Education & Awards

For more than 25 years Dr Niikee has served as a naturopathic & traditional medicine clinician and educator, research scientist and university academic, both teaching and researching nutritional biochemistry and medical education. Over the past 15 years, Niikee has been teaching and developing course curricula in traditional medicine and energy healing, as well as more recently in metaphysics and intuitive science.

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Since initially graduating from the Australian College of Natural Medicine in 1998, Niikee continued on to study Traditional Chinese Medicine, Yoga & Meditation, Clinical Ayurveda and Vibrational Medicine, alongside completing a Master’s Degree in Nutritional Medicine and PhD in Nutritional Biochemistry Clinical Medicine at the University of Queensland Medical School in 2011. 

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Niikee lectured extensively and wrote academic curricula for both online and in-person delivery at the Endeavour College of Natural Health for over a decade and designed and taught nutrition components in the Medical School Programme at the University of Queensland for 8 years. As a research fellow, Dr Niikee coordinated several scientific research projects both locally and nationally and has published her research in a variety of international medical journals. She has presented her research at conferences globally and has published book chapters in the fields of nutritional biochemistry and natural health.

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During her tenure, Dr Niikee secured grant funding of over $430,000 to conduct a variety of scientific research projects, including a teaching and learning grant to develop nutrition curricula for medical schools around Australia. In 2018 her research was awarded, nutrition research project of the year for a large RCT trial she developed and conducted for a clinical herbal medicine formula. Niikee served as the QLD branch chair for the Nutrition Society of Australia for many years, Chair of the Endeavour College Research Committee and Curriculum Advisory Committee, representative on the School of Medicine Research Committee and Peer Reviewer for several international nutrition and medical journals.

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Today, Dr Niikee holds private practice either online or in-person and continues to teach nationally and internationally from her extensive repertoire of holistic wellness modalities, knowledge and wisdom. She creates tailored learning experiences that encourage participants to engage and inspires their desire to integrate the teachings most useful to them.

 

You can find out more details of her academic publications and presentations below –

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Full-Length Peer-Reviewed Publications

 

Schoendorfer, N. (2010)

Diagnostic Techniques. In: Clinical Naturopathy: Evidence Based Case Studies Elsevier Press, Australia

 

Sarris, J., Schoendorfer, N., Kavanagh, D. (2009)

Major depressive disorder and nutritional medicine:  A review of monotherapies and adjuvant treatments Nutrition Reviews 67(3) 125-131

 

Schoendorfer, N., Boyd, R., Davies, PSW. (2010)

Micronutrient adequacy and morbidity: paucity of information in children with Cerebral Palsy Nutrition Reviews 68; 12: 739-748

 

Schoendorfer, N., Davies, PSW. (2011)

Micronutrient interrelationships: synergism and antagonism. In Micronutrients: sources, properties and health effects. Nova Publishing, New York

 

Schoendorfer, N., Tinggi, U., Sharp, N., Boyd, R., Vitetta, L., Davies, PSW. (2011)

Micronutrient intakes in orally and enterally fed children with severe Cerebral Palsy e-SPEN 6; e259-e262

 

Schoendorfer, N., Tinggi, U., Sharp, N., Boyd, R., Vitetta, L., Davies, PSW. (2012)

Protein levels in enteral feeds: Do these meet requirements in children with severe Cerebral Palsy? British Journal of Nutrition 107; 10: 1476-81

 

Schoendorfer, N., Obeid, R., Sharp, N., Boyd, R., Vitetta, L., Davies, PSW. (2012)

Methylation capacity in children with severe Cerebral Palsy. European Journal of Clinical Investigation 42; 7: 768-76     

 

Tinggi, U., Schoendorfer, N., Davies, PSW., Scheelings, P., Olszowy, H. (2012)

Determination of iodine in selected foods and diets by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry Pure Applied Chemistry 84; 2: 291-299

 

Schoendorfer, N., Emmett, D. (2012)

Use of certainty-based marking with second year medical students: A pilot study. Advances in Medical Education and Practice 3; 139-143                  

Schoendorfer, N., Vitetta, L., Sharp, N., Boyd, R., Tinggi, U., Davies, PSW. (2013)

Micronutrient, oxidation and antioxidant status in children with cerebral palsy.  Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition 37; 1: 97-101

 

Schoendorfer, N., Roytas, D. (2014)

Diagnostic Techniques. In: Clinical Naturopathy: Evidence Based Case Studies, 2nd Ed., Elsevier Press, Australia

 

Tinggi, U., Schoendorfer, N., Scheelings, P., Yang, X., Piispanen, J. (2015)

Analysis of arsenic in rice and diets of children. Food Additives and Contaminants: Part B: Surveillance, 8:2, 149-156  

 

Schoendorfer, N., Schafer, J. (2015)  

Enabling valuation of nutrition integration into a MBBS program. Journal Biomedical Education. Volume 2015, Article ID 760104.

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Schoendorfer, N., Jukic, K., Gannaway, D., Schafer, J. (2017)

Future Doctors' Perceptions about Incorporating Nutrition into Standard Care Practice. Journal of the American College of Nutrition. 36:7, 1-7

 

Schoendorfer, N., Sharp, N., Seipel, T., Schauss, A., Ahuja, K. (2018)

Urox containing concentrated extracts of Crataeva nurvala stem bark, Equisetum arvense stem and Lindera aggregata root, in the treatment of symptoms of overactive bladder and urinary incontinence: A phase 2, randomised, double-blind placebo controlled trial. BCM Complementary and Alternative Medicine,  81:1.

 

Tinggi, U., Schoendorfer, N. (2018)

Analysis of lead and cadmium in cereal products and duplicate diets of a small group of selected Brisbane children for estimation of daily metal exposure. Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology, 50.

 

Schoendorfer, N., Roytas, D. (2019)

Diagnostic Techniques. In: Clinical Naturopathy: Evidence Based Case Studies, 3rd Ed., Elsevier Press, Australia

 

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Published Presentation Abstracts

 

Schoendorfer, N., Vitetta, L., Boyd, R., Davies, PSW. (2009) Is the methyl folate trap responsible for growth stunting found in children with severe cerebral palsy? Acta Paediatrica 98 Suppl 460: 23           

                                           

Schoendorfer, N., Boyd, R., Vitetta, L., Tinggi, U., Coombes, J., Davies, PSW.

Micronutrient status in children with cerebral palsy and the impact of a major orthopaedic surgical intervention (2009) Annals of Nutrition & Metabolism 55 Suppl 1: 484                    

                                            

Schoendorfer, N., Tinggi, U., Boyd, R., Vitetta, L., Davies, PSW.

Micronutrient intakes in children with cerebral palsy (2009) Annals of Nutrition & Metabolism 55 Suppl 1: 481                                                       

 

Schoendorfer, N., Boyd, R., Vitetta, L., Tinggi, U., Coombes, J., Davies, PSW.

Micronutrient status in children with cerebral palsy (2010) Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology 52 Suppl 2: 47                                    

 

Schoendorfer, N., Boyd, R., Vitetta, L., Tinggi, U., Coombes, J., Davies, PSW.

Micronutrient status in children with cerebral palsy (2010) Australasian Medical Journal 1; 1: 55    

                                      

Schoendorfer, N., Obeid, R., Boyd, R., Vitetta, L., Davies, PSW.

Is the methylation cycle responsible for raised folate levels and mean cell volume in children with marked cerebral palsy? (2010) Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology 52; Suppl 5: 75    

 

Schoendorfer, N., Tinggi, U., Sharp, N., Vitetta, L., Davies, PSW.

Does enteral feeding compare with orally fed children with cerebral palsy or typically developing children? (2010) Australasian Medical Journal 3; 13: 880

 

Perlstein, R., Wells, J., Lindley, J., Schoendorfer, N., Woodroffe, J., Schafer, J., Rooney, K., Nowson, C.

Mapping nutrition competencies across the medical curriculum In Australia (2015) ANZAHPE/AMEA conference proceedings, Newcastle, Australia.

Schoendorfer, N., Schafer, J.

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Enhancing nutritional education in medical programmes (2015) ANZAHPE/AMEA conference proceedings, Newcastle, Australia.

 

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Conference Presentations

 

Schoendorfer, N., Davies, PSW.

Micronutrient status in the surgical patient (2006), RBHSD Post-graduate Student Conference, University of Queensland.

 

Schoendorfer, N., Davies, PSW.

Micronutrient status in hospitalised patients (2007), Australasian Integrative Medicine Conference, Blue Mountains NSW.

 

Schoendorfer, N., Boyd, R., Vitetta, L., Davies, PSW.

Micronutrient status in children with cerebral palsy research study (2008), Cerebral Palsy Research Colloquium, Royal Children’s Hospital, Brisbane.

 

Schoendorfer, N., Tinggi, U., Boyd, R., Vitetta, L., Davies, PSW.

Trace element intakes in children with cerebral palsy (2008) International Trace Elements Conference (TEMA), Pucon, Chile.

 

Schoendorfer, N., Boyd, R., Vitetta, L., Davies, PSW.

Micronutrient status assessment in a clinical context (2009) Paediatric Dieticians Special Interest Group, National Teleconference, Royal Children’s Hospital, Brisbane.

 

Schoendorfer, N., Boyd, R., Vitetta, L., Tinggi, U., Coombes, J., Davies, PSW.

Micronutrient status in children with cerebral palsy (2009) International Evidence Based Complementary Medicine Conference, Armidale.  

 

Schoendorfer, N., Tinggi, U., Boyd, R., Vitetta, L., Davies, PSW.

Trace element status in children with cerebral palsy (2009) 1st Symposium on Trace Elements in Food and Health, Queensland Health Laboratories, Brisbane.     

 

Schoendorfer, N., Boyd, R., Vitetta, L., Tinggi, U., Coombes, J., Davies, PSW.

Micronutrient status in children with cerebral palsy (2009) Nutrition Society of Australia Annual Meeting, Newcastle.

 

Tinggi, U., Schoendorfer, N., Boyd, R., Vitetta, Davies, PSW., Scheelings, P., Olsozwy, H.

Selenium status in children with cerebral palsy (2010) 9th International Symposium on Selenium in Biology and Medicine, Kyoto, Japan. 

 

Tinggi, U., Schoendorfer, N.

Selenium and iodine content in foods and their nutritional status in Australia (2010) International Food Analysis Research Symposium, Malaysia.

 

Schoendorfer, N., Tinggi, U., Sharp, N., Boyd, R., Vitetta, L., Davies, PSW.

Is the methylation cycle responsible for raised folate levels and mean cell volume in children with marked cerebral palsy? (2010) American Academy of Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine Annual Meeting, Washington DC.

 

Schoendorfer, N., Tinggi, U., Boyd, R., Vitetta, L., Davies, PSW.

Does enteral feeding compare with orally fed children with cerebral palsy or typically developing children? (2010) Nutrition Society of Australia Annual Meeting, Perth.

 

Tinggi, U., Schoendorfer, N., Davies, PSW., Scheelings, P.

Iodine content in foods and nutritional status in Australia (2011) 4th International IUPAC Symposium for Trace Elements in Food, Scotland. 

 

Schoendorfer, N., Schafer, J. Vitetta, L.

Nutrition Integration into MBBS programme: A pilot project (2011) The Science of Nutrition in Medicine and Healthcare, Sydney. 

 

Schoendorfer, N., Tinggi, U., Sharp, N., Boyd, R., Vitetta, L., Davies, PSW.

Protein levels in enteral feeds: Do these meet requirements in children with severe Cerebral Palsy? (2011) 7th Asia Pacific Conference on Clinical Nutrition, Bangkok.

Finalist in young investigator awards

 

Schoendorfer, N., Schafer, J. Vitetta, L.

Nutrition Integration into MBBS programme: A pilot project (2011) Centre Discipline of Medical Education, Learning and Teaching Conference, UQ

 

Emmett, D., Schoendorfer, N.

Certainty Based Marking in the Health Care Context (2011) Centre Discipline of Medical Education, Learning and Teaching Conference, UQ

 

Schoendorfer, N., Schafer, J.

Nutrition and Exercise Activity Tool (NEAT): use in clinical skills practice (2014) Centre Discipline of Medical Education, Learning and Teaching Conference, UQ

 

Perlstein, R., Wells, J., Lindley, J., Schoendorfer, N., Woodroffe, J., Schafer, J., Rooney, K., Nowson, C.

Mapping nutrition competencies in the foundation years of medical curricula in Australia using an online mapping tool (2016) Experimental Biology Conference, American Society for Nutrition, San Diego.

 

Schoendorfer, N. Vibrational Resonance and creating harmony – from ancient history to modern science. (2018) Future of Intuition Symposium, Tuscany, Italy.

 

Schoendorfer, N. Looking after your gut so it will look after you! (2018) Your Health Your Choice National Webinar Series, Australia.

 

Schoendorfer, N. Reclaiming Wellness – no matter what is wrong with you (2021) Queensland Government Wellness Week, Australia.