Our Team
David L. Katz, MD, MPH
Founder
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). He completed sequential residency training and board certification in Internal Medicine (1991) and Preventive Medicine/Public Health (1993).
Katz is the founder and former director of Yale University’s Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center (1998-2019); Past President of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine; President and Founder of the non-profit True Health Initiative; and Founder and CEO of Diet ID, Inc. He is a Fellow of the American College of Preventive Medicine; the American College of Physicians; the American College of Lifestyle Medicine; and Morse College, Yale University.
The recipient of numerous awards for teaching, writing, and contributions to public health, Katz was a 2019 James Beard Foundation Award nominee in health journalism, has been a widely supported nominee for the position of U.S. Surgeon General, and has received three honorary doctorates. His most recent book, How to Eat, co-authored with Mark Bittman, is a 2021 IACP Awards finalist.
For more about Founder, David L. Katz, MD, MPH visit
Richard Carmona, MD, MPH
As a physician, police officer, and public health administrator, serving as 17th US Surgeon General, and now Vice-Chairman at Canyon Ranch, Dr. Carmona is an expert in policy systems, preparedness, health disparities and literacy, global repercussions, and direct patient care. His support and guidance of THI programming helps keep us relevant and focused on large picture culture shifts.
Cate Collings, MD, MS, FACC, Dip ABLM
Dr. Collings is Director of Lifestyle Medicine for Silicon Valley Medical Development and El Camino Health Medical Network in the San Francisco Bay Area. She serves as current President of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. Dr. Collings has dual board certifications in Cardiology and Lifestyle Medicine.
Beth Patton Comerford, MS
Beth received her undergraduate and graduate degrees in Psychology, with an emphasis on social and organizational psychology. She serves as the Deputy Director of the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center where she has directed nutrition and lifestyle research for close to twenty years, Executive Director of Turn the Tide Foundation, and Treasurer for the True Health Initiative.
Christopher Gardner, PHD
Consummate research professor at Stanford University has spent 20 years with a focus on plant-based nutrition but has recently expanded his efforts to studying food systems approach to improved diet quality and the link between social movements and improved diet change. Dr. Gardner keeps THI on trend and grounded to our evidence base.
Walter Willett, MD, DRPH
A renowned author and scientist, Dr. Willett is the former Chair of Nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and currently Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition. His vast publications include more than 1,800 scientific articles on diet and disease and multiple retail books lend an incredible knowledge base to our council, publications and audiences.
Kathleen Zelman, MPH, RDN, LD
Award winning media personality, nutrition communications expert, and consummate professional, Kathleen works with WebMD, is a contributing editor to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Food & Nutrition magazine, James Beard Foundation, and more. Her background in science and nutrition journalism guides THI in our efforts to bring clarity to complex health topics.
View the bios of all council members:
True Health Initiative Interns
