For a long time, genetic conditions were treated as a verdict. As if a diagnosis, a family history, or a lab result quietly closes the door on what’s possible.

I see it every day. People sitting across from me asking, “Is this just how my body is? Is my family history my future? If this is genetic, does anything I do actually matter?”

And the truth is, the answer isn’t a simple yes or no. Genetics matter, and inflammatory and allergic conditions really are part of how we’re wired.

But here’s what often gets missed. Genetics may load the risk, but they don’t automatically determine how life plays out.

I’ve cared for patients with the same diagnosis, similar histories, and even similar genetic risk, and their day-to-day reality can look completely different. And it’s not because one tried harder or had “better” genes.

It usually comes down to one thing - lifestyle intervention.

Lifestyle doesn’t change DNA, but it does influence how the body responds to a genetic risk. So the real question isn’t “Are genetics destiny?” It’s “How much room is there to work with what I’ve been given?”

In this episode, I reflect on what it actually means to live with a genetically driven condition, how to stop chasing cures, and start working with your body for better long-term results.

Things You’ll Learn In This Episode

Genetics explains risk, not destiny

Many immune and inflammatory conditions are genetically driven, but why do people with the same diagnosis experience vastly different severity and stability?

Lifestyle doesn’t cure disease, but it regulates expression

Sleep, stress, food, and movement don’t change DNA, but how do they influence which inflammatory pathways get turned up or quieted?

Stability is not failure; it’s progress

Why do we chase cures in conditions that require management, and what happens when we redefine success as fewer flares, better control, and improved quality of life?

Precision beats perfection in chronic immune health

If moderation doesn’t work for everyone, how do we learn to set boundaries that respect our unique biology instead of fighting it?

About Your Host

Hosted by Dr. Deepa Grandon, MD, MBA, a triple board-certified physician with over 23 years of experience working as a Physician Consultant for influential organizations worldwide. Dr. Grandon is the founder of Transformational Life Consulting (TLC) and an outspoken faith-based leader in evidence-based lifestyle medicine.

Disclaimer

​​TLC presents this podcast as a means of information sharing only. This information is not intended to be medical advice or to replace the judgment of a licensed physician. TLC is not responsible for any claims related to procedures, professionals, products, or methods discussed in the podcast, and it does not approve or endorse any products, professionals, services, or methods that might be referenced.

For years, we’ve treated chronic inflammation, allergies, autoimmune disease, and immune dysfunction as separate problems. But it’s becoming clearer that many of these conditions share a common root hiding in plain sight: the gut microbiome.

We now understand that the microbes living inside us shape immune tolerance, inflammation, and long-term disease risk, and even how well medications work.

But despite hundreds of thousands of microbiome studies, most clinicians and patients are still operating in the dark. Because the microbiome isn’t just complex; it’s too complex for the human brain alone.

No clinician can synthesize hundreds of thousands of studies, track millions of microbial data points, and simultaneously account for diet, fiber, sleep, stress, exercise, antibiotics, and immune signaling. That’s where AI-driven platforms like Jona come in.

It can now analyze massive microbiome datasets across hundreds of thousands of studies, and translate that complexity into individualized, actionable insight. We can use it to detect immune-risk patterns early and model lifestyle interventions before they’re ever implemented.

How can we use AI to detect immune-risk patterns early and model lifestyle interventions before they’re ever implemented? How might AI change the way we diagnose and test for immune dysfunction, long before disease becomes obvious?

What happens when microbiome data and AI-guided lifestyle interventions start working together, instead of in isolation?

In this episode, I’m joined by medical AI pioneer and founder of Jona Health, Dr. Leo Grady. He has spent decades building machine-learning systems for medicine and is now applying that same rigor to the gut microbiome.

We talk about how his platform reads the entire body of microbiome science, detects immune-risk signatures before symptoms ever appear, and simulates lifestyle interventions before a person makes a single change.

Things You’ll Learn In This Episode

The microbiome may shape immune destiny

Most immune-related conditions show distinct microbial patterns long before symptoms appear. If we can see immune risk early, why are we still waiting to intervene?

AI turns lifestyle advice into precision medicine

Diet, fiber, exercise, sleep, stress, and supplements all change the microbiome, but not in the same way for everyone. How does Jona allow people to test interventions virtually before trying them in real life?

More probiotics aren’t always better

Some microbes have a “sweet spot,” not a simple more-is-better rule. How often are well-meaning supplements pushing people in the wrong direction?

The future of prevention may start in the gut, not the clinic

From allergies to biologics to chronic disease management, the microbiome may soon guide treatment selection itself. Will AI-powered gut testing become as routine as blood work?

Guest Bio

Leo Grady, PhD, is the founder and CEO of Jona, a health technology company that utilizes artificial intelligence to analyze the gut microbiome and provide personalized health insights. Leo is an internationally recognized AI and healthcare innovator with over 20 years of experience, known for leading the development of FDA-approved AI technologies in pathology, cardiology, radiology, and now spearheading microbiome-based health solutions at Jona. To learn more, visit jona.health and follow @jonahealth.

About Your Host

Hosted by Dr. Deepa Grandon, MD, MBA, a triple board-certified physician with over 23 years of experience working as a Physician Consultant for...

Christmas is a magical, busy season of joy and celebration. It's so easy to get caught up in all the festivities and excitement that we don't pause long enough to consider what the Christmas story is actually about.

Because if you look closely, the story of Christ's birth challenges our assumptions about power, generosity, status, and what it actually means to reflect the heart of God.

The nativity isn't merely a sentimental moment; it is God intentionally choosing the margins, stepping into human vulnerability, and redefining what greatness looks like.

And if we let it, that truth forces us to ask harder questions about the way we show up for others, especially the overlooked, the lonely, and the forgotten.

The first Christmas wasn't designed around abundance, convenience, or comfort. It unfolded in obscurity, among shepherds no one valued, in a manger no one wanted, to a young woman no one expected.

And the people who recognized Jesus first weren't the powerful. They were the poor, the humble, the ones most longing for God to break into their story.

Christmas, then, isn't about what we receive; it's about what we can give. How do we let the generosity of God shape the generosity we extend? Beyond celebrating Emmanuel, how do we embody Emmanuel for others?

In this episode, I'm joined by Rev. Dr. Emily Gierer, a pastor, educator, and spiritual leader who has spent nearly two decades guiding students, families, and faith communities.

Together, we explore why the true meaning of Christmas has far less to do with tradition…and far more to do with transformation.

Things You'll Learn In This Episode

God's Upside-Down Kingdom God chooses shepherds, not kings, to receive the first announcement of Christ's birth. What does that tell us about the kind of people God notices first?

Generosity Was Never Meant to Be Comfortable The incarnation is the ultimate act of sacrificial giving. How does Jesus' costly example redefine the way we think about giving our time, resources, and talents?

Why Loneliness Intensifies During Christmas "God with us" is not poetic language; it's God stepping into human fear, abandonment, and suffering. What would it look like to embody that same presence for someone who feels unseen this season?

How to Teach Children a Different Kind of Christmas Kids are shaped more by what we model than what we say. How do families train children to value compassion over accumulation in a culture obsessed with getting?

About the Guest

Rev. Dr. Emily Gierer serves as the co-Lead Pastor of St. Timothy's Church in Storrs, Connecticut, where she guides worship, preaches regularly, disciples students, and develops spiritual formation initiatives. With a Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut, a Master of Divinity from Yale Divinity School, and a Doctor of Ministry from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, Emily has almost two decades of pastoral leadership and campus ministry experience at the University of Connecticut. In addition to her pastoral work, Emily teaches in the English Department at the University of Connecticut, offering courses in American literature, women's literature, and Biblical literature. Together with Dr. Jana Holiday, she will also launch and co-lead Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary's new Doctor of Ministry track, Women in Leadership, beginning in July 2027. Emily and her husband, Vince, live and minister in Connecticut with their two young daughters.

Ways to give this Christmas

https://www.st-timothys-storrs.org/