Linus Pauling Award Presentation

This last year, as we've watched Dr. Hyman develop into really the icon for where functional medicine goes in the clinic with his testimony to the Senate with his work with the Institute of Medicine, with his extraordinary advocacy through his public television programs, his books, his celebrity status as it pertains to putting functional medicine on the map. These are all kind of the legacies that come out of the spade work that Mark has done for many years in grimming his talents and refining his skills and doing what all good functional medicine practitioners do. serving first their patients. Mark is a deserved individual to receive the Linus Pauling Award because he embodies so many of the characteristics that really underlie Linus Pauling's life, the life of the mind, the pursuit of excellence, and the fearlessness to create sometimes new ideas in the face of old which are met with resistance. So now we're at that very privileged part where I get the chance to actually give the 15th Linus Pauling Functional Medicine Award to Dr. Mark Hyman. This is a privilege indeed for me as well as all of us in functional medicine. Mark, this is in recognition of your dedication leadership and robust advocacy in creating, practicing and teaching this model of functional medicine that's designed to support clinicians and their patients in improving health outcomes for chronic complex diseases. There is no more fitting recipient of the 15th Linus Pauling Functional Medicine Award than you, Dr. Mark Hyman. Congratulations.

Mark. Thank you, David. Thank you, everybody. I'm really extraordinarily touched and moved, and I really didn't know about this because when David and I were at the whole systems research meeting that was sponsored by the NIH a couple weeks ago at its Christian Brothers Retreat in Minnesota, I said, so who is the Linus Pauling Award winner this year anyway? And he says, oh, it's Abraham Hoffmann. I was like, oh, that's really great. And so when I saw my picture there, I was quite shocked. And, you know, as I reflect on my journey, I think, you know, I didn't really recognize this and remember this until just now, but way back when I was in college, I heard Linus Pauling speak about not biochemistry, but about nuclear war. And That was really the first journey I took as a physician was to join a group called the IPPNW, the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. One of my buddies who joined me in that is right here in the front row, Jerry Camaratta, who's also come on the journey in functional medicine with me. And I think it's just interesting that, you know, through my path I've looped back to this not world peace, but world health. They're really the same thing. And the theme that's been really touching me this year is that we're all part of the same ecosystem, the same network, the same community, the same family, the same planet. And what we do in every moment has an impact. And what we eat and what we think and how we relate and how we show up in the world has impact on everything that happens everywhere. So it's really moved me to take action and show up and try to be present and despite what Jeff says, you know, get over my ADD and I finally know what's wrong with me, I have a diagnosis now. And tell the truth without shame or blame, but just tell the truth as best I can understand it and hope things work out. And the more I do that, the more miracles happen. and right now I feel like I'm in a world of miracles every day. I don't quite understand it, I don't really know how to explain it, but every day I wake up there's another miracle. It's happening. I mean it's just happening, it's not happening because anybody particularly wants it to happen, it's just the time and we're at this enormous threshold in watershed and medicine and we're all at the forefront of that and I think I'm really blessed and privileged to be able to join on that journey with all of you and I hope we can continue to do this together over the next many years as we really become the leaders of the next generation of healthcare. Thank you. Now this is a picture of this year's recipient.