FdSc DipION IFMCP
mIFM mBANT
Meet Robyn Puglia
Robyn is a Clinical Nutritional Therapist with a specialised interest in the Functional Medicine approach to health. Robyn is very involved with the field of Coeliac Disease, Gluten-Reactive Disorders and Autoimmune Disease. Her passion for the healing power of food, has led her to work with complex cases, involving multiple diagnoses, and chronic health issues such as ME, auto-immune diseases and fibromyalgia.
She also has a passion for working with the growing tide of chronic, lifestyle mediated illness, and runs a lifestyle intervention clinic for these issues. Robyn works with patients to nutritionally support their bodies, so that they can heal. She has successfully helped many people around the world improve their health and increase their quality of life.
Robyn has seen clients in London, Tokyo and New York, and now has a virtual practice that allows her to work with people who are unable to visit her in person.
Current Faculty & Clinical Positions
Cyrex Laboratories
VP of Practitioner Education, UK, Ireland & Europe
Cyrex is a functional immunology lab that has been pivotal in changing the global conversation about autoimmune disease and transforming practitioners’ understanding of the role of environment in autoimmunity. Founded around the work of dedicated career immunologists Dr. Aristo Vojdani and Dr Sadi Koksoi, Cyrex bridges the gap between cutting-edge immunology research and clinical practice, creating testing that allows practitioners to understand the immune triggers of individual patients in ways never before possible.
As a clinician with Cyrex since 2013, Robyn brings the practitioner’s perspective to education, explaining what lab results mean and translating findings into actionable clinical strategies. Robyn supports practitioners in choosing appropriate tests, understanding results, and thinking through complex cases.
Regenerus Laboratories
Clinical Education Team
Regenerus is the UK distributor for Cyrex and other leading functional labs, serving as a one-stop shop for practitioners who want to order testing from different companies in one place. As part of their clinical education team, Robyn supports UK practitioners in choosing tests, understanding test results, and applying findings in clinical practice.
Her role focuses on bridging the gap between complex lab data and practical clinical application, helping practitioners navigate everything from test selection to case management. Whether practitioners are new to functional testing or looking to refine their approach to complex autoimmune cases, Robyn provides the education and support needed to serve patients effectively.
Doctor’s Data
Key Opinion Leader
Doctor’s Data is one of the oldest and most respected labs in the functional medicine space. Based in Chicago, they are known for their expertise in stool analysis and metabolic testing, and for maintaining exceptionally high standards. Doctor’s Data doesn’t jump on bandwagons—they wait until the science behind a test is rock solid, then perfect it and create products that are long-lasting and reliable.
As a family-owned company now in its second generation, Doctor’s Data has maintained its integrity and focus on being in service to practitioners and patients rather than shareholders. Robyn serves as a Key Opinion Leader, providing clinical expertise and practitioner education.
Academy for Functional Nutrition & Lifestyle Management (AFNLM)
Distinguished Faculty Member
Founded by Dr. Datis Kharrazian to address a critical gap in evidence-based nutrition education, AFNLM provides comprehensive, systematic nutrition training for healthcare professionals. The academy was created in response to the reality that most healthcare practitioners—from medical doctors to chiropractors—receive inadequate nutrition training and lack the foundation to develop individualized nutritional strategies for their patients’ specific health needs.
This skills-building curriculum equips professionals with evidence-based functional nutrition tools for improved clinical outcomes. Robyn teaches the immune and autoimmune modules for AFNLM and received a Distinguished Faculty Award. As permanent faculty, she supports students through their education journey and facilitates regular webinars throughout the year.
Education & Experience
1996 – 2013
Medical Aesthetics
I started my career working with skin health. In particular people suffering from eczema, skin sensitivity and redness, eczema and rosacea. Eventually the need to better understand these conditions and to work at a deeper level with them, led me to study nutrition and then Functional Medicine.
2005 – 2009
Nutritional Therapy
Studied Nutritional Therapy and Nutrition Science at The Institute for Optimum Nutrition and the University of Bedfordshire
2008 – Present
Lecturing and Educating
I started my public speaking career for the UK supplement company, BioCare with a lecture on skin health. Since then I have given hundreds of presentations for multiple supplements companies, functional testing laboratories, nutrition colleges, BANT and many more. I’m a confident, sought after speaker and educator, known for explaining complex concepts in simple easy to understand terms, and translating the scientific research in to practical clinical practice.
2009 – Present
Clinical Practice
I started my nutritional and FM clinical practice in 2009, first while I was still the practice manager of a medical aesthetic practice in Wimpole St in London, before moving to a sole private practice in multiple locations. I travelled regularly to New York and Tokyo during this time to see clients there also. I took my practice virtual in 2015 when I had my first baby, and it remained virtual so I could see people who needed me but were in pain or fatigued and couldn’t travel. It also allowed me to see people all over Europe and the UK.
2011 – 2016
Functional Medicine
Studied with the Institute for Functional Medicine, completing 7 Advanced Practice Modules before my final exam in 2016 to become one of the first UK certified Functional Medicine Practitioners.
2011
Environmental Health Advanced Practice Module – Institute for Functional Medicine
Applied Functional Medicine in Clinical Practice – Institute for Functional Medicine
2012
Hormone Advanced Practice Module – Institute for Functional Medicine
Immune Advanced Practice Module – Institute for Functional Medicine
2013 - PRESENT
Head of Practitioner Education, Cyrex Laboratories
Since 2013, I have served as the Head of Practitioner Education for Cyrex Laboratories across the UK, Ireland, and Europe, providing comprehensive training on advanced laboratory testing for autoimmune and immune system disorders. My role encompasses educating healthcare practitioners on the clinical application and interpretation of Cyrex’s specialized antibody arrays, presenting at conferences and professional training events, and supporting practitioners in integrating these assessment tools into clinical practice. In 2025, I expanded my role to support practitioner education in the USA, bringing over a decade of experience in translating complex immunology and laboratory science into practical clinical applications for functional medicine practitioners worldwide.
2014
Cardiometabolic Advanced Practice Module – Institute for Functional Medicine
2015
Bioenergetics Advanced Practice Module – Institute for Functional Medicine
GI Advanced Practice Module – Institute for Functional Medicine
2016
Pass Final Exam and achieve Certified Functional Medicine Practitioner
2017 – Present
Created my group practice
Outgrew my capacity for sole trading, and expanded my practice to create my team and created my signature group program, The Foundations of Health.
2019 – Present
Professional mentoring
In response to a need that I saw in the industry in the UK, along with two friends and colleagues, started a professional mentoring program called the Applied Functional Medicine Mentoring Program to support other Nutritional Therapists and physicians who were new to Functional Medicine on all the aspects of clinical practice.
2021
Mould Literacy Training
Certified with Dr Jill Crista as a Mould Literate Practitioner in order to better support people suffering from mould and mycotoxin related illness.
2024- PRESENT
The Autoimmune Academy
In response to the growing complexity of autoimmune cases and the need for specialized clinical training in this area, I created The Autoimmune Academy, a comprehensive 12-month professional mentoring program for healthcare practitioners. This program combines my 15+ years of clinical experience with functional medicine principles to support practitioners in mastering the assessment and management of autoimmune disease. The Academy provides in-depth training on complex case analysis, advanced laboratory interpretation, immune system dysfunction, and the interconnected nature of complex inflammatory conditions. Through monthly masterclasses, case consultations, and clinical resources, I mentor practitioners in developing systematic, evidence-based approaches to supporting patients with autoimmune and chronic inflammatory conditions.
2024 - PRESENT
Core Faculty, The Academy for Functional Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine
I created and delivered the comprehensive Immune System and Autoimmune modules for Dr. Datis Kharrazian’s nutrition education platform, The Academy for Functional Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine. As a member of the core faculty, I contribute to the ongoing development of clinical training programs and support practitioners in applying these principles in practice. In recognition of this work, I received a distinguished faculty award for my contributions to advancing functional medicine education and clinical excellence.
My Story
Many people come to work in this field because of their personal struggles with health.
I was already a nutritionist when my own health bottomed out, but this experience has definitely shaped my practice, and driven my focus on autoimmune disease, complex cases, unexplained illness and all things gluten related.
Coeliac Disease changed my life twice.
The first time was when I was finally diagnosed.
My pre-diagnosis story is quite typical for many with Coeliac Disease.
I had symptoms for two decades, and got progressively more ill during that time.
Like the majority of people with Coeliac Disease, I never had gut-related symptoms. Instead, my symptoms were terrible migraines all through my childhood and adolescence, severe eczema from infancy all the way through till diagnosis and then acne from 13 years old, chronic chest and sinus infections and hay fever, constant iron deficient anaemia that didn’t respond to oral iron therapy, I was underweight, caught everything going around and fatigued easily.
In the two to five years before diagnosis I got progressively more fatigued until every day was a struggle. I was often too tired to speak and I just didn’t get out of bed at all on my days off. I was severely underweight, but partially because I was often too tired to eat. Preferring to just go to bed when I got home from work.
I saw many doctors for the migraines, the eczema, the anaemia and the hayfever and regularly saw my GP where I was given painkillers, steroid creams and was pretty constantly on antibiotics and antihistamines.
My diagnosis finally came when I begged a doctor for help, believing I had cancer or something else equally terrible. I laid out my whole medical history for her – everything I could think of including the small fact that the eczema got a bit better when I avoided wheat.
She said that based on my observations about wheat, and how underweight I was, she would run a blood test for Coeliac Disease and before I even had the blood drawn I just knew that was it.
The test came back positive, I had a biopsy to confirm it and that was it.
I went gluten free and it was like a miracle. My eczema completely cleared up for the first time in my life. The migraines that had plagued me so badly since I was a child – gone. I put on a bit of weight, resumed something of a normal life and didn’t really think much more of it.
About 18 months later I decided to do a degree in nutrition, although that decision wasn’t based on my own health. I was working in medical aesthetics and was looking for answers for my patients with acne and other chronic skin problems.
Fast forward several years, and Coeliac Disease changed my life again.
This time, I had a massive, unintentional gluten exposure at work, and I got sick. Really sick. And I didn’t get better, even when my villi healed and I had addressed the various nutrient deficiencies that invariably come from ‘being glutened’.
Read more
What I learned then was that I didn’t know very much about Coeliac Disease. And I wasn’t alone. The doctors I saw didn’t know how to help me. The other nutritionists I saw at that time were at a bit of a loss also, although in their defence this was before the knowledge about the impact of Coeliac Disease outside the gut, particularly on the brain and nervous system, was as well understood as it is today.
I started reaching out to experts in the USA and other countries. I scoured the medical literature.
I started travelling to America to study with the Institute for Functional Medicine.
I also reached out to the Coeliac community, and I discovered that there where a lot of other people out there who were in the same situation I was.
People who were struggling with their health, or the health of their children, but couldn’t find any answers regarding why they were ill, or what to do about it.
This was when I realized my mission in life: to share my knowledge in order to help people heal.
In the beginning, this was mainly other people with Coeliac Disease, or Gluten-Reactive illness, but to my joy it has expanded out to include other complex cases and unexplained illnesses.
I love to unravel the health stories and the biochemistry to get to the heart of the problem, and to help support nutritional and lifestyle changes that have the ability to transform people’s health.
I will never stop learning, growing and searching for information, because my passion is to help as many people as possible, in as many ways as possible, all around the world.
I have seen incredible changes in the health of my clients, and I hope to do the same for you.
Speaking & Education
Robyn is a highly regarded and sought after speaker and educator in the field of Nutrition and Functional Medicine. She has lectured on such diverse and complex topics as the biochemistry and genetics of the methylation cycle, advanced thyroid health, autoimmunity, skin health and brain health. Some of her most popular presentation have been case studies from her own clinic, as she shares how to skilfully assess and support a client with complex health issues, using the Functional Medicine model.
Robyn Puglia’s media page allows you to access a biography or download a profile photo for use in promotional materials.
Ready to Get Started?
Are you ready to book a Deep Dive appointment with Robyn?
You can also click here to ask questions about working with Robyn and her team or for FAQs.
