About Seekers » Our Team
Our Team
Dr. Richard Nahas MD
The Seekers Centre was established by Dr. Richard Nahas, a physician with a special interest in combining effective alternative therapies and traditional healing with conventional or 'western' medicine.
Dr. Nahas was born and raised in Ottawa. He studied biochemistry at the University of Ottawa before attending the University of Toronto, where he obtained his medical degree in 1998.
His early professional interest was in international health. This led to short-term medical missions focused on infant diarrhea in Egypt, micronutrient deficiency in the Palestinian Authority and trauma in Johannesburg. He founded the student section of CISEPO, a non-governmental organization dedicated to peace-building in the Middle East through Israeli and Palestinian health partnerships.
After completing a residency program in family medicine, Dr. Nahas spent three years as an ER physician. He worked in a wide range of clinical settings across Canada, from remote rural outposts to academic teaching hospitals. It was during the SARS outbreak of 2003, while treating people with the disease, that he first embraced the principle of treating illness by helping the body heal itself.
He then spent two years traveling abroad. What began as a six-month vacation soon evolved into a self-directed sabbatical in over 30 countries. This included time spent with Amazonian shamans, plant healers from the Andes, Ayurveda training in India and brief encounters with dozens of traditional healers from many parts of the world.
With a renewed calling to medicine and healing, he returned to Ottawa and established the Seekers Centre. He is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Ottawa. He developed and teaches a new curriculum in integrative medicine; this 20-hour introduction to various alternative therapies is now a requirement for all medical students. He has also established the Seekers Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting non-drug therapies through research and education. He has written several peer-reviewed articles and textbook chapters, and speaks at medical conferences worldwide.
Dr. Shadi Nahas PhD - Research Director
Dr. Shadi Nahas (née Monemdjou) received her PhD in biochemistry from the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Medicine, where she published several research papers in the area of insulin resistance in Type 2 Diabetes. This was followed a Post-doctoral Fellowship at the University of Toronto’s Banting and Best Diabetes Research Centre.
Prior to joining the Seekers Centre, Shadi worked for the patent law firm of Smart & Biggar/Fethersonhaugh, providing technical expertise in the area of biotechnology. Shadi has received several awards, including the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine Post-Doctoral Fellowship and the Canadian Diabetes Association Post-Doctoral Fellowship for her research and the Banting and Best Diabetes Centre.
Shadi brings practical experience in the worlds of research and industry to a new mission: putting complementary and alternative medicine on the Canadian healthcare agenda. This is her challenge as the research director of the Seekers Centre. Currently, she is the site research coordinator for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy (TACT) heart study. This is an international multi-million dollar US-funded study which is looking at the use of chelation therapy in people who have heart disease.
Dr. Hamed Sattari - Clinical Associate
Upon his arrival in Canada in 2004, Dr. Sattari joined the Multiple Myeloma group at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, where he worked as Clinical Researcher. In 2006, he moved to Ottawa and joined the University of Ottawa's Department of Surgery, where he was involved in clinical study design. That same year he joined the Seekers Centre team.
Kim Beach - Administrative Associate
Kim is the first voice and face of Seekers. She was abruptly introduced to the world of medicine when one of her children was born with a congenital heart defect, and the miracle of surgery allowed him to live - and showed her what medicine can do. She is now seeing the benefits of the other face of medicine, as she helps patients with their own healing journeys. She makes our patients feel at home and is the first person to hear their questions, calm their worries and share their successes.
Robert Meagher BAA, MBA, CMC - Programming Director
Robert was unexpectedly guided to the Seekers Centre—as if through divine intervention—in late 2009. Robert brings to the Seekers Centre almost 25 years management experience in the arts, financial, not-for-profit, consulting and government sectors. He is an entrepreneur, student, teacher, coach, amateur athlete, published author, and community leader. Just some of his passions include swimming, golf, animals, nature, spirituality, and building community. Robert’s personal mandate and vision of helping to make a difference in the lives of people he lives and works with is beautifully portrayed in his role at the Seekers Centre developing educational offerings to help our patients achieve total health and wellness.