Dr. Eeks: Not made in a lab nor a star of a scifi series (yet)
(Yes, it’s a nickname.)
You can read my book Manic Kingdom here (fair warning: it’s fictionalized but based on a true story and it is not a comfortable read. It’s an uncomfortable read.)
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Good Mantras to live by:
“When you can’t laugh, laugh.”
“The truth sits alone at lunch.”
“Never get in a tinkling contest with a skunk.”
“The art of war is winning without firing a shot.”
“It’s better to be alone than wish you were.”
“Never take for granted that people understand you.”
“What matters is who you are today. Not who you were in the past.”
“I’m not everyone’s cup of tea…but I’m someone’s 5AM shot of Apple Cider Vinegar.”
(The writings & opinions on this website are my own (Dr. Eeks) and not reflective of anyone I work or consult for.)
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FYI: For the blog, I write the blogs that are NOT listed in the “Other-Ad” category. The “Other-Ad” category in the blog section is MOSTLY advertisement blogs written to promote specific links. They support my dog Barnaby’s treat habit, my frozen yogurt habit and the Causes or Cures podcast. I do not scientifically review any of them and from the ones I have read, they are usually terrible. But the dog needs his treats.
Now for a Chat-GPT assisted bio:
Background: Eeks grew up in a small town called Trucksville, attending Catholic school and earning the title of high school valedictorian. Most of her days were filled with playing soccer, getting into trouble, violin lessons, Krav Maga, and trespassing on adjacent farms to run and hide in the corn stalks. (Truly a child of the corn.) With a veterinarian father, animal rescue became second nature. Her childhood was peppered with memorable moments, from transfusing the family’s hemophiliac dog on the dining room table to collecting roadkill for Nevermore, the family’s raven. Nevermore, grounded by a hunter’s bullet despite several surgeries, lived in a backyard flight pen and had a special love for groundhog—he’d lose his mind with excitement whenever one was brought home. (You’re welcome for that mental image.)
Somehow, this small-town troublemaker ended up graduating from a well-known military academy on the esteemed Hudson River, where she was recruited to play Division 1 soccer for the Lady Knights. There, she majored in both chemistry and environmental engineering, ran on the marathon team (it beat drill), and was commissioned an Army officer. Along the way, she taught bayonet and close-quarter combat to fellow cadets (yes, she got dropped on her head more than a few times) and painted the female latrine in Bradley Barracks a bold hot pink—though she suspects the Higher-Ups have since reverted it to regulation beige.
Health Stuff:
She eventually earned a Global Health Leadership Scholarship to NYU, where she received her MPH with a focus on global health and epidemiology. She also completed and earned an MD, though she doesn’t practice medicine. Realizing patient care wasn’t for her, she quickly learned that happiness in a career comes from doing what you truly want—so, her advice? Choose a career you’re passionate about, not one you feel pressured into.
Somewhere along the way, she discovered a stronger passion for preventing diseases before they start, making public health a natural fit. During her time in public health school, she worked on a fascinating research project with an organization focused on modeling and predicting emerging infectious diseases worldwide. Her curiosity around how human interaction with other species and the environment can spark new health challenges continues to drive her interest in public health.
Lately, she works as a public health contractor at the federal level, thriving in the creativity and variety of her projects. She’s excited to tackle some of the most pressing public health threats of our time. (Curious about specific projects? Just ask.) Her recent work includes supporting the COVID-19 response at the federal level, designing global immunization frameworks and reports for underdeveloped countries so they can better respond to outbreaks, and designing and testing health comms. interventions for at-risk and marginalized populations during infectious disease outbreaks. (She’s also been involved in efforts like the Drug-Free Communities (DFC) initiative and Overdose Prevention initiative in response to the ongoing Opioid Epidemic in the US.)
Before diving into her current projects, Dr. Eeks spent several years managing the evidence base for a global digital health company based in London and NYC. This company used innovative approaches like gaming and digital CBT to create cost-effective, population-level interventions for addictions, obesity, phobias, anxiety, depression, and chronic illnesses. With programs running in the US, UK, Ireland, Scotland, Australia, and Israel, they achieved impressive recovery rates. While she values the scalability and creativity of digital interventions, Dr. Eeks believes they need to be balanced with the essential human connection that face-to-face interaction—and even a little human touch—can provide.
Work Together?
If you are interested in public health consulting, qualitative or quantitative data analysis or health communications work, you can learn more about what she does here or please email her directly at: erin@bloomingwellness.com.
If you are interested in being a guest on the Causes or Cures Podcast, email me at: erin@bloomingwellness.com.
Random Tidbits:
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You’ll most likely find her exploring new places, wellness trends, working out outdoors, or hiking in the woods.
Dr. Eeks laughs a lot, often when it’s inappropriate, and writes health jokes just ‘cuz. If you’re unsure, ask before you take her seriously.
Her dog Barnaby is the best. He is the Chief Everything Officer (CEO) of Blooming Wellness.
She’s a fatalist. The good news about being a fatalist is that you know it will end soon.
She’s been told that she’s on the spectrum. Aren’t we all???? (Like if you aren’t on the spectrum, where are you?)
She has asthma that developed in her early twenties after a weird virus. It sucks but she makes the best of it using a combination of conventional medicine and quackery.
She loves to write.
Dr. Eeks practices minimalism. (Furniture…what?) She wishes minimalism was cool when she was poor. Then she could have said she was a minimalist, not poor.
As a hobby, she likes to study the medicinal nature of plants & herbs.
Her favorite hobbies include: adventuring, running, soccer, krav maga, coffee-fueled conversations, swimming, yoga (including face yoga and laughter yoga!), playing the violin, podcasting, meditation, reading, soccer, finding the humor in life, interval training, writing, animal rescue, gardening and bird-watching.
She is a BIG live theatre fan and will almost always go to a play. Also, a huge Grateful Dead fan.
She’s known for turning pathos into humor and mastering the mundane. It’s a shit, short world, have some fun.
She’s played the violin for years and started when she was 6 in the Catholic choir. Everyone in her family plays a musical instrument, except mom. She yells a lot though, and sometimes it’s even in tune. Her father is a professional trombonist, when he’s not at the animal practice.
Her father is a wildly popular veterinarian.
Her favorite diet is whatever she wants…in moderation. ;) She practices intermittent fasting. She also overcame bulimia (nearly killed her) and is open to discussing that fight with anyone and sharing what worked for her. The character in her book Manic Kingdom had bulimia, and it’s meant to show how bad it can get and the spiral that can engulf you.
She gets up really early and goes to bed early. Not much for parties.
She follows a very strict wellness routine. It annoys her too. She doesn’t promote any supplements, because at the end of the day, the field is too unregulated for an endorsement. It’s like the “EAT ME” scene in Alice in Wonderland.
She dislikes censorship, because she thinks it ultimately does more harm than good in a democracy, and we are better off teaching people how to think critically about any and all information. In the digital age, it’s impossible to try to control everything a person reads or sees. Plus, critical thinking is very vintage these days, as is listening. Let’s work on building those critical thinking and listening skills.
She doesn’t like loud noises or loud conversations. Noise pollution is legit.
She thinks Big Pharma has way too much power & influence over health policy, public health & healthcare and strongly feels that research agendas need to focus more on prevention.
She’s left-handed, and as all of the soccer coaches she’s played against know, very left-footed on the field as well.
She loves the game of soccer & was a Division 1 soccer recruit in college. Her travel team, the Dragons, was one of the best in the state of PA. Talk about great memories. :)
She despises factory farms. My God, they are horrid.
Most of Dr. Eeks’ charitable causes involve animals, mainly because they are better than humans. #justsayin
She thinks we take life too seriously. I mean, when the sun melts and kills Earth (or a nuke does it first), who gives a shit about your trophies, looks, salary or credentials? Plus, think about all the life in space…yet to be discovered by us…that probably flies by Earth and thinks, “What idiots.”
Intellectual humility goes a long way.
She doesn’t really believe in time or age, and if those are delusional beliefs, she’s cool with’em.
She believes in a higher power or at least is very, very hopeful.
Love is everything.
The Causes or Cures Podcast:
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In 2019, Dr. Eeks launched her health podcast, Causes Or Cures, from the bathroom of her NYC apartment—because, surprisingly, it was the only quiet spot. She had no experience with recording or editing, but she was determined to connect with doctors and researchers and make science more accessible to everyone, whether you’re a science nerd or not. After teaching herself the basics of editing and hosting, she was ready to hit “record” and invited you to join her.
The podcast is a true passion project—organic and far from a fancy studio production—but it saw tremendous growth during the pandemic. The goal has always been to feature experts, researchers, and occasionally a dissenter or two, on timely (and sometimes controversial) health topics. The focus is on making complex science easy to understand for all listeners. Dr. Eeks has been fortunate to host brilliant guests from around the world.
But a word of caution: it’s not health advice. If you take everything you hear as advice and run with it, this probably isn’t the podcast for you. Causes Or Cures is about sparking curious, balanced conversations for curious minds. So, take a listen—and enjoy the ride!
PHILOSOPHY STUFF:
Dr. Eeks is deeply passionate about promoting common-sense health and wellness, driven by a fire to empower people from all walks of life to take control of their health, make positive lifestyle changes, and live happier, more fulfilling lives. She firmly believes that anyone—no matter their budget—can lead a healthier life. That’s why she gets frustrated when wellness is often marketed as a luxury brand filled with expensive products, supplements, detoxes, cleanses, and retreats. For her, wellness needs to be more inclusive. After all, research shows that people with lower incomes often face more health challenges than those with higher incomes. Making wellness accessible and affordable is one of her core public health goals with this website.
Healing can be approached in many ways: some focus on the body, others on the mind or spirit, and some emphasize the mind-body connection. Dr. Eeks prefers to take a holistic approach, focusing on the connection between mind, body, and spirit. And while it may not be the trendiest viewpoint, she does believe in a Higher Power guiding that connection.
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Dr. Eeks has a fondness for making quirky wellness videos for her Instagram feed and blogging about her health adventures, while having a natural love for irreverent, blue-collar comedy. She curses, sorry. She’s very interested in how health information is relayed to people and how it is interpreted. She thinks effective, positive, honest, creative communication is Public Health 101, because getting through is 90% of the battle, right?
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Feel free to follow her on Twitter too. She tries to stay away from politics, but, you know, sometimes it’s hard. And she has a bad habit of posting pictures on Twitter and trying to turn it into Instagram.
