Meet Our Team

Dr. Stephanie Canestraro’s journey into Functional Medicine and specializing in the Vagus Nerve started with a painful personal history that ultimately gave her the determination to innovate her field and help others. Persevering through the agony of her health issues, Dr. Canestraro applied what she learned from the top functional medicine professionals to her own symptoms and finally overcame her condition. Whether she’s helping an athlete deal with pressure, recommending a nutrient and supplement regime, or applying one of the numerous treatment methods she’s educated in, Dr. Canestraro is pioneering an overlooked field of Functional Medicine while helping the world’s top sports stars optimize every aspect of their bodies.

Dr. Leah Barbaro received a Doctorate of Chiropractic and with magna cum laude honours from the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College in Toronto, Ontario in June of 2017. She developed and honed her skills during an intensive 4 year program and internship completed at St. Michael’s Family Health Team, CMCC, and an externship done at Total Rehab Clinic in Ajax. 

Prior to this, she obtained an Honours Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology from McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario where she was a Sports Therapist. Here she worked with a variety of athletes including the Women’s Lacrosse, Men’s Rugby, and Men’s Football Teams, and eventually headed up the Sports Therapy Program.

Dr. Leah is certified in Contemporary Neurofunctional Medical Acupuncture through McMaster University, Standard First Aid, and Mental Health First Aid. She is committed to continuing her education and supplementing her current knowledge and skills by taking additional courses. She has also completed Integrated Therapeutics and Integrated Patterning courses through the Integrated Seminar Series, a Functional Biomechanical Assessment Seminar, and Exercise Muscle Testing through SWIS. 

Here is her story:

From a very early age her family promoted healthy clean eating habits, supplements, and alternative forms of medicine. As a child she was taught to think about what types of foods you should put in your body with an emphasis on avoiding highly processed and fast foods. She personally saw alternative healers like naturopaths and reiki practitioners and recognized the benefits her family received from alternative care practitioners. This inspired her passion to help family and close friends as well as the greater community feel more aligned, healthy and whole. She had a strong desire to be a health and wellness professional.

Towards the end of her 4th year of Chiropractic College she met Dr. Stephanie Canestraro through, what some would call, manifestation and fate combined.  Upon meeting there was no question they shared the same passions, desire to help others to feel better and pursuing continued education and practical modalities.  Dr. Leah shadowed Dr. Steph for the remainder of her education and quickly became her trusted colleague. She has worked along-side Dr. Stephanie for 4 years, treating patients with all types of health concerns and high level athletes (professional and semi-professional) with a functional approach to chiropractic. It was through her interaction, discussions, and exposure to clients with Dr. Steph, that Dr. Leah really saw the bigger picture of alternative medicine practices and how to use them to fully treat her patients both from the outside in and inside out: Thus, ignited her curiosity of Functional Medicine.

Dr. Leah is currently completing her certification in Functional Medicine through Functional Medicine University.  She realized the more she treated patients in her Chiropractic practice the more she could analyze and understand how the body works as a whole, which is why Functional Medicine aligns so well.  Dr. Leah believes in a collaborative multi-disciplinary approach to patient-centered care.  Her philosophy is in line with Dr. Stephanie and the Vagus Clinic – heal your gut first and getting to the root cause.

Along with her new found passion of Functional Medicine - she uses a diverse clinical approach to treatment which combines traditional chiropractic care with acupuncture, cupping, athletic taping, instrument-assisted soft tissue therapy, myofascial release techniques, supplements and exercise therapy. 

Amelia started in the fitness Industry in 2009 as a Certified Personal Trainer through canfitpro, with a certification in Exercise Nutrition through Precision Nutrition, and is a certified Integrative Health Practitioner through the Integrative Health Practitioner Institute.

Amelia’s journey into the field of Functional Medicine began in January 2018, when she began to present worrying symptoms. Within a few short months, her symptoms and health began to deteriorate rapidly, and after months of countless specialist appointments, and many tests, Amelia ended up defeated and discouraged with no answers or diagnosis. Like many, Amelia was consistently dismissed and gaslighted, “it’s all in your head”, by physicians simply because the results showed no true signs of illness or explanations for the symptoms that she was enduring.

Amelia quickly began to realize that a western approach was not the means to help heal her symptoms, so she took matters into her own hands. By doing her own research she realized that finding the root cause of her symptoms through a Functional Medicine approach was going to be the way she could find healing and holistic solutions to her symptoms.

Through a referral, she began working with Dr. Stephanie Canestraro at the Vagus Clinic as a client. With Dr. Canestraro’s testing, supplement and diet protocols, advice, ongoing education, and support, Amelia was ultimately able to find the root causes of her symptoms and began her healing journey. She put a lot of focus, time, and patience into rebuilding and reclaiming her health, and ultimately became very passionate about helping others who have gone through a similar journey as herself.

In June 2020, Amelia began to work as a Health Coach for the Vagus Clinic and continues in her studies of health and wellness. It is her mission to help others find the root causes of their symptoms, identify roadblocks that may be in the way of healing, and provide health education and empowerment so clients can take action in their own health journeys, and learn to live in optimal health even after their program is complete.

Farah Zipursky graduated from Western University with a Bachelor of Global Development but always knew that her passion was in health and wellness. This led her to become a Holistic Nutritionist graduating from the Canadian School of Natural Nutrition.

Farah is now becoming a Functional Medicine Practitioner through the School of Applied Functional Medicine as a way to continue to expand her knowledge and continue her education. Functional medicine has not only allowed Farah to live her life optimally but has become her way of life. It is her passion. She believes feeling your best is the greatest and most important gift in our lives. This is why Farah wants to pass this knowledge on to others who are suffering. Through the functional medicine lens, we listen to our patients and see each patient as an individual. This is not a “one size fits all” approach. When meeting with a patient we consider the vast interactions among genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors that may influence their health in both complex and chronic cases.

Farah met Dr. Stephanie Canestraro and the Vagus Clinic by becoming a patient herself. Before working with Dr. Stephanie, she had been battling her own health issues and had seen several doctors and practitioners but none that were addressing her underlying issues. It was Dr. Stephanie’s tenacity and determination to heal Farah’s health issues that made the Vagus Clinic really stand out to her.

Farah has been working with patients alongside other health care practitioners for the last 5 years and continues to notice the drastic change in people’s lives. Understanding firsthand what it feels like to go through life unwell and dealing with the constant uncertainty of what to do next is the reason why Farah does what she does. Farah’s life mission is to make sure her patients not only get well but stay well.