Biotoxin University · School of CIRS
Course Pathway
The CIRS course architecture — preserved within the School of CIRS & Water-Damaged Building Illness. A structured curriculum sequence for understanding CIRS, water-damaged buildings, environmental exposure, the Shoemaker Protocol, and advanced concepts including GENIE, Triple-Positive GENIE Pattern, and SAIIE.
Educational Notice: Shoemaker University provides educational content for informational purposes only. It does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, lab interpretation, remediation instructions, or environmental clearance decisions. Consult qualified professionals for personal decisions.
Recommended Pathway
Required Foundation
CIRS 101: Foundations of Shoemaker's System
The required foundation course. Introduces the basic language, logic, and structure of CIRS and Shoemaker's framework. Written for non-medical learners, patients, families, remediation professionals, and practitioners new to Shoemaker's work.
Step One — Environmental Foundation
Actinomycetes: The Overlooked Building-Health Connection
Explains actinomycetes and why they have become important in advanced Shoemaker building-health discussions. Covers why they are not the same as mold, how they appear in buildings and dust, and their role in the Shoemaker system.
Environmental Trigger Series
Endotoxins: Bacterial Fragments, Inflammation, and Indoor Exposure
Explains endotoxins as inflammatory bacterial components that may be relevant in water-damaged buildings and immune activation. Covers what endotoxins are, how they activate the immune system, and how they fit into the Shoemaker framework.
ERMI and HERTSMI-2: Environmental Scoring in the Shoemaker Framework
Explains dust-based environmental scoring in plain language and how these tools are discussed in the Shoemaker framework. Covers what scores can and cannot tell you, and why context matters.
Mold: Understanding Mold in Water-Damaged Buildings
Explains mold as one important part of water-damaged building exposure without reducing the entire Shoemaker system to mold alone. Covers spores, fragments, hyphae, dust reservoirs, and how mold fits into the broader system.
Intro to Environmental Factors: Step One of the Shoemaker Protocol
Explains why environmental exposure is the first major concept in the Shoemaker Protocol framework. Teaches why the environment must be understood before later protocol steps can make sense. Educational only — not a personal clearance tool.
Body Systems & Biomarker Series
VIP: Regulation, Recovery, and the Later Stages of the Shoemaker Protocol
Explains vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) and its role in the later stages of the Shoemaker Protocol framework. Educational overview of VIP regulation, recovery concepts, and why VIP is discussed after earlier protocol steps.
Evidence and Controversy: How to Talk Responsibly About CIRS
Explores how to communicate about CIRS in evidence-informed, responsible ways. Covers the current evidence landscape, areas of scientific debate, and how to discuss Shoemaker's work with accuracy and appropriate caution.
Environmental Remediation for Medically Sensitive Occupants
Covers environmental remediation concepts specifically in the context of medically sensitive occupants. Educational overview of why standard remediation guidance may require additional consideration. Does not provide property-specific instructions.
HLA and Susceptibility: Why People Respond Differently
Explains why people in the same building can have different health responses. Covers what HLA does, immune recognition, why susceptibility is not destiny, and how HLA fits into the Shoemaker framework.
Advanced Shoemaker Concepts
VCS: Visual Contrast Sensitivity and the Nervous System
Explains VCS as a functional neurologic screening and tracking concept — not a regular eye exam and not a standalone diagnosis. Covers what contrast sensitivity means, why inflammation can affect visual processing, and VCS as a tracking concept.
MSH and MARCoNS: Regulatory Peptides and Biofilm
Explains melanocyte-stimulating hormone and its role in the Shoemaker framework, alongside MARCoNS as a biofilm-forming bacterial complication. Educational overview of how these concepts fit into the protocol.
GENIE: Gene Expression, Inflammation, and Hypometabolism
Explains GENIE conceptually as gene-expression education. Covers what gene expression means, why GENIE is not a basic genetic test, inflammation and gene activity, hypometabolism, ribosomal and mitochondrial suppression, and toll-like receptors. Does not train students to interpret their own results.
Professional & Communication
Triple-Positive GENIE Pattern: Understanding T3+ Without Confusing It With Thyroid T3
Explains the Triple-Positive GENIE Pattern (T3+) as a transcriptomic finding. Always defines T3+ as Triple-Positive GENIE Pattern before using shorthand. Covers CLU/Clusterin, coagulation gene concepts, tubulin and cytoskeletal genes, and how this pattern connects to GENIE, actinomycetes, endotoxins, and SAIIE. This is not a thyroid course.
CIRS Biomarkers in Plain Language
Explains the major Shoemaker biomarkers in plain language without teaching students to interpret their own labs. Covers inflammation markers, complement, vascular, hormonal, and regulatory markers including MSH, C4a, TGF Beta-1, VEGF, ADH, and VIP.
SAIIE: Sequential Activation of Innate Immune Elements
Explains SAIIE conceptually as a structured causation framework. Covers what sequential activation means, innate immune elements, re-exposure as a causation question, VCS and biomarker concepts, baseline and re-exposure phases, and how SAIIE connects buildings, symptoms, and objective markers. Not framed as a personal re-exposure protocol.
Biotoxin University — CIRS Literacy Certificate
Complete all 12 core courses to earn the CIRS Literacy Certificate. This certificate reflects completion of educational coursework only and does not represent medical licensure, clinical authorization, or professional certification.