Olivier Barré PhD Biochemistry, TCM

Dr. Olivier Barré earned a PhD in Biochemistry/Biomedicine with honors from the University of Bern (Switzerland) where he worked on copper homeostasis in bacteria and humans.
Olivier continued in a postdoctoral position at UBC, doing research on breast and prostate cancer. At a young age, he developed an intrigue and passion for Chinese Medicine. Olivier decided to change his career path and obtained his Traditional Chinese Medicine Practitioner (RTCMP) Diploma from the International College of TCM of Vancouver.
Olivier fulfilled his dream of opening his own integrated practice Downtown, Vancouver 2016 and works as a TCM Practitioner. His vision has always been to combine his western science background with the natural holistic approach of Traditional Chinese medicine. Olivier teaches Biological Chemistry and Body Metabolism at the Institute of Holistic Nutrition’s Vancouver campus.

  • BC 001 Biological Chemistry

    This introduction to chemistry will aid understanding towards the nature of atomic structure, qualitative chemical reactions and how they originate in our environment and other living organisms. This course will also cover nomenclature, isomerism, main functional groups, properties and characteristics of organic compounds including an introduction to the physical, structural and biological properties of carbohydrates, proteins, lipids and nucleic acids.

  • BM 002 Body Metabolism

    Nutrition is intimately linked with body metabolism. The goal of this course is to give you an understanding of what the body does with the food we eat. We begin with a detailed study of enzymes including the importance of vitamins and minerals. We then examine metabolic reactions used to obtain energy from carbohydrates, protein and fat as well as reactions used to rid our body of wastes such as urea and uric acid. The key role of the liver in metabolism will be emphasized throughout the course. Other topics will include digestive hormones, production of lactic acid, lipid carriers and the effects of low carbohydrate diets, including the effect on insulin/glucagon ratio, gluconeogenesis, ketosis and more.