Founder of the Shoemaker Protocol and pioneering physician-researcher in CIRS, biotoxin illness, and illness associated with water-damaged buildings.
BIOGRAPHY
Dr. Ritchie C. Shoemaker is a physician and researcher whose work over several decades defined the modern understanding of Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS) and illness associated with water-damaged buildings.
Beginning in the late 1990s, Dr. Shoemaker identified a consistent pattern of innate immune activation in patients exposed to biotoxins — a pattern that did not fit existing diagnostic categories. His systematic investigation of biomarkers, susceptibility genetics, and treatment response led to the stepwise framework now known as the Shoemaker Protocol.
Biotoxin University was created to preserve and teach this body of work — ensuring that the foundational science behind CIRS remains accessible, structured, and responsibly communicated to patients, practitioners, and environmental professionals. Dr. Shoemaker's work is central to the School of CIRS & Water-Damaged Building Illness.
CONTRIBUTIONS TO CIRS
Identification and framing of Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS)
The biotoxin pathway — innate immune activation from water-damaged buildings and other exposures
HLA susceptibility genotyping and its role in differential response to exposure
Biomarker framework: VCS, complement split products, MMP-9, C4a, TGF-beta-1, VIP and others
GENIE transcriptomic testing and the hypometabolic pattern
SAIIE — Sequential Activation of Innate Immune Elements as a causation framework
The stepwise Shoemaker Protocol and treatment sequencing
THE SHOEMAKER PROTOCOL
The Shoemaker Protocol is a sequenced framework addressing innate immune activation, inflammation, and regulatory recovery. Biotoxin University teaches the understanding behind each step — the biology and the "why." The clinical "how to" — remediation, investigation, and treatment — is taught at CIRSx Institute.
BOOKS & PUBLICATIONS
The foundational patient-facing book on biotoxin illness, CIRS, and the protocol framework.
A detailed account of the science and clinical evolution of CIRS diagnosis and treatment.
The origins of the Shoemaker Protocol and the patients who shaped it.
Biotoxin University–issued educational monographs and structured course companions.
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