Council Members
THINK NO TWO HEALTH EXPERTS AGREE?
THINK AGAIN.
The True Health Initiative is a growing coalition of hundreds of world-renowned health experts, committed to cutting through the noise and educating on only the evidence-based, time-honored and proven pillars of lifestyle as medicine. Coalition members include physicians, scientists, nutritionists and authors from over 40 different countries.
Dr. Mary Murimi is a professor of Nutrition in the college of Human Sciences at Texas Tech University where she teaches online graduate classes on Nutrition education methods, International nutrition, and community nutrition among others. Dr. Murimi has mentored over 20 graduate students and 3 post doctorate fellows and four doctorate students.
Dr. Murimi’s
David L. Katz, MD, MPH, FACPM, FACP, FACLM is a specialist in Preventive Medicine and Lifestyle Medicine, with particular expertise in nutrition.
He earned his BA at Dartmouth College (1984); his MD at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine (1988); and his MPH from the Yale University School of Public Health (1993).
Antonia Trichopoulou is President of the Hellenic Health Foundation, Director of the World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre of Nutrition, Medical School, University of Athens . She has served as president of the Federation of the European Nutrition Societies (FENS) and as chairperson or key member of numerous Greek, European Commission and World Health Organization
Dean Ornish, M.D., is the founder and president of the non-profit Preventive Medicine Research Institute and Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco and Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Ornish received his M.D. from the Baylor College of Medicine,
Margaret Moore, MBA, an executive coach and coaching entrepreneur, is a 17-year veteran of the biotechnology industry in the US, UK, Canada, and France. In 2000, Margaret founded Wellcoaches Corporation, now in partnership with the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) and the American
Christopher Gardner has a PhD in Nutrition Science and is a Professor of Medicine at Stanford’s School of Medicine. He has been researching the health effects of a plant based-diet and its components for 20 years, primarily with federal (NIH) funding. Recently his nutrition interests have expanded to two new areas. The first is to explore motivators other than health
Ruth DeFries is a professor of ecology and sustainable development at Columbia University in New York. She uses images from satellites and field surveys to examine how the world’s demands for food and other resources are changing land use throughout the tropics. Her research quantifies how these land use changes affect climate, biodiversity and other ecosystem services,
Alice Waters is a chef, author, and food activist, and the founder and owner of Chez Panisse Restaurant in Berkeley, California. She has been a champion of local, sustainable agriculture for over four decades. In 1995, she founded the Edible Schoolyard Project, which advocates for school lunch and a sustainable food curriculum in every public school. She has been
Linda Snetselaar is a Professor in the Department of Epidemiology in the College of Public Health, Endowed Chair of Preventive Nutrition Education, Director of the Nutrition Center and Associate Provost of Outreach and Engagement at The University of Iowa. Through her many research, teaching, and service projects, she has helped to establish The University of Iowa
Dr. Campbell was trained at Cornell (M.S., Ph.D.) and MIT (Research Associate) in nutrition, biochemistry and toxicology, then spent 10 years on the faculty of Virginia Tech’s Department of Biochemistry and Nutrition before being recruited at age 40 to the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell in 1975 where he presently holds his Endowed Chair (now Emeritus).
His
Dr. Carmona is a physician, police officer, and public health administrator. He was a vice admiral in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and served as the seventeenth Surgeon General of the United States. He is vice chairman of Canyon Ranch, the country’s leading health and wellness company, and president of the Canyon Ranch Institute Board of Directors.
Ms. Zelman is director of nutrition for the number one health and wellness website, overseeing diet, nutrition, and food information. Additionally, Zelman serves as the nutrition expert for United Healthcare Source 4 Women and United Healthcare television contributing monthly webinars, articles, recipes and video responses to member questions. She has extensive media
Christina Economos, PhD, is a Professor, the New Balance Chair in Childhood Nutrition, and Chair of the Division of Nutrition Interventions, Communication, & Behavior Change at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and Medical School at Tufts University. She is also the co-Founder and Director of ChildObesity180, a unique organization that brings
Sara Baer-Sinnott is President of Oldways, a nonprofit food and nutrition organization with a mission to improve health through cultural food traditions and lifestyles. In her 23 years at Oldways, Sara has been an integral part of Oldways’ growth and success. She has helped develop ground-breaking programs including its Finding Common Ground Conference; Traditional
Kate is a nationally known registered dietitian who is on the vanguard of integrating nutrition guidance with agricultural health and sustainable food systems. Called “a global thought leader in her field” by Discovery Health of South Africa, Kate is the author of Go Green, Get Lean: Trim Your Waistline with the Ultimate Low Carbon Footprint Diet (Rodale
Dr. Madelyn Fernstrom is a national expert in the field of health and wellness, nutrition, and weight management. An award-winning clinician and researcher, she is an established national media expert and health journalist. She is the on-air Health and Nutrition Editor for NBC News and the TODAY Show. She is also the Health Editor-at-Large for ivillage.com.
Dr.
David Satcher is Director of the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at the Morehouse School of Medicine (SHLI/MSM), which was established in 2006. He is also professor of Community Health and Preventive Medicine, Family Medicine, and Psychiatry at MSM. Since returning to the Morehouse School of Medicine, he has served as founding Director of the National Center
Gail Frank is a Nutritional Epidemiologist having designed and implemented the dietary studies for the Bogalusa Heart Study for 16 years to investigate the association of dietary components on the early natural history of cardiovascular disease in children. She was Co-Principal Investigator for the ‘Women’s Health Initiative’ at the University of California, Irvine
Joy Bauer, MS, RDN, is one of the nation’s leading health authorities. She is the nutrition and health expert for NBC’s TODAY Show, the founder of Nourish Snacks, a monthly columnist for Woman’s Day magazine, and the official nutritionist for the New York City Ballet. Joy is also the creator of JoyBauer.com and the author of 12 New York Times best-selling
Neal Barnard, MD, FACC, is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington, DC, and President of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.
Dr. Barnard has led numerous research studies investigating the effects of diet on diabetes, body weight, and chronic pain, including a groundbreaking
Dr. Sanjay Gupta is the multiple Emmy®-award winning chief medical correspondent for CNN. Gupta, a practicing neurosurgeon, plays an integral role in CNN’s reporting on health and medical news for all of CNN’s shows domestically and internationally, and regularly contributes to CNN.com. He is also a special correspondent
S. Boyd Eaton graduated with honors from Duke University (1960) and Harvard Medical School (1964). His residency and fellowship in diagnostic radiology were at the Massachusetts General Hospital (1965-69) and he was a diagnostic radiologist in Atlanta, Georgia from 1972 to 2013. His practice focused on orthopedic radiology: for years his group provided services for
Danielle Nierenberg is President of Food Tank and an expert on sustainable agriculture and food issues. She has written extensively on gender and population, the spread of factory farming in the developing world and innovations in sustainable agriculture. Danielle co-founded Food Tank, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, in 2013 as an organization focused on building
Dr. Willett is a renowned physician, nutrition researcher, and Chair of the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School of Public Health. He is also a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Willett is the principal investigator of the second Nurses’ Health Study, a compilation of studies regarding women’s health and risk factors for major chronic
Dr. Kim Allan Williams was born and raised in inner-city Chicago, and attended the College of The University of Chicago (1971 to 1975), followed by the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Medicine (1975 to 1979), internal medicine residency at Emory University (1979 to 1982), and overlapping fellowships in Cardiology at the University of Chicago (1982 to 1985),
Greg Drescher is vice president of strategic initiatives and industry leadership at The Culinary Institute of America (CIA), where he oversees the college’s leadership initiatives for the foodservice industry, including conferences, invitational leadership retreats, digital media, academic and other strategic partnerships, and other initiatives. He is the creator
Dr. Frank Hu is Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Hu is Co-director of the Program in Obesity Epidemiology and Prevention at Harvard. He also serves as Director of Boston Nutrition and Obesity Research Center (BNORC) Epidemiology
Prof. François Mariotti, PhD, is Professor of Nutrition within the Human Biology and Nutrition department at AgroParisTech, the Paris Institute of Technology for Life, Food and Environmental Sciences (Paris, France). He heads a research group named PAAMS (“protein, amino acids and the prevention of the metabolic syndrome”) in a joint AgroParisTech-INRA
As the youngest person to ever receive a three-star review from The New York Times, chef Samuelsson has won multiple James Beard Foundation Awards including Best Chef: New York City, and was tasked with planning and executing the Obama Administration’s first State dinner. He was crowned champion of television shows Top Chef Masters and Chopped All Stars, serves as
Well known as the host of the Food Network’s hit show “Healthy Appetite,” Ellie is the leading go-to nutritionist in the media today. A registered dietitian, Ellie has a master’s degree in nutrition from Teacher’s College, Columbia University and completed her undergraduate degree at Cornell University. Ellie was an adjunct professor
Sam Kass is a Food Entrepreneur, Former White House Chef and Senior Policy Advisor for Nutrition.
Kass joined the White House kitchen staff in 2009 as Assistant Chef and, in 2010, became Food Initiative Coordinator. During his White House tenure, Kass took on several additional roles including Executive Director of First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!”
Leonard H. Epstein, Ph.D. is SUNY Distinguished Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Community Health and Health Behavior at the University of Buffalo, and the Chief of the Division of Behavioral Medicine. Dr. Epstein’s research interests focus on health behavior change and determinants of eating, physical activity and drug self-administration. Dr. Epstein
Regina M. Benjamin, M.D., M.B.A., was appointed by President Barack Obama as the 18th United States Surgeon General in July, 2009 and served a four-year term. Dr. Benjamin also oversaw the operational command of 6,700 uniformed public health officers who serve in locations around the world to promote, and protect the health of the American People. Dr.
Dr. Manson is Professor of Medicine and the Michael and Lee Bell Professor of Women’s Health at Harvard Medical School. She is also Chief of the Division of Preventive Medicine and Co-Director, Connors Center for Women’s Health and Gender Biology, at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Manson is an endocrinologist, epidemiologist, and Principal Investigator of several
Dr. Cuomo is a physician, author, philanthropist, advocate, and blogger on health issues, especially those related to cancer prevention. She graduated summa cum laude from St. John’s University and received an M.D. degree from Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn. She served as an attending physician in diagnostic radiology at North Shore University Hospital
Dr. Blackburn (1936-2017) had a direct and major impact across multiple disciplines as a surgeon, clinician, teacher/mentor, researcher, author, and colleague. An innovator and visionary, Dr. Blackburn made countless contributions in the fields nutrition medicine, hyperalimentation, weight loss, and obesity surgery. A revered figure in the worlds of weight loss
