About Us
We believe a great company is built on a team that genuinely cares. At AFIL, our goal is to make wellness information feel personal, approachable, and easier to explore.
Our hair-sample wellness assessment organizes response-pattern information into a report for general wellness exploration. We hope it gives you a useful starting point for reflection, alongside your own experience and conversations with a qualified healthcare professional.
Because wellness is personal, and your choices should be, too.
Meet Our Founders
Advanced Food Intolerance Labs (AFIL) was founded by a husband-and-wife team who wanted to make wellness exploration feel more personal and approachable.
AFIL offers an at-home hair-sample wellness assessment using a proprietary process to organize response-pattern information across selected food, nutrient, and lifestyle reference areas. The report is for general wellness exploration.
Our goal is to offer a starting point for reflection—alongside your own experience and conversations with a qualified healthcare professional.
Our Core Beliefs
The foundation of everything we do is built on bridging wellness and experience —exploring nutrition, digestion, nutrient response, and the body’s natural detoxification system. We focus on how these systems may work together to help maintain overall balance and well-being, with the goal of supporting how nutrients are being utilized and how the body naturally processes what it doesn’t need.*
Guiding Principles of Our Methods
A thoughtfully designed approach that combines diet, nutrition, lifestyle balance, and supportive gut wellness habitsto assist the body’s natural processes and promote overall well-being.*"One person's food is another person's poison."
Discover your wellness patterns to over 350 common foods and drinks—including grains, gluten, dairy, nuts, meats, seafood, fruits, and more.
Explore wellness insights that may help you eat, live, and feel your best.*
All disease begins in the gut.” – Hippocrates
We believe that healthy digestion is the foundation of overall well-being. Subtle changes—like shifts in bowel habits or digestion—can be signs that your gut may need extra support.
By listening to these signals and exploring possible contributing factors, you can make more informed choices to nurture balance, and feel your best every day.*
Imbalance“To eat is a necessity, but to eat intelligently is an art.”—François de La Rochefoucauld
Even when standard blood labs appear “normal,” many people still may not feel their best.
Our wellness approach is designed to help you uncover possible patterns that may influence how you feel and function each day—its a non-diagnostic wellness tool, offering a complementary picture of your nutritional balance and overall well-being.*
“The natural healing force within each one of us is the greatest force in getting well.”—Hippocrates
Every day, we’re exposed to countless environmental factors — from ingredients in personal-care and household products to pollutants in the air we breathe and the water we drink. Over time, these exposures can influence how the body feels and functions.
Our wellness process helps you explore patterns to certain environmental elements — including potential patterns related to these ingredients it doesn’t need. These insights are designed to empower you to make more informed choices about your environment, and lifestyle — supporting balance, clarity, and overall well-being.*
Our Executive Team
Meet the executive team who work to create the wellness tools to help you achieve your goals, create a life of optimal wellness, and live with passion and purpose.*
Samantha (Sam) Upchurch
Samantha “Sam” began her journey in wellness over 15 years ago, inspired by her own health challenges and a lifelong curiosity about how environment, nutrition, and daily habits shape the human experience. With a strong foundation in biochemistry, she explored the emerging field of epigenetics — focusing on how lifestyle choices may influence overall well-being and long-term vitality. Sam’s passion evolved into a whole-body philosophy centered on how people adapt and grow when they feel supported, informed, and understood. Before co-founding Advanced Food Intolerance Labs (AFIL), with her husband Darin, she collaborated with wellness practitioners and built a supplement company — experiences that shaped the thoughtful, consumer-focused approach AFIL is known for today. A lifelong entrepreneur and big-picture thinker, Sam now leads AFIL’s vision and growth. Her mission is simple and deeply personal: to help people find clarity, confidence, and a renewed sense of direction and hope on their wellness journey — empowering them to understand themselves in a more meaningful way.
Darin Upchurch
Darin brings more than 25 years of experience as a Doctor of Chiropractic, dedicating his career to helping people better understand their bodies and make lifestyle choices that support their health. As an entrepreneur, he founded and operated multiple chiropractic and wellness clinics across the country, where he saw firsthand how nutrition, movement, and environment can influence physical well-being. His passion for uncovering the deeper “why” behind people’s challenges led to the creation of Advanced Food Intolerance Labs (AFIL), which he co-founded with Samantha. Today, he leads the company’s financial strategy, governance, and long-term growth — all driven by his commitment to empowering people with the clarity they need to make informed decisions about their nutrition and wellness.
Ajith (Aj) Giri
Ajith serves as our Chief Technical Officer. He has a deep appreciation and passion for providing an excellent customer experience through efficient and reliable processes tailored to our customers and clients. He is a CRM and Automation Junkie. Ajith holds many Google and Hubspot certifications, is well-versed in operational procedures, and constantly stays on top of technology and customer service trends. Ajith is an avid cricket lover and loves to play in his free time. He has been part of Advanced Food Intolerance Labs since its inception and enjoys providing a service that helps people in their everyday lives overcome health obstacles without the headache of going to the doctor's office.
Alexis Sparks
As Chief Operating Officer at Advanced Food Intolerance Labs, Alexis combines strategic leadership with a hands-on approach to ensure every part of the business runs with precision and purpose. Overseeing Operations, Fulfilment, Customer Experience, Marketing, and Lab Operations, she focuses on building efficient systems, empowering teams, and maintaining the exceptional quality that AFIL is known for. Alexis has been with the company since its inception and has played a vital role in transforming AFIL from a small, ambitious concept into a nationally recognized wellness brand. Known for her balance of structure and empathy, she believes that true operational excellence comes from valuing people as much as performance. Alexis takes pride in leading with integrity, driving results, and fostering a culture where innovation, accountability, and compassion work hand in hand to create a meaningful experience for both the team and every customer we serve.
Our Panel of Experts
Meet the panelists contributing knowledge, educational insights, and research that advance the field of complementary wellness — supporting AFIL’s vision to connect scientific understanding with natural, non-diagnostic methodologies.*
Maria Egas
Dr. María Egas, MD, MSc Dr. María Egas is a physician and geneticist with advanced expertise in genetics, genomics, and rare diseases, dedicated to expanding access to personalized wellness and medical genetics in Latin America. A graduate of the University of Navarra (Spain), she holds dual master’s degrees in Genetics and Genomics and Clinical Genetics and Rare Diseases from the University of Barcelona and Hospital Sant Joan de Déu.Her career spans roles as an invited physician-researcher at Hospital San Juan de Dios (Barcelona) and clinical intern at Genetix Laboratory (Colombia), contributing to consultations in pediatric and clinical genetics. As the Founder and CEO of DX GEN, a genetics clinic, Dr. Egas collaborates with international laboratories in Spain, Colombia, Canada, the U.S., and Panama to make genetic testing and counseling more accessible. In her collaborative work with Advanced Food Intolerance Labs (AFIL), Dr. Egas provides educational guidance and supports select clients by integrating AFIL’s non-diagnostic wellness testing as an additional layer of insight alongside conventional evaluations in her own practice—helping individuals gain a broader, complementary understanding of their overall wellness.
Shola Lajide
Dr. Shola Lajide, (MD) Dr. Lajide is a medical doctor with a lifelong passion for health, wellness, and nutrition. She began her academic journey at the University of North Texas, earning a degree in Biology with minors in Chemistry and Spanish, and later received her Doctor of Medicine degree from the Washington University of Health and Science. While there, she developed and led health and wellness programs focused on community outreach and preventative care for under-served populations. Drawing from both her medical training and personal health experiences, Dr. Lajide now focuses on empowering individuals—especially women—to take a proactive approach to their own wellness through education, nutrition awareness, and balanced lifestyle practices. She is pursuing board certification in Functional Nutrition and Lifestyle Counseling and continues to integrate her belief in faith, purpose, and self-care into everything she does. At Advanced Food Intolerance Labs (AFIL), Dr Lajide contributes educational content and research insights aligned with AFIL’s non-diagnostic wellness philosophy, helping bridge medical understanding with complementary and alternative wellness concepts.
Sony Sherpa
Dr. Sony Sherpa (MD) brings a rare blend of medical expertise and open-minded curiosity to the world of complementary and alternative wellness. A graduate of Guangzhou Medical University, where she earned multiple scholarships for academic excellence, Dr. Sherpa is a board-certified physician currently serving as a Medical Officer in the emergency department of a leading hospital. Beyond her clinical work, she is an accomplished medical writer and researcher with a passion for integrative and holistic health. Her articles are valued among the community for their accuracy, insight, and forward-thinking perspective. At Advanced Food Intolerance Labs (AFIL), Dr. Sherpa contributes educational insights that connect AFIL’s non-diagnostic wellness technology with broader health understanding — bridging conventional medicine and complementary wellness philosophies to help people view health and wellness as something that can be supported and improved in many different ways.
Ernest Terribas
Ernest Terribas, PhD Ernest is an experienced biochemical scientist with over 15 years of expertise in research and academia, specializing in genetics, molecular biology, and oncology. He has published more than 10 peer-reviewed scientific articles and presented his work through multiple international publications and conferences. As an educator, Ernest has taught biology, biochemistry, and histology to both medical and traditional Chinese medicine students, encouraging a holistic approach to understanding human health. Driven by curiosity about the intersection of science and humanity, he is currently pursuing a degree in anthropology and human evolution. At Advanced Food Intolerance Labs (AFIL), Ernest contributes valuable educational insights and research guidance, supporting AFIL’s mission to make natural wellness science more accessible and evidence-informed.
Driven by Energy, Experience, and You
We’re passionate about creating at-home wellness tools and experiences that are accessible, insightful, and empowering. Our mission goes beyond wellness data — it’s about empowering you to reconnect with your body, trust your intuition, and make informed choices designed to support lasting balance and well-being. Innovation, integrity, and impact are at the heart of everything we do, reminding us that true wellness begins with awareness.*
Deeper Insights. Smarter Wellness.
We’re driven to make a meaningful difference in how people approach health and wellness.
Backed by a team of wellness experts with decades of combined experience, we’re pioneering a new way to explore what may be influencing how the body feels and functions—looking beyond surface-level fixes to uncover broader wellness patterns.
Our mission is to deliver clarity and deeper understanding—empowering people with insights that help them make more informed decisions about their wellness, balance, and long-term well-being.*
We are here to serve you
Explore our location on the map and reach out to us for wellness solutions. We’re here to guide you every step of the way.United States (HQ)
Advanced Food Intolerance Labs
6316 College BLVD Overland Park, Kansas, USA, 66211
