About Dr. James Gardner

Brief Family History
Dr. Gardner was born in Marin General Hospital on March 8, 1959. He is the sixth of seven children born to a Mennonite German homemaker, Naomi Heinrichs, and an English-born seminarian, Thomas F. Gardner. His father was a night fighter pilot (P-61) in WWII and built public schools as a general contractor until going to Medical School at Washington University in St. Louis. Affected by an inner ear disorder, he cut his medical career short and decided to pursue a degree in theology. He worked at a variety of jobs in Marin County, including the night janitor at Drake High School and chemist for the Marin County Water District, to put himself through San Francisco Theological Seminary in San Anselmo. Dr. Gardner’s earliest memories are being held in his mother’s arms in front of their home at 44 Butterfield Road, watching the people get off and on the busses that stopped at the corner. The family moved to Santa Cruz County, where the Reverend T.F. Gardner served as minister of the First Presbyterian Church of Santa Cruz until 1968, when his wife Naomi died of sarcoma at the age of 44. The family moved to Fresno briefly to be near friends and the extended family, and then back to Santa Cruz County in 1970 where Dr. Gardner completed 6th through 12th grades at San Lorenzo Valley High School.
Education and Extra Curricular
Professional
Experience
Cosmetic Procedure Training, Certification, and Professional Affiliations and Experience
Dr. Gardner the Author
Dr. Gardner Today
James C. Gardner, MD
Interview on Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Treatments
Recent Blog Posts
Menopause starts by age 35!
In medical school we were taught that menopause is when a woman goes without a period for a full year. Some (usually male) doctors would tell women in the first and worst part of "menopausal meltdown" that they were not yet candidates for hormonal treatment because...
Testosterone Pellets Reduce Risk of Breast Cancer
It is the belief in the world of hormone optimization using pellet implants that testosterone-predominant hormone balance for peri-and-post-menopausal women is protective against the development of breast cancer. We tell our female patients, based on decades of...