Meet the Educators Behind Mold Detox Diet

Dr. Margaret Christensen began her career as a traditionally trained obstetrician-gynecologist. She graduated with honors from Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine, then completed her residency at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. For about ten years she ran a large, busy OB-GYN practice that included nurse-midwives, while also teaching in the hospital's residency program.

Over time, she noticed that many patients kept returning with fatigue and symptoms that didn't fit neatly into one diagnosis. Her own family was facing health challenges too. She is the mother of four children, two of whom have lived with significant special needs into adulthood. These experiences led her to look for root causes, and more than 25 years ago she began studying functional medicine.

For many years, Dr. Christensen has served as faculty for the Institute for Functional Medicine, teaching physicians and practitioners in the United States and abroad. Her teaching focuses on how environmental exposures, nutrition, and lifestyle affect hormone health, brain function, and complex chronic illness.

She hosted the Toxic Mold Summit and the Hormonal Havoc: The COVID Fallout summit, interviewing experts from many fields. She co-authored Birthing A Better Way and wrote a chapter in the textbook Integrative and Functional Medicine Nutrition Therapy. She also mentors clinicians who are new to functional medicine.

Today, she is co-founder of Carpathia Collaborative, a practice that offers whole-person care through a team of providers. Whether she is teaching, writing, or mentoring, her goal is the same: to help people see the larger picture of their health and understand how the pieces fit together.

Dr. Gail Clayton spent more than 25 years as a clinical pharmacist. That work gave her a deep understanding of medications and how they affect the body. It also left her with a question: why were so many people still struggling?

Her own health journey helped her find an answer. Functional nutrition played an important part in her recovery, and the experience inspired her to go back to school. She earned a Master of Science in Human Nutrition, then a Doctorate in Clinical Nutrition from Maryland University of Integrative Health. She is a Certified Nutrition Specialist, a Registered Pharmacist, and a Licensed Dietitian/Nutritionist.

As a clinical nutritionist and pharmacist, Dr. Clayton focuses on biochemistry: how nutrients, metabolism, and the immune system work together inside the body. She has a special interest in organic acids testing, immune signaling, and complex environmental illness, including mold-related illness.

Teaching is at the heart of her work. She is a graduate-level instructor in Functional Biochemistry of Nutrition at the University of Bridgeport. She has created professional courses on organic acids interpretation and mold-related nutrition, and she writes patient-focused books that explain complicated topics in plain language.

At the end of 2025, Dr. Clayton stopped accepting new clinical clients. She continues follow-up care for established clients while focusing on education, teaching, publishing, and mentoring.

Her perspective is different from Dr. Christensen's, and that is why their partnership works. Dr. Christensen brings a physician's view of the whole person. Dr. Clayton adds a close look at the biochemical pathways underneath, helping learners understand why the body may be struggling, not just what to take.