Provider Team

Dr. Bret Gerber MD

I came to Integrative Medicine through a long-time commitment to listening and learning from the needs of my patients. I was first introduced to alternative and complementary medical treatments in my undergraduate work at the University of Michigan. I never forgot learning about chi, chakras, yin and yang energy, and meridians. I experienced forms of energy medicine and mind-body medicine first-hand that at the time were just starting to be studied by the scientific method. I continue to seek out these experiences, practice yoga and am mindful of my dosha and food sensitivities.

I have served the San Diego community for over 25 years in pediatrics and have been complimented on my nurturing passion and natural healing way with children and their families. Beginning my practice with the underserved community, I learned things from grandmothers which were never taught in medical school. Their natural remedies seemed to work better than what I had to offer from Western medicine but with no side effects. I was mindful of their wisdom and respectful of their culture. It wasn’t for years until I really understood and embraced that they had a better way, as all my training was failing to make babies feel as good as a little chamomile tea.

In 2017 I started an Integrative Medicine Fellowship with AIHM. At this time I also began to work again with Dr. Renee, under whom I had studied 25 years earlier during my residency at UCSD. She had also come to Integrative Medicine and the two of us became fast friends, and embarked on the adventure to open Pacific Integrative Pediatric Health (PIPH).

I am providing pediatric care primarily as a Western-trained physician for acute and preventive care, vaccines, safety and guidance and then expanding more with nutrition, safe herbal treatments, vitamins, and other techniques I’ve incorporated. When appropriate I recommend integrative care for children within the office and with vetted colleagues around the county.  In my spare time I sing with a large chorus, participate in spiritual practice, and have a knack for gardening, especially orchids.

It is with great excitement and pride that Dr. Renee and I have brought together so many talented professionals to serve children and their families. At PIPH we endeavor to support the whole child and the whole family, body, mind, and spirit.

BRET ROBERT GERBER M.D — CV.  Click to view and print PDF

Dr. Renee McLeod PhD, APRN, CPNP

I have been a pediatric nurse practitioner for over 40 years. I am married to a retired Navy Dentist and raised 2 children and have 5 grandchildren. My husband’s career gave me the opportunity to practice in 8 states and live 3 years in the Philippines where I studied the Faith Healers.  This ignited a lifelong passion to learn about the health care practices of other cultures and some of the many places we have traveled include China, Tibet, Singapore, Russia, South Korea, and India where I have lectured and learned. During these years of practice, I specialized in pediatric dermatology and infectious disease in pediatric primary care. I started 3 private practices including one with a midwife providing home births. I have spent the last 30 years practicing in San Diego while I added teaching, research, and academic administration to my experiences.

I became a nurse practitioner because I am passionate about helping families develop healthy lifestyle practices that prevent disease and allow children to grow up to be healthy, productive adults.  My own health challenges and my study of traditional healing methods led me to get advanced training in Ayurvedic medicine and certification as a “Healthy, Happy, Mother Baby” Ayurvedic provider. I truly practice what I preach, using daily routine, meditation, water aerobics, reading and gluten-free whole food plant-based cooking as ways to stay balanced.  I have wanted to create a new model of health and healing for children that combined the best evidence-based practices using teachings from both Western and traditional medicine for years.  PIPH is the answer to that dream.

Support Team

Dawn Bohn | Yoga

I was an early childhood educator for over a decade, a holistic health nut for as long as I could remember, and a practitioner of yoga for over 20 years. Since being a teacher isn’t the healthiest job, as we are often overworked and underpaid, I put a lot of focus on my health in order to feel balanced. My passion for health and a balanced lifestyle came through in my teachings with the children; yoga and meditation was a regular part of our day, all of my students loved peeling and cutting fruits and vegetables, and we always had a lavish herb garden in full bloom!

As good of an academic teacher as I was, I was always more of a social/emotional teacher, which became apparent while teaching throughout the pandemic. I was able to see first hand the overall effect the pandemic had on children, as well as adults. At that time it seemed like no matter what I did wasn’t enough to combat the negative impact the pandemic was putting on the health of those around me, as well as myself.

I began diving deeper into herbal medicine, homeopathy, acupuncture, and different styles of yoga. Knowing the healing benefits of yoga, combined with my long term desire to deepen my practice and learn more about integrative medicine, I quit working at the school and began my path towards a more holistic career.

Within that year I completed my CYT200hr Yoga & Meditation Teacher Training, Children’s Yoga Teacher Training, Intensive Yoga Mentorship program, as well as an additional Meditation program. I quickly began creating and teaching children’s yoga programs to children of all ages. It wasn’t long before I was teaching yoga to everyone from ages 2-72! As soon as I met Dr. Bret and Dr. Renee I knew working with them was the next step on my path. I feel truly grateful to have found them and be part of such an amazing team with a wonderful mission!

Jordan Kownacki | Artist

 I create bold escapes in the form of Epoxy Resin artwork, influenced by the multifaceted and unpredictable features of the sea and nature. My passionate and curious approach to capturing the essence of nature involves edgy color and medium combinations and results in eye-popping, dynamic realism. My unique style allows the freedom of personality and individualism to coexist with the familiarity of the ocean and nature. Life has challenged me with severe trauma that tested me physically and emotionally. Still, art has always provided a safe place for me to escape and be consumed in a completely different world. Epoxy resin’s unpredictability often comforts me because the curveballs I’ve experienced have also been unpredictable. I’m an adventurer and love being alone, or with a loved one in nature for the calm it provides me. Capturing this feeling in my artwork truly gives me purpose. I want other people to feel that calm too. Working with bold and vibrant colors is what I grew up experimenting with, whether it was my hair color, nails, the color of my walls, tattoos… I always like it bold and beautiful. I genuinely feel that incorporating these elements into my artwork gives my pieces an exquisite and powerful beauty.

Sarah Gordon | Certified Teacher of the Transcendental Meditation Program

As part of the diverse group that Dr. Bret and Dr. Renee have put together at PIPH, I am delighted to offer instruction in the Transcendental Meditation™ technique, a powerful, evidence-based and uniquely effective meditation practice for children and adults. Integrative care for families is a solid basis for happy relationships and healthy development, and the inclusion of Transcendental Meditation is a profound enhancement.

Raised and educated in New York City, I received a BA (State University of
NY) and MA (Columbia University-Teachers College) in education. At age 22 I learned the Transcendental Meditation technique and thereafter was certified to teach TM to others. To this day I consider learning TM the best thing I ever did for myself!

Transitioning from my decades of work in private practice as a Learning Specialist for children and adults, over the past ten years I have focused my attention on bringing the TM technique to a diverse population, including an ongoing tuition-reimbursed course for frontline Scripps Healthcare
employees.

TM is simple, natural, effortless and effective. It expands our consciousness, clears our stress and helps us become the best version of ourselves. For children, TM helps them focus when they need to, relax when they want to, and feel happier, calmer, and more in control.

Guiding others to reduce stress and anxiety, to bring out the creativity and energy within them, and to experience profound peace is a source of great joy and fulfillment for me. Please feel free to reach out for more specifics. I’m happy to serve PIPH clients in this way!

Lisa Drew | Certified Nutritionist & Integrative Health Coach

Hey there! I’m Lisa Drew, owner of WellFit Fusion by Lisa Drew Wellness. I am a Certified Nutritionist, Holistic Health and Wellness Coach, and Personal Chef. I help women and families learn how to live their best lives in mind, body, and spirit and help nourish, heal and grow in all aspects of life. My holistic and realistic approach to healthy living, I help you and your family thrive.

I am originally from the East Coast. My son and I moved to California in 2018 and San Diego in 2020 when the pandemic hit. I have two amazing kids who are now young adults in their 20s. I have been in the health and fitness world for over 20yrs. I grew up having asthma and other auto-immune issues that I wasn’t aware of until I was an adult. In 2009, I became a certified nutritionist, mainly to figure out what was wrong with me physically and raise my kids as healthy as possible. I started Lisa Drew Wellness in 2010 to help people realize that not only is food medicine but also to teach “healthy doesn’t mean boring” and other aspects of healthy living such as relationships, career, finances, and more.

As a domestic abuse survivor, one of my greatest joys is teaching women and young people how to live a healthy life in mind, body, and spirit and help them become the best version of themselves. My motto is “Life is a journey… live healthy along the way!”

Tracy Childs | Vegan, Whole-Food, & Plant Based Cooking Instructor

Tracy has been a vegan for decades, thriving in this conscious, compassionate, mindful lifestyle and whole-food, plant-based way of eating. But she still remembers the transition and the steps taken to get there! She is an expert in plant-based nutrition and food preparation and a certified Nutritional Consultant. She finds it truly rewarding to share her knowledge and love of food, building community, and empowering others to achieve and maintain their health goals through healthier lifestyle choices. She specializes in helping others make food and diet choices for weight loss, disease prevention and control.

She co-founded Veg Appeal and has taught Dr. Neal Barnard’s Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) Food for Life course for cancer prevention and survival since 2005, helping scores of San Diegans with her teaching. She contributed over 100 recipes to David Kater’s Handbook to Higher Health Consciousness and is co-founder of the local nonprofit support group (since 2015), PlantDiego.

Sofia Puerta Webber BA | Founder Shiwido

Sofía Puerta Webber BA, initiated in The Zen Buddhism tradition in 2005. Certified Yoga Teacher in 2008. Yoga master in 2010 and trauma oriented yoga in 2019. Sofía is a Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) teacher from UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness and she is the creator of Shiwido™ the toy with exercise in mind.

Sofia has been teaching for over 16 years to children and people of all ages and conditions, in hospitals, senior centers, schools and universities and people with depression, anxiety and chronic pain. Sofía is convinced that yoga, meditation and mindfulness are the best medicines, when practiced daily with love, care and commitment.