This year, University of Western States honors two Alumni of the Year: Lauren Castle, PharmD, M.S., AFMC, and Eric Roseen, DC, Ph.D.
Lauren Castle, PharmD, M.S., AFMC – Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine, Class of 2018
Dr. Lauren Castle is a best-selling author, keynote speaker, and the founder and CEO of the Functional Medicine Pharmacists Alliance (FMPhA), one of the first associations representing pharmacists in functional medicine. FMPhA supports members practicing functional medicine across all pharmacy settings by uniting leaders in the field to provide continuing education, training, networking, and advocacy. In addition, Dr. Castle serves as secretary of the board for Con Smania Costa Rica – Transformational Retreat Center and a member of the Psychedelic Pharmacists Association. She and her husband Seth live in Dayton, Ohio, with their cats, Olive and Pickle.
What made you decide to attend UWS?
After discovering functional medicine in 2015 through my husband’s own life-changing health journey, I was convinced that functional medicine was the future of health care. At the time, I was still working as a retail pharmacist for a large chain, so travel was not an option; it needed to be fully remote. I had also been considering enrolling in an MBA or MPH program to further differentiate myself within the pharmacy profession. When I came across the Master of Science in Human Nutrition and Functional Medicine program, I knew I had found the solution. I wanted a program that was more than just a certification or more letters behind my name; one that would give me a deeply scientific understanding of functional medicine and position me as an expert in this emerging field. The fact that UWS was a top-ranking, regionally accredited university with a long, rich history of excellence gave me even more confidence that it would be a rigorous program my peers in the conventional medicine field would respect as well.
What does being an Alumnus of the Year mean to you?
Being named Alumnus of the Year is an incredible honor, and I’m proud to represent the profession of pharmacy. As a pharmacist, I recognize that “a pill for every ill” is not the solution to the chronic disease epidemic, and that functional medicine is a more viable path. It’s my hope that this recognition will highlight and accelerate the collaborative work we are doing within Functional Medicine Pharmacists Alliance to make functional medicine the standard of care through pharmacist-led clinical services.
What do you love about your current role?
FMPhA got its start as an online networking group in 2017, through which I could stay in touch with pharmacists whom I met through my functional medicine speaking engagements at state pharmacist association meetings. I also began blogging about functional medicine and how to get started in this growing field. The group grew from just 30 members in 2017 to more than 4,000 pharmacists today. In 2020, we launched our official membership program, as well as partnerships with organizations such as the Institute for Functional Medicine and the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine. In 2023, we launched our flagship training course, the Functional Medicine Pharmacists Bootcamp. What I love most about my work is knowing that we are truly changing health care, one pharmacist, one practitioner, one organizational partnership, and one patient at a time.
Eric Roseen, DC, Ph.D. – Doctor of Chiropractic, Class of 2011
Dr. Roseen resides in Massachusetts where he is a researcher and clinician within the Family Medicine Department at Boston Medical Center and Boston University School of Medicine. He is involved in multiple ongoing research projects within BMC’s Program for Integrative Medicine and Healthcare Disparities, and he recently opened a chiropractic clinic at BMC, training students of various backgrounds while also developing his own knowledge as a CARL II Research Fellow. Dr. Roseen continues to expand the roles chiropractors have within the health care system, and he does it in a way that facilitates more doors opening to new generations. His relevant and timely research into whole-person care in underserved populations demonstrates Dr. Roseen’s commitment to working in areas that go underexplored by many chiropractors.
What made you decide to attend UWS?
I grew up in North Dakota and was helped by a chiropractor in my hometown after an injury kept me from my sport in high school. Throughout my undergraduate studies, I was sure I wanted to pursue a Doctor of Chiropractic degree but unsure where I would go. When I visited Portland, I really enjoyed the city and its natural beauty. I liked that UWS emphasized evidence-based practice and that they had been involved in clinical research. I didn’t have any research training or experience at that point, but I appreciated that those skills would be important to making decisions in clinical practice.
What does being an Alumnus of the Year mean to you?
I’m honored by this award. Being on the other side of the country now, in Boston, makes it particularly meaningful to receive this recognition. I have a lot of great memories from my time at UWS and in Portland. I hope to reconnect with my colleagues there and share some of what we are doing over here on the East Coast.
What do you love about your current role?
I’m an assistant professor at the Boston University School of Medicine, and I provide clinical care at Boston Medical Center, a large academic safety net hospital, and it’s the mix of clinical research and patient care that I enjoy most. I develop questions in the clinic that I can try to answer through my research. My clinic is embedded in the general internal medicine primary care clinic, and I enjoy working in a multidisciplinary setting.
At Boston Medical Center, I direct the Program for Integrative Medicine and Health [JW1] Disparities, where I contribute to medical student education on integrative medicine, support integrative medicine clinical services, and lead several clinical trials. Through this work I have enjoyed learning about a range of nonpharmacologic treatments (e.g., acupuncture, tai chi, yoga) and their effectiveness for common musculoskeletal conditions such as low back pain and knee osteoarthritis.