Speakers

Dr. Wilson is a board-certified preventive medicine physician and lifestyle medicine leader. She has helped develop national lifestyle medicine curricula and innovative clinical programs that use therapeutic lifestyle interventions to prevent, treat, and manage chronic disease while advancing medical education and healthcare transformation.

Dr. Rea is a physician, educator, and advocate for whole-person care. She integrates nutrition, lifestyle medicine, and spirituality into healthcare education and clinical practice while mentoring future health professionals and advancing evidence-based approaches to chronic disease prevention and treatment.

Dr. Gardner is an internationally recognized nutrition scientist whose research compares dietary patterns and their effects on health. His work advances plant-forward food systems and evidence-based nutrition strategies that support both human health and environmental sustainability. 

Dr. Weaver is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and a globally respected nutrition scientist. Her research has significantly advanced understanding of bone health, mineral nutrition, and dietary guidance, helping shape nutrition recommendations and public health policy. 

Edward Bitok is a registered dietitian nutritionist whose work focuses on vegetarian nutrition, chronic disease prevention, and nutrition intervention research. He is recognized for combining scientific rigor with student-centered teaching that promotes critical thinking, engagement, and practical application of nutrition science. 

Dr. Ho's research explores how nutrients and healthy foods influence chronic disease prevention. Her work focuses on micronutrients, phytochemicals, and diet-environment interactions, helping advance understanding of the biological mechanisms through which nutrition supports lifelong health. 

Dr. Butler's research integrates nutrition, molecular biology, metabolomics, microbiome science, and epidemiology. Her work examines how dietary patterns influence chronic disease risk and uses advanced biological approaches to better understand nutrition's role in human health. 

Dr. Hu is a world-leading expert in nutritional epidemiology. His research has identified key dietary and lifestyle determinants of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease while helping shape national and international nutrition guidelines and public health recommendations. 

Dr. Fraser is a physician and epidemiologist whose pioneering work has advanced understanding of diet, lifestyle, cardiovascular disease, longevity, and preventive medicine. He is internationally recognized for leading the landmark Adventist Health Studies. 

Dr. Kahleova's research investigates plant-based nutrition, diabetes, metabolism, meal timing, and weight management. Through numerous clinical studies and publications, she has contributed important evidence on the role of dietary patterns in preventing and treating chronic disease. 

Dr. Zelicha is an epidemiologist and registered dietitian whose research focuses on obesity, cardiometabolic health, precision nutrition, and dietary interventions. She has authored more than 60 peer-reviewed publications and played key roles in major clinical nutrition trials. 

Dr. Sabaté is a leading researcher in plant-based nutrition and sustainable diets. His work on nuts, dietary patterns, and the Adventist Health Studies has influenced nutrition science, public health policy, and understanding of the connections between diet, health, and sustainability. 

Dr. Sievenpiper conducts internationally recognized research using clinical trials and evidence synthesis to evaluate diet, carbohydrate quality, sugars, and plant-based nutrition. His work has helped inform dietary guidelines and clinical practice for cardiometabolic disease prevention. 

Dr. Salas-Salvadó is a principal investigator of the landmark PREDIMED and PREDIMED-Plus studies. His research focuses on obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, Mediterranean dietary patterns, and precision nutrition, contributing substantially to global nutrition science. 

Dr. Ordovás is a pioneer in nutritional genomics whose research explores gene-diet interactions, precision nutrition, aging, obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. His work has helped establish the scientific foundation for personalized nutrition approaches worldwide. 

A former breast surgeon, Dr. Jones now teaches anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, pharmacology, and research methods. Her interdisciplinary expertise in medicine and nutrition supports the education of future healthcare professionals and researchers. 

Kayli Anderson specializes in women's health, plant-based nutrition, and lifestyle medicine. She serves as ACLM Food as Medicine Lead Faculty, authored the nutrition chapter in Improving Women's Health Across the Lifespan, and translates evidence-based nutrition guidance into practical strategies. 

Dr. Cara is a nutritional epidemiologist whose research examines plant-based dietary patterns, chronic disease prevention, nutrition policy, and evidence synthesis. She received the American Society for Nutrition's 2024 Top Reviewer Award for her contributions to nutrition research. 

Dr. Petersen's research focuses on dietary strategies to prevent cardiometabolic disease, improve diet quality, and better understand how taste influences food choices. Her work helps identify practical approaches to supporting healthy eating behaviors. 

Dr. Fontana is an internationally recognized physician-scientist and global leader in nutrition, metabolism, and healthy longevity. His pioneering research on dietary restriction and aging has transformed understanding of nutrition's role in preventing age-related chronic disease. 

Dr. Springmann studies the relationships between food systems, environmental sustainability, climate change, and human health. His research informs global policy initiatives and advances understanding of how food choices affect both people and the planet. 

Dr. Messina is one of the world's leading experts on soy foods and health. He has published more than 130 scientific papers and delivered over 800 presentations worldwide, helping advance understanding of soy's role in healthy dietary patterns. 

Dr. Landry's research focuses on food and nutrition security, cardiovascular health, and translating nutrition science into practical clinical and public health applications. He combines expertise in dietetics, lifestyle medicine, and population health. 

Dr. McMacken founded the Bellevue Lifestyle Medicine Program and leads system-wide initiatives to improve cardiometabolic health through evidence-based lifestyle interventions. Her work emphasizes health equity, prevention, and expanding access to lifestyle medicine services. 

Dr. Barnard is an internationally recognized researcher, physician, and author whose work has advanced understanding of nutrition's role in diabetes, weight management, hormonal health, and chronic disease prevention. He has authored more than 150 scientific publications and 20 books. 

Nicholas Carter is an environmental researcher and science communicator whose work focuses on food systems, climate change, biodiversity, livestock methane, and emerging food technologies. He helps translate scientific evidence into practical strategies for environmental sustainability and food system transformation. 

Dr. Agarwal studies dietary patterns, antioxidants, and lifestyle factors associated with healthy aging and brain health. Her research advances understanding of how nutrition influences cognitive decline, neurological outcomes, and strategies that support healthy aging across the lifespan. 

Dr. Pacheco's research focuses on wildfire prevention, ecosystem services, sustainable land management, and environmental policy. Her work evaluates trade-offs associated with land-use decisions and develops approaches that support resilient rural landscapes. 

Dr. Mathew studies the intersection of kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, and lifestyle factors. His research includes analyses from Adventist Health Study cohorts and investigations into cardio-kidney-metabolic health. 

Sapna Peruvemba is a registered dietitian whose research focuses on sustainable food systems and dietary guidance that integrates human and environmental health. Her work examines how sustainability-focused nutrition recommendations influence food choices and dietary behavior. 

Dr. Rajaram's research examines plant-based diets, nuts, soy, berries, cognition, immunity, and cardiometabolic health. She has conducted numerous randomized controlled trials and contributed extensively to advancing evidence-based vegetarian nutrition science. 

Dr. Tong is a nutritional epidemiologist whose research focuses on vegetarian and vegan diets, cardiovascular disease, bone health, proteomics, and biomarkers. She is a principal investigator of the EPIC-Oxford study and a leader in diet and health research. 

Dr. Key established the EPIC-Oxford study and is internationally recognized for research on diet, cancer, and the health outcomes of vegetarian and vegan dietary patterns. His work has significantly advanced nutritional epidemiology and chronic disease research. 

Dr. Fresán leads research on sustainable dietary patterns, environmental impacts of foods, and strategies to promote healthy, sustainable eating. She has advised organizations including the World Health Organization and serves as a European Climate Pact Ambassador. 

Dr. Li is a physician-scientist whose research spans obesity, metabolism, precision nutrition, microbiome science, and health equity. She has led more than 100 clinical nutrition trials and is a recognized leader in nutrition and metabolic health research.