Why Adding Ava Helen to the Linus Pauling Award Means So Much to Me
and Why It Signals Social Change
Deanna Minich, PhD, IFMCP
June 12, 2025
Receiving the Linus and Ava Helen Pauling Award from the Institute for Functional Medicine this year was an unexpected and deeply meaningful honor. Of course, I’m grateful for the recognition. But what makes it especially impactful for me, and even all of us, is the decision to honor Ava Helen alongside Linus in the naming of this award.
She’s often remembered as the woman behind the man, quietly supporting Linus’s groundbreaking work. But the truth is, she was so much more than that: Ava Helen was his compass, his conscience, and a powerful voice in her own right, for civil rights, women’s empowerment, and social justice. Including her name isn’t just symbolic. It reflects a broader truth: that progress, whether in health, science, or society, is shaped by the integration of both masculine and feminine forces. By honoring Ava Helen, we acknowledge that the full spectrum of truth, healing, and transformation comes when both energies are present: reason and intuition, logic and compassion, precision and creativity.
We often state that Functional Medicine is both an art and a science. However, it wasn’t until later in life that I began to realize the depth of my connection to both. What once felt like separate worlds —analytical thinking and creative insight —began to reveal themselves as deeply intertwined. They were not opposing ideologies meant to create conflict, but two complementary energies. When I paused and truly listened, I found that this integration offered profound insight, not just into health, but into myself and the broader rhythms of life and the universe.
And now, we’re at a pivotal moment in the evolution of women’s health. After generations of being overlooked, misunderstood, or pushed to the margins of medical research and care, women’s unique health needs are finally being seen in full color. From hormonal balance and fertility to menopause, mental health, and aging, this long-overdue attention is more than just welcome - it has the power to create a new evolution of understanding the feminine within us all. It’s changing the narrative—from the medicalization of a natural journey that sees women’s bodies as problems to be solved, to one that sees them as intelligent systems, capable of adaptation, resilience, and inherent wisdom that can be nourished and supported.
In many ways, allopathic medicine has been shaped by a patriarchal lens—one that prioritizes control over collaboration, and pathology over potential. Functional Medicine offers a different perspective. One that is inherently more feminine and matriarchal in spirit—founded in listening, discovering the root cause, systems thinking, and the honoring of each individual, alongside a bedside manner of empathy, compassion, and love.
This vision has guided my work for decades, and I have several women in my life who have brought to the forefront their “behind the scenes” support, including my grandmother, mother, and sister. Through my full-spectrum approach to health, I've always believed in addressing the whole person–physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually by connecting the dots between nutrition, lifestyle, emotional well-being, and a sense of purpose. The Rainbow Diet, and my research on phytonutrients, emerged from this belief: that color is more than just visual—it’s palpable in its biochemical, emotional, mental, and energetic healing influences on us. Each hue in the plant world carries unique compounds that communicate with our biology in what I refer to as its “color-coded functional signature.” When we align with the intelligence of nature and our own bodies, we begin to unlock a more comprehensive, integrated, and ultimately more effective approach to healing.
And, like many things in my life, synchronicity led me to Symphony Natural Health — a place where I could continue nurturing my passion for uniting art and science, and for honoring the dynamic balance of the masculine and feminine.
Because at Symphony, we carry this same vision forward. We’re not just creating products - we’re part of a bigger movement to reframe how we collectively think about women’s health. We tune into the symphony of the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. We follow the rhythm of science, we listen to the voice of clinicians, and we stay grounded in the belief that women need more accurate information, more effective solutions, and more care that truly meets them where they are in a personalized, creative experience.
Our mission to “nourish the wisdom and power within” is not a tagline – it’s a truth. One that echoes the legacy Ava Helen left behind: to lead with consciousness, to disrupt the status quo, and to elevate and support the voices that can change our world for the better.
So, while this award is a personal honor, it is something much bigger and beyond me as an individual. Ava Helen’s inclusion signals a shift that has long been coming – a recognition of the many women who have quietly led, advocated, and cared, often without credit. It reflects the growing momentum we see in functional and integrative medicine, where the full picture of health–body, mind and spirit– is finally being honored. I accept this award with deep gratitude, but also with a renewed sense of responsibility: to continue pushing forward, to ask better questions, and to shine a light on the full spectrum of women’s health with heart, integrity, and purpose.
Deanna Minich, PhD, IFMCP
Chief Science Officer, Symphony Natural Health