Peter L. Kopko, D.C.

Dr. Peter Kopko was born and raised in Youngstown, Ohio. At an early age he realized he was a vegetarian but did not become one until his junior year in undergraduate college. It was here at Ohio University while embracing a career in mathematics, that Dr. Kopko started his scientific study of nutrition. He graduated from Ohio University with a B.A. in Mathematics and continued to study nutrition and health. During this time he also taught math, chemistry and physics as a rotating high-school substitute teacher for the Youngstown school district before entering Western States Chiropractic College in 1976. Here he continued to study nutrition and chiropractic science. In 1977 Dr. Kopko took a four month sabbatical from chiropractic college and studied with the famous Dr. Ann Wigmore and Victor Kulvinskas, co-founders of Hippocrates Health Institute in Boston, Mass. Dr. Wigmore is credited as the first doctor to utilize wheatgrass juice and sprouts as a healing food and to popularize the concept of eating sprouts and foods in their natural uncooked state i.e., "live foods". Dr. Kopko was awarded certification as a Raw Food Nutritionist from Hippocrates Health Institute. He returned to chiropractic college in Portland, Oregon, where he formulated his philosophy of nutrition and healing while serving as the co-director of The Green House, a live-in healing center modeled after Hippocrates Health Institute. In 1978 Dr. Kopko took a six month sabbatical and interned with Dr. Dennis Steigerwald, in San Diego, CA., where he learned the intricate art of cranial manipulation. In 1980 Dr. Kopko graduated from Western States Chiropractic College and soon afterward started his practice in San Diego, CA, where he remains today. During the 80's Dr. Kopko became interested in sports nutrition, long distance running and the biomechanics of running. In 1982 Dr. Kopko ran and successfully completed the Boston Marathon. He went on to run over 15 marathons during the 1980's. In 1984 Dr. Kopko completed a postgraduate program at Los Angeles Chiropractic College becoming the first Certified Chiropractic Sports Physician in San Diego County and the 90th in the world. Dr. Kopko served as the team chiropractor to the Coors Cycling Team and the Chart House Running Club for many years. Over the years, Dr. Kopko has visited many famous healing centers including the Dr. Contrares alternative cancer clinic in Tijuana, Mexico and the Brain Bio Center in Princeton, New Jersey, where Dr. Carl Pfeiffer introduced the concept of how food allergies and trace mineral imbalances could affect brain function and specifically mental illness. Dr. Kopko has dialogued with many famous healers over the past 25 years. In 1985 Dr. Kopko was a presenter at a seminar along with researcher Durk Pearson who authored the famous book "Life Extension". Dr. Kopko remains committed to the concept of natural healing and is respected by his colleagues for his ability to separate fact from fiction. In his practice he utilizes nutritional questionnaires, symptom surveys, traditional blood work, hair mineral analysis, muscle testing and dark field microscopy to ascertain nutrient status. Dr. Kopko was the first chiropractor in San Diego County to implement dark field microscopy and the morphological study of live red blood cells from patients, to ascertain their nutrient status. Dr. Kopko has performed over 5,000 dark field examinations. When Dr. Kopko is not giving lectures, attending seminars or treating patients in his office, Mission Hills Chiropractic, he is an amateur astronomer, a perpetual student of higher math, an avid pool player, a recreational runner and a lover of hiking and traveling with his soul mate, Tamar and his dog, Roswell.