on Helene Leeds, a lifestyle implementation strategist for medical practices based in Malibu, California. With more than 30 years’ clinical and culinary experience, she provides structured lifestyle coaching and usable frameworks for broad audiences.
Cool fact: you may have seen her on TV competing as a finalist on MasterChef!
What are your interests? The space where behavioral science, culinary medicine, and lifestyle implementation intersect. I am particularly interested in what actually moves people from understanding a care plan to living one—such as the psychology of habit, identity, and resistance that sits underneath every protocol. I am also drawn to the growing conversation about food as medicine in clinical settings, and to the evidence base around ontological coaching as a driver of sustainable behavioral change.
What are you working on that most excites you? I am building the infrastructure layer between clinical protocols and patient follow-through. Functional medicine physicians design excellent care plans. What breaks down is everything that happens between appointments like the grocery run that doesn’t happen, the movement that gets skipped, the habit that never forms. I develop structured lifestyle implementation programs that sit alongside medical practices, providing patients with weekly coaching, real-life habit architecture, and daily accountability, while giving physicians monthly adherence reporting. It is solving a problem that has frustrated integrative medicine for decades.
What do you welcome Hub users to connect with you about? I welcome connections from institutions exploring culinary medicine education. I am currently developing a curriculum for Weston A. Price Foundation Culinary Institute and have built chronic disease reversal programs spanning raw vegan and whole food approaches.
And if you are working at the intersection of ontological coaching, nutritional psychology, or behavioral adherence research, bring it. That is the conversation I am here for!
Coffee & Conversations Hiatus
Coffee and Conversations is taking a hiatus as we turn our attention to other exciting programs for Nova and within the Hub. We are grateful that Coffee and Conversations provided an avenue for connection, and we appreciate everyone who joined and brought the community beyond the keyboard! Thank you!
In Discussions
- 💲 The Urban Institute enhanced their 2023 “Measuring the True Cost of Economic Security report” by extending the original framework to incorporate new cost and resource elements related to homeownership and caregiving for people with disabilities.
- 🧑💻 What does AI have to say about your research niche in your city or state? Try a search like this one.
- 🐅 Check out the broadcast recording of Pulitzer Prize-winning science writer Ed Yong’s lecture on the sensory world of animals and what they reveal about perception and our shared planet.
…and many more in the Discussions page!
In Groups
- Attitudes, Values, Ethics, and Culture: Trace the connection between the ancient Egyptian word for a sweet pastry—kahk—and the modern-day English word cake.
- Artists in Residence: New painting and photograph displays.
- Nova4Nature: Thanks to spring for ushering in this beautiful exchange between mistletoe and a butterfly.
- Microbes and Social Equity: We’re all familiar with plant and animal species conservation efforts but one microbiologist is making a case for the need for microbial conservation.
…check out all the Groups (or create your own)!
In Events
Join us on April 23rd from 11 am to 12:30 pm EDT for the next free, virtual Nova Campfire, “Neurodiversity and Just Societies: Rethinking Difference, Responsibility, and Human Dignity.” Remember to register!
March 11: The National Board of Public Health Examiners Webinar Wednesday
- April 6-11: The Science of Consciousness Conference
- April 8: The National Board of Public Health Examiners Webinar Wednesday
- April 9: The Science, Safety, and Regulation of Probiotics, Prebiotics, and Postbiotics Webinar Series
- April 10: Legacies of Eugenics—The Conference
- April 15: Protecting Federal Leadership in Addiction Science and Public Health: Part IV
…see more events and submit your own on our Community Calendar!
Hub Features & User Tips
- Hub on the go! The Nova Integration Hub app for iOS and Android users.
- Tip for engagement: Tap into the great minds here on the Hub! Post your requests for information, research help, articles, etc., in a relevant group or discussion topic, or directly to your profile as a status update.
- Invite friends to join the Hub! Click on your profile photo, navigate down to “Email Invites,” and click “Send Invites.” Customize a message or just send the link – it’s easy!
- Just getting started on the Hub? Check out the Hub User Guide to watch a video or get step-by-step instructions.
Thank you again for being part of our community. We’d love to hear from you! Let us know how you like using the Hub, share your ideas and suggestions, or just say hello! Message Airynn Strout or email her at airynn@novainstituteforhealth.org.
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