Advanced Practice Nurse with 27 years of hospital‑grade clinical experience,

international development work, and faculty‑level expertise in functional medicine.

Rita Wadhwani, RN, MSN, ACNP, CNS, RNC‑NIC

Rita Wadhwani is an Advanced Practice Nurse with over 27 years of clinical experience spanning acute care, cardiology, neonatology, and functional medicine. She founded iBiome Health & Wellness to bring hospital‑grade clinical rigor to outpatient functional medicine, with a focus on the gut–immune axis, cardiometabolic health, environmental toxicants, and complex multi‑system conditions.

Her background in high‑acuity hospital environments informs her precision‑driven approach: structured assessment, advanced diagnostics, and clear, evidence‑aligned care plans. Patients who have “tried everything” often seek her out for her ability to identify patterns, connect systems, and bring clarity to complex presentations.

Rita serves as Adjunct Faculty for Gut Health Education (GHE), teaching in their CME‑accredited module, The Gut–Cardiometabolic Connection. In this role, she provides advanced instruction to clinicians on the physiology linking the gut, immune system, and cardiometabolic pathways, with an emphasis on microbiome‑driven mechanisms and evidence‑based clinical application. Her teaching integrates hospital‑grade clinical reasoning with functional medicine diagnostics, helping practitioners translate complex systems biology into clear, actionable patient care.

⭐ A DIFFERENT LEVEL OF FUNCTIONAL MEDICINE

Rita is known for bridging hospital based conventional and functional medicine in a way that is rare.

She integrates:

• Advanced functional diagnostics (GI‑MAP, DUTCH, cardiometabolic, environmental, mycotoxins) with Conventional Lab Testing

• Systems‑based assessment grounded in physiology and your individual biochemistry

• Microbiome‑centered care guided by her long‑standing clinical mantra, “Respect the Microbes”

• Structured, stepwise protocols tailored to each patient’s physiology

• Clear patient education so individuals understand the “why” behind each recommendation

Her approach is not trend‑based, it is clinical, data‑driven, and grounded in decades of experience.

Rita is consistently described as:

• a fierce patient advocate

• a healthcare disruptor

• a systems thinker who sees what others miss

• a clinical educator with a talent for simplifying complexity

• a practitioner with exceptionally high standards

• someone who brings hospital‑level discipline to functional medicine

Her work is defined by clarity, precision, and a deep commitment to patient outcomes.

⭐ EDUCATION & ADVANCED TRAINING

‍ ‍Graduate Education — UCLA School of Nursing

• Master of Science in Nursing (ACNP + CNS Dual Program)

• Outstanding Graduate Student of the Year (across all UCLA graduate school domains)

  • In 2005, Rita was the 1st ever Nurse Recipient of this Award, previously awarded to School of Engineering and Medicine Students. She remains the only Nurse Recipient in the history of UCLA.

• Multiple merit‑based scholarships

‍ ‍Undergraduate Education — UCLA

• Bachelor of Science in Chemistry

• Merit scholarship recipient

‍ ‍Functional Medicine Training

• She has completed 4 out of 7 Modules at the Institute of Functional Medicine:

  • Applying Functional Medicine in Clinical Practice

  • Hormone Advanced Practice Module

  • Environmental Health Module

  • Gastrointestinal Advanced Practice Module

• And Multiple More Educational Modules, full list available in CV

⭐ Licensed Healthcare Practitioner

• Registered Nurse (RN)

• Acute Care Nurse Practitioner (ACNP)

• Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS)

⭐ SPEAKER (INTERNATIONAL, NATIONAL & LOCAL)

• Newborn Microbiome — Synapse Care Solutions Webinar

• Protecting the Newborn Microbiome — AACN Conference

• Functional Medicine Testing Paradigms — IM4US Conference

• Functional Medicine: The OS for Integrative Medicine — UCLA School of Nursing

• Neonatal education series — Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital, Pune, India

• The Functional Medicine NP — Integrative Therapeutics

Rita has participated in the development of neonatal care
programs on two continents.

⭐ HOSPITAL SYSTEMS IMPROVEMENT | International

Pune India 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2007: Rita’s commitment to healthcare
innovation extends beyond the United States. In 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2007,
she contributed to the development of a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)
at Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital & Research Center in her birthplace of Pune, India. This experience provided an early foundation in healthcare systems development and interdisciplinary collaboration that would later inform her work in the design and implementation of neonatal and specialty care programs in the United States.

These experiences shaped her systems-based approach to healthcare, quality improvement, and patient-centered care and advocacy.

Rita has later gone on to serve as a Clinical Nurse Specialist on the interdisciplinary teams that helped develop the first two private-room NICUs in Los Angeles County.

⭐ HOSPITAL SYSTEMS IMPROVEMENT | Local

Rita was a part of the core interdisciplinary team that supported and developed the first two private‑room Neonatal Intensive Care Units in Los Angeles County, and is the only Nurse Leader in Los Angeles County to have participated in both projects:

LA County’s first 2 private-room NICUs:

First at Providence Little Company of Mary and later, after being recruited to support the second LA County private room NICU launch, at Torrance Memorial Medical Center.

Working alongside Hospital Construction & Development, Nursing and Medical departments, she contributed to systems design, clinical workflow planning, policy development, and the integration of evidence‑based neonatal practices into the new private‑room care model.

These projects represented a major shift in regional neonatal care, moving LA County from traditional open‑bay units toward modern, family‑centered, high‑acuity private‑room environments, both located here in the Southbay.

1st, Providence Little Company of Mary,
Torrance, CA 2011

2nd, Torrance Memorial Medical Center,
Torrance CA 2017