40 Under 40: Dr. Casey Carr

Dr. Casey Carr was 16 when she realized that health is the most precious thing in life after watching family members pass away at a young age due to cancer.

Among them was an aunt who underwent surgery, chemo and radiation as part of her cancer journey. She also changed her diet and began doing some adjunctive therapies in addition to conventional treatment, Carr said.

"That is when I realized that food is truly medicine, watching the health of her and her husband transform before my eyes," she said.

At 18, Carr entered college as a nutritional sciences major with pre-med course load, wanting to become a doctor who practiced "food as medicine" from a young age. "Through unexpected ways, I learned about and was led to become a naturopathic medical doctor to be able to offer comprehensive, whole-person care to patients," she said.

Carr attended Cornell University as an undergraduate, where the rigorous curriculum and an intense work ethic led her to maintain good marks at a competitive school in a cut-throat pre-medical program.

"In the same vein, it also helped me to take a zoomed out view from the "rat race" of high school, to undergrad, to medical school, and wonder what other opportunities are out there?" she added.

After graduating as a Nutritional Sciences major, Carr said she realized she knew little about the basics of food, including where it came from and how to prepare it. She was spurred to pursue various internships and experiential education on farms, allowing her to truly learn nutrition and nourishment from the ground up.

"I am forever grateful for this pause, as it also helped me gain perspective on health outside of medicine."  During this post-undergraduate time, Carr also worked for the active travel company, Backroads, where she was able to see the world by bicycle and trail. "It was a gift to work with people from all walks of life and locations from Cambodia to Italy to Alaska," she said. "My life feels very enriched by the hundreds of guests I interacted with over the years." 

Carr continued to puruse experiences in both medicine and food during her off-time from trip ledaing either on farms or gaining additional experience shadowing doctors across many specialties. 

After these diverse opportunities Carr found herself most drawn to the type of practice and curriculum that focused on whole-person care that asked the why behind the symptoms — a type of medicine that saw the patient in front of her, not just the disease they might have.

Her medical education at Bastyr University helped her learn a wide array of modalities, including botanical medicine, pharmacology, homeopathy, physical medicine and a broader philosophy in which to apply these concepts in patient care.

"With my patients, I work with them to understand where we need to go next to help activate their body's innate healing nature," she added.

Even with a thriving clinical practice, Carr still felt the call to make connections between farming, health, nutrition and medicine. "I never forgot the Internships on so many different farms and how impactful it was on my lens of health and nutrition, understanding that real health starts with our soil health."

Toward that end, Carr started an initiative called Food As Farmacy to bring patients closer to the land, their food and the farmers that grow it. She collaborates with a few farms every Summer and Fall who have a similar philosophy on farming and its connections to health to share a meaningful farm-to-table experience on their land.

Her family has been both a source of support and influence, encouraging her curiosity and her decisions to take a not-always straight path.

Carr said she plans to continue to offer individualized medicine to patients with the aim of helping to increase their vitality and quality of life.

"I also see myself continue to speak and move the needle for improved standards of nutrition labeling, food sourcing and soil health — all of which have insurmountable impacts on human health," she said. Carr also writes frequently for local sources and personally on her own website, sharing latest thoughts, insights and research between patient care and the food as medicine world.

If she had one piece of advice for her younger self, Carr said it would be: "Trust the process and trust yourself."