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Karen Owoc, ACSM-CEP, ACSM-CET is a clinical exercise physiologist in cardiopulmonary rehabilitation at the Palo Alto VA Medical Center and works privately as a medical fitness trainer and plant-based nutrition consultant. She is also a speaker on lifestyle medicine and has been the weekly TV health expert on KRON 4 news in San Francisco for the past 4-1/2 years, speaking on all aspects of health in over 200 television interviews. Certified by the American College of Sports Medicine, Karen focuses on the fascinating findings of human longevity and the centenarian lifestyle. Because of her love for sports and family history of early-onset heart disease, Karen focused on a career path where food and exercise are used to treat, manage, and prevent disease. She just released her first book on functional longevity, “Athletes in Aprons: The Nutrition Playbook to Break 100” and also posts on her lifestyle blog, karenowoc.com. To learn more about Karen's work: Website:  https://karenowoc.com (currently under maintenance) Book: https://amazon.com/author/break100 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karenowoc/   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KarenOwoc/ LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/karenowoc/ This podcast is brought to you by Emory Lifestyle Medicine & Wellness. To learn more about our work, please visit https://bit.ly/EmoryLM

Amber Orman, MD, DipABLM is a double board-certified radiation oncologist and lifestyle medicine specialist focusing on breast cancer treatment and prevention. She is the Chief Wellness Office (CWO) of AdventHealth Medical Group. She is also the co-founder of the HEAL (Healthy Eating and Active Lifestyle) program at AdventHealth in Orlando, Florida. HEAL is an 8 week lifestyle medicine program designed to educate and inspire cancer patients to make positive changes to decrease cancer recurrence and improve overall healthspan. She is a mother to 3 teenagers and 2 poodles, wife to a witty nephrologist, and spends her free time trail running, lifting, rowing, cycling, and summiting Colorado’s peaks.   To learn more you can access this ACLM video about HEAL and accompanying article: Video: https://youtu.be/BQAD95TqhD0 Article: How a commitment to lifestyle changes helped one woman face cancer | by American College of Lifestyle Medicine | Feb, 2022 | Medium Website and Signup for HEAL: Breast (currently available in Florida): HEAL: Breast Cancer | AdventHealth Cancer Institute     This podcast is brought to you by Emory Lifestyle Medicine & Wellness. To learn more about our work, please visit https://bit.ly/EmoryLM

Jennifer Shalz, MD is an internal medicine physician who is the medical director of the St. Luke’s Health System Department of Lifestyle Medicine. She develops and directs programs that use lifestyle interventions to help prevent, treat, and reverse chronic disease. Currently these programs include Cardiac, Peripheral Vascular Disease and Pulmonary Rehab; Nicotine Dependence Treatment; the St. Luke’s Lifestyle Medicine Clinic at the South Meridian YMCA; Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia; and the St. Luke’s Complete Health Improvement Program. She is a diplomate of the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine. She earned her medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine and completed her internal medicine residency at David Grant Medical Center, Travis Air Force Base, CA. She practiced at three different VA Medical Centers after separating as a major from the USAF in 2000. Immediately prior to joining St. Luke’s in 2011, she served as a hospice medical director and provided supportive oncology care in the radiation oncology clinic at St. Alphonsus Cancer Care Center. To learn more: Lifestyle Medicine at St. Luke's (stlukesonline.org) This podcast is brought to you by Emory Lifestyle Medicine & Wellness. To learn more about our work, please visit https://bit.ly/EmoryLM

Dr. Tom Rifai's lifestyle medicine and health transformation expertise is rooted in a rare combination of training and practice in psychology, internal medicine, lifestyle medicine and clinical nutrition.   He has a notable and strong family history of type 2 diabetes in both parents, a toxic, genetic form of cholesterol and has had the challenge of binge eating disorder, which brought him to the brink of death in 2007 and took his youngest brother’s life in 2017. Now, in recovery, he has gathered over 20,000 hours of clinical experience leading and building multidisciplinary lifestyle intervention programs, working with thousands of patients.  From his depth of professional and personal experiences, the Flex5™ Lifestyle Change System was born.   He authored and co-directs Harvard's online Lifestyle Medicine professional CME course, Nutrition and the Metabolic Syndrome, and is a co-host of the True Health Revealed podcast, supported by the non-profit True Health Initiative.   Past accolades include being president of the National Board of Physician Nutrition Specialists, Regional Medical Director of Metabolic Health for the Henry Ford Health System, Associate Medical Director of the world renowned Pritikin Longevity Center and a founding Pritikin Intensive Cardiac Rehabilitation program educator, a Medicare approved program for heart disease reversal. Rifai is now the Medical & Wellness Director for Magna International and CEO of digital health company Reality Meets Science.  Both companies are working together to bring the FlexMD Lifestyle Transformation app and digital platform to market next year.  And Dr Rifai‘s upcoming book, “The Flex5: Your 5 Keys to Get Lean, Reverse Disease and Forever Health” also promises to hit bookshelves next year. To learn more: True Health Initiative Tom Rifai's Page 5 Keys to optimal wellness True Health Revealed Podcast   This podcast is brought to you by Emory Lifestyle Medicine & Wellness. To learn more about our work, please visit https://bit.ly/EmoryLM

Michelle Thompson, DO is a Lifestyle, Integrative, & Mind-Body Medicine Practitioner and Integrative Wellness & Culinary Medicine Maven. Born and raised in the Shenango Valley, Dr. Thompson has developed a Free Healthy Living Series, where she lectures and provides experiential opportunities to anyone in the community seeking knowledge in integrative modalities.  Her programs are eligible to receive credit toward insurance deductible by showing the participant has "taken a healthy step."  She has taken her unique medicine approach out of the office to share in efforts to reach more people, designing programs with no financial, physical, age, or gender barriers.  By collaborating with fellow practitioners, community members have experienced yoga with live acoustic guitar, aromatherapy, sound therapy with crystal singing bowls, flutes, gongs, didgeridoo, art therapy, reiki, tai chi, qigong, energy modalities, dancing mindfulness, breath work, guided imagery, kids yoga, meditation, nutrition, and lifestyle modalities all free of charge.   She has been active in teaching the whole food plant based diet to people in her community, creating cooking programs with a local chef and dietician, for eating to reverse disease.  By promoting "Doctors in the Kitchen-Food is Medicine," an approved continuing medical education event, she hopes her peers will implement the changes they learn into the way they practice medicine and will become models of health and healing for their patients. Currently, Dr. Thompson is employed by the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and has a full-time integrative family medicine practice, seeing infants through the end of life using a natural approach to health care.  Her specialty is reversing disease through diet, exercise, and lifestyle changes while empowering her patients to take charge of their health and work as a team with their physician.  There are healing powers of proper nutrition in almost all disease processes, and she believes that eating for health can be pleasurable if we eat in a way that serves our body.     Links for further learning: https://www.wholeheartedmedicine.org https://www.bewelltherapies.org/ https://cmbm.org/   This podcast is brought to you by Emory Lifestyle Medicine & Wellness. To learn more about our work, please visit https://bit.ly/EmoryLM

For nearly two decades, Padmaja Patel, MD, DipABLM, has been a practicing internist in Midland, TX. She currently serves as the Medical Director of the Lifestyle Medicine Center at Midland Health and has advocated for offering a variety of comprehensive lifestyle intervention programs under physician supervision.  Dr. Patel serves on the Board of American College of Lifestyle Medicine and as Vice President of the Midland Quality Alliance, a clinically integrated network of physicians. She is a member of the National Quality Forum's 2021 Leadership Consortium and a founding member of the advisory board of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine's Health Systems Council. She also serves as the Chair of the Patient Care Subcommittee of ACLM's Health Systems Council and ACLM's Clinical Practice and Quality Advisory Panel.  Dr. Patel has been awarded the prestigious status of Fellow of ACLM for her outstanding achievement in the field of Lifestyle Medicine. She co-founded Healthy City, a non-profit organization, to raise awareness of the benefits of plant-based nutrition within her community.   To learn more, visit the following links: Dr. Patel's Website Dr. Patel's call to action to help integrate lifestyle medicine into healthcare Healthy City Non-Profit 21 Day Kickstart from PCRM This podcast is brought to you by Emory Lifestyle Medicine & Wellness. To learn more about our work, please visit https://bit.ly/EmoryLM

Dr. Will Bulsiewicz (or "Dr. B") is an award winning gastroenterologist, internationally recognized gut health expert and the New York Times, Publishers Weekly, USA Today, and Indie Bound-bestselling author of Fiber Fueled and The Fiber Fueled Cookbook. With a passion for plants and helping people, he sits on the Scientific Advisory Board and is the U.S. Medical Director of ZOE, has authored more than twenty articles published in peer-reviewed scientific journals, has given more than forty presentations at national meetings, presented to Congress and the USDA, and has taught over 10,000 students how to heal and optimize their gut health. He completed a bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University, a medical degree from Georgetown University, and a master's in clinical investigation from Northwestern University. Dr. B was the chief medical resident at Northwestern and the chief gastroenterology fellow at The University of North Carolina, and received the highest award given by both his residency and fellowship. He completed an epidemiology fellowship on a grant from the National Institutes of Health at UNC's prestigious Gillings School of Global Public Health. He lives in Charleston, South Carolina with his wife and children. You’ll find him on Instagram as @theguthealthmd , on Facebook as @theguthealthmd , and at his website theplantfedgut.com. To learn more and connect: Website Fiber Fueled Book The Fiber Fueled Cookbook Instagram This podcast is brought to you by Emory Lifestyle Medicine & Wellness. To learn more about our work, please visit https://bit.ly/EmoryLM

Hansa Bhargava, MD, FAAP is Chief Medical Officer at Medscape Education. Her leadership includes an eye to innovation and cutting-edge topics in health care. She has practiced for over 10 years as a clinician and was previously Senior Medical Director At WebMD. She has extensive experience in producing digital content, collaborating in partnerships, and in thought leadership. Her previous position included working closely with the editorial, product, and news teams and developing digital apps. With expertise in parenting, mental health, and pregnancy, she has helped develop products such as the WebMD Baby App and WebMD Pregnancy App and has published on digitally monitoring pregnancy and outcomes. Her partnership efforts have included those with the University of Alabama, Jed Foundation, CDC, the White House, and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). She represents Medscape and WebMD in media including CNN, HLN, Politico, NPR, Vice, and WSJ Radio and writes regularly for Forbes. Bhargava has participated in conferences, doing keynotes/talks at meetings such as Peds2040, GaTech Innovation Day, Exponential Medicine, and the FDA. She has moderated discussions at UNICEF, Emory Global Health Institute, and Health Connect South. In 2012, she served as an expert panelist with first lady Michelle Obama at the WebMD/Let's Move Town Hall in Miami. Outside of WebMD, Bhargava has worked with the AAP nationally and locally. She is an elected executive member of the AAP Committee on Communications and Media. She was previously on the advisory board for UNICEF and is currently is on the Global Council for Emory University Global Health Institute and on the advisory board for CWC. A graduate of the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine, she completed her residency at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. She is board certified in pediatrics. She lives in Atlanta and has two children.   Check out Dr. Bhargava's recent book Building Healthier Kids: Stress-Busting Tools for Parents   This podcast is brought to you by Emory Lifestyle Medicine & Wellness. To learn more about our work, please visit https://bit.ly/EmoryLM

Brian Asbill, MD is originally from Columbia, SC.  He graduated cum laude from Davidson College in 1990 with a BS (Biology major), and received the MD degree from the Medical University of SC (valedictorian) in 1994. Dr. Asbill completed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine (and met his wife) at University of Virginia in 1997, completed his cardiology fellowship training at MUSC in 2001 and subsequently joined Asheville Cardiology Associates where he served as an invasive, non-interventional cardiologist until 2020. While working at ACA, he additionally completed board certification in clinical lipidology in 2008, received his certificate in plant-based nutrition from eCornell in 2013 and completed board certification in lifestyle medicine in 2017. Dr. Asbill co-founded Ruckus Health in 2020 whose vision it is to support people holistically in uncovering their innate ability to live in physical, mental, emotional and spiritual balance.  Also serves as the medical director of the cardiac rehab program for Mission Health and the medical director for the Plantstrong immersion programs.  Dr. Asbill is married with two boys, ages 20 and 16.  Enjoys cooking (and eating), reading, hiking and spending as much time outside as possible.   Currently he serves as the medical director of the cardiac rehabilitation program for Mission Health and has also co-founded Ruckus Health whose vision is “To support people holistically in uncovering their innate ability to live in emotional, mental, physical and spiritual balance.”   Dr. Asbill is a return guest (first appearance Episode 45, where we talked about reversal of cardiovascular disease). Today we talk about heart health risk and plant-based diet. First, what are the assessment methods of heart health and heart disease risks? Dr. Asbill talks about the ASCVD and MESA scores, their reliability and value. We discuss the role of statins, and how they compare to dietary interventions such as switching to plant-based diet. Dr. Asbill explains calcium scores, cholesterol and other measure of heart health. We also discuss the role of exercise and the impact of stress. Tune in to learn more! Links to explore: ruckus health Previous Episode of The Whole Health Cure: Episode 45 Mission Health Website Plant-Based Prevention of Disease Plantstrong Podcast This podcast is brought to you by Emory Lifestyle Medicine & Wellness. To learn more about our work, please visit https://bit.ly/EmoryLM

Danielle Dick, Ph.D. is a Professor of Psychology and Genetics. She is an internationally recognized and award-winning expert on genetic and environmental influences on human behavior. She has led and contributed to more than 20 grants from the National Institutes of Health, with grant funding totaling over 30 million dollars. She has more than 350 peer-reviewed publications in the areas of child development, addiction, mental health, genetics, and human behavior, and has won numerous national and international awards for her work. She has been named one of the most highly cited researchers in the world. Danielle is an author of THE CHILD CODE.   In this conversation Danielle talks about how our genes and environment can influence our health and behavior. We talk about things like substance abuse, eating disorder, depression and other psychiatric conditions - is it individual's fault? Danielle says that "our brains are all wired very differently on the inside". When talking about addiction, Danielle explains that, interestingly, how our brains process reward appears to be more important than predisposition to specific substance. Emotion regulation is another big factor that influences addictive behaviors. We discuss anxiety, the role it plays, and the evolutionary advantage it was born from. Danielle concludes that genetic code we are born with is important, but it does not mean we are destined to have problems. Environment plays an important role and can make a huge difference. Finally, we discuss how this science translates in child care and parenting. Understanding your child's disposition is key for applying appropriate parenting strategies and nurturing a healthy family environment. Tune in to learn more!   To learn more about Danielle's work: Website: DanielleDick.com Book: TheChildCode.com Social Media: @DrDanielleDick on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn   This podcast is brought to you by Emory Lifestyle Medicine & Wellness. To learn more about our work, please visit https://bit.ly/EmoryLM

Tim Cunningham, RN, DrPH, FAAN is Co-Chief Well-Being Officer at Emory Healthcare and the Woodruff Health Sciences Center at Emory University. He holds a joint appointment as adjunct associate professor at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory Healthcare and serves as Vice President of Practice and Innovation for Emory Healthcare. He collaborates with interprofessional teams to support structural and systemic well-being support change for healthcare staff and professionals, university staff and faculty, researchers, learners, and community members. His clinical background is emergency nursing, however, he never thought that he would become a nurse. Cunningham’s first passion was in the performing arts—theatre, clown, dance and acrobatics. He worked as an actor for nearly a decade in various regional theatres in the U.S. and internationally. It was because of those experiences that he began work with Clowns Without Borders in 2003. A small non-profit organization, Clowns Without Borders sends professional artists into war zones, refugee camps and other zones of crisis with the simple mission of catalyzing laughter and playfulness. Tim has performed in more than 20 countries with the clowns, he served for five years as the Executive Director of CWB, and now he sits on their Board of Directors. It was working in a pediatric ward in pre-earthquake Haiti that inspired Tim to study nursing. He graduated from the Clinical Nurse Leader program at the University of Virginia in 2009 and then worked an emergency/trauma nurse at the UVA Health, Children’s National Medical Center and New York Presbyterian, Cornell. Tim completed his Doctorate of Public Health at the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University in 2016. His dissertation focused on psychosocial support of expatriate Ebola aid workers in West Africa, with an emphasis on Narrative Medicine. He then joined the faculty at UVA with a joint appointment in the School of Nursing and Department of Drama.  Tim is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing. His publications focus on compassion and well-being. Tim’s co-authored textbook, Self-Care for New and Student Nurses challenges the way we as learners and leaders approach the critical practices of caring for ourselves that we may care for others.  To learn more: Reach an article "Emory’s Woodruff Health Sciences Center establishes Office of Well-Being" Read The Blue Ridge Academic Health Group Report from 2018   This podcast is brought to you by Emory Lifestyle Medicine & Wellness. To learn more about our work, please visit https://bit.ly/EmoryLM

Dr. Cassandra L. Quave is Curator of the Herbarium and Associate Professor of Dermatology and Human Health at Emory University, where she leads anti-infective drug discovery research initiatives and teaches courses on medicinal plants, food, and health. She earned degrees in biology and anthropology (B.S.) from Emory University in 2000, and a Ph.D. in biology in 2008 from Florida International University under the direction of Dr. Brad Bennett. She completed postdoctoral fellowships in microbial pathogenesis at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences under the direction of Dr. Mark Smeltzer (2009-2011) and in human health at Emory University under the direction of Dr. Michelle Lampl (2011-2012). As a medical ethnobotanist, her work focuses on the documentation and pharmacological evaluation of plants used in traditional medicine. She has led field expeditions in the Amazon, Mediterranean and the Balkans. Dr. Quave’s research is supported by the National Institutes of Health, industry contracts, and philanthropy. She is a Fellow of the Explorers Club, a past President of the Society for Economic Botany, a recipient of the Emory Williams Teaching Award, and Charles Heiser, Jr. Mentor Award. This year, Dr. Quave was honored with the American Botanical Council’s James A. Duke Excellence in Botanical Literature Award and the American Herbal Products Association Herbal Insight Award. She serves on the editorial boards for Natural Product Reports, Scientific Reports, and Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, and is an associate editor for Frontiers in Pharmacology. Beyond her academic research and teaching activities, Dr. Quave dedicates significant effort to scientific outreach and engagement with the public. She is the co-creator and host of “Foodie Pharmacology,” a podcast dedicated to exploring the links between food and medicine, now in its fourth season. She is the creator of the “Teach Ethnobotany” channel on YouTube, which is dedicated to sharing educational videos about botanicals, pharmacology, and natural products. Dr. Quave has authored more than 100 scientific publications, one popular science book, two edited books, twenty book chapters, and seven patents; her work has been cited in the scientific literature more than 5,000 times. Her research has been the subject of feature profiles in the New York Times Magazine, BBC Science Focus, National Geographic Magazine, NPR, PBS, and the National Geographic Channel. She has written opinion essays for The Wall Street Journal and The Conversation. Quave is author of an acclaimed science memoir, The Plant Hunter: A Scientist’s Quest for Nature’s Next Medicines (Viking, 2021), which was listed as one of the Best Nonfiction Books of the Year by Kirkus Reviews.   To explore Dr. Quave's work please visit the following links: The Plant Hunter Book Foodie Pharmacology Podcast Research Donate to Dr. Quave's Lab Research Dr. Quave's Website   This podcast is brought to you by Emory Lifestyle Medicine & Wellness. To learn more about our work, please visit https://bit.ly/EmoryLM

Dustin Harder is the host and creator of the original vegan travel culinary series The Vegan Roadie, and podcast Keep On Cookin'. Dustin currently works in culinary development with restaurants and non-profit organizations to implement plant-based recipes. He also works as a private chef and cooking instructor. Previously an actor in song and dance, Dustin gave up his tap shoes to study culinary arts at the Natural Gourmet Institute in NYC in 2014. He has since been featured in such publications as Eating Well, VegNews, Vegan Lifestyle Magazine, Chowhound, Vegetarian Times and Paste Magazine. Dustin appeared on Food Networks Girl Scout Baking Championship showcasing vegan baking paired with girl scout cookies in February 2020. Dustin is the author of three cookbooks; Epic Vegan Quick and Easy, Epic Vegan and The Simply Vegan Cookbook. The Simply Vegan Cookbook has been added to Forbes list of "Best Vegan Cookbooks". Dustin currently serves as the culinary specialist with The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.  For more information, please explore: The Vegan Roadie Official Website Keep On Cookin' on Apple Podcasts Universal Meals: Food Everyone Can Enjoy (pcrm.org) Epic Vegan Quick and Easy: Simple One-Pot and One-Pan Plant-Based Recipes: Harder, Dustin: 9781592339860: Amazon.com: Books   This podcast is brought to you by Emory Lifestyle Medicine & Wellness. To learn more about our work, please visit https://bit.ly/EmoryLM

Rollin McCraty, Ph.D. is Director of Research of the HeartMath Research Center at the HeartMath Institute. As a psycho-physiologist, Dr. McCraty’s research interests include the physiology of emotion, heart-brain communication and the global interconnectivity between people and the earth’s energetic systems. Findings from this research have been applied to the development of tools and technology to optimize individual and organizational health, performance, and quality of life. Dr. McCraty has acted as Principal Investigator in numerous studies examining the effects of emotions on heart–brain interactions and on autonomic, cardiovascular, hormonal, and immune system function, and outcome studies to determine the benefits of positive emotion-focused interventions and heart rhythm coherence feedback in diverse organizational, educational and various clinical populations. He has been featured in a number of documentary films such as I Am, The Truth, The Joy of Sox Movie, The Power of the Heart, Solar Revolution, and The Living Matrix among many others. To learn more please visit: HeartMath Institute  HeartMath Inc. HeartMath Experience Training (free) This podcast is brought to you by Emory Lifestyle Medicine & Wellness. To learn more about our work, please visit https://bit.ly/EmoryLM

Dr. Reddy is the director of interventional cardiology at the James A Haley VA Medical Center in Tampa, FL. He  completed his general and interventional cardiology fellowship training at Winthrop University Hospital in Long Island, NY. After practicing interventional cardiology for ten years, he changed his focus towards cardiovascular health promotion and disease prevention, using lifestyle and nutrition based strategies. He is a member of American College of Cardiology’s working group on nutrition and lifestyle. In addition, he serves as a board of director and the treasurer for the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. He is the founding Co-Chair of Veterans Health Administration/Department of Defense member interest group and the Cardiology member interest group under the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. Dr. Reddy is board certified in Cardiology, Interventional Cardiology and Lifestyle Medicine.  He is closely involved with the department of Whole Health at the Tampa VA hospital. Working in partnership with the local Whole Health leadership, he established two preventive cardiology clinics. HEAL – Healthy Eating and Living – Introductory Program CALM – Comprehensive Approach to Lifestyle Medicine – 6 weeks of multidisciplinary program.  He is passionate and deeply committed to the idea of health promotion and disease prevention, using lifestyle and nutrition related tools. It is with this passion and commitment, he boldly challenges his patients with  – “I have a carrot and a stent, you pick!”     This podcast is brought to you by Emory Lifestyle Medicine & Wellness. To learn more about our work, please visit https://bit.ly/EmoryLM

In this episode Laurence S. Sperling, M.D., FACC, FAHA, FACP, FASPC talks about prevention of heart disease. Dr. Sperling covers a range of topics related to cardiovascular disease and its prevention. What is preventive cardiology? How can we prevent heart disease in individuals and populations? What are the risk factors for heart disease? Dr. Sperling discusses the opportunities in healthcare as it relates to cardiovascular health, and why this topic is especially relevant in the time of the pandemic. Dr. Sperling talks about local and national projects he is leading to restore cardiovascular health and closes with tips on what each of us can do to make an impact. Tune in to learn more! Laurence S. Sperling, M.D., FACC, FAHA, FACP, FASPC is the Founder of Preventive Cardiology at the Emory Clinic . He is the Executive Director of the Million Hearts program with the CDC and CMS. He is currently the Katz Professor in Preventive Cardiology at the Emory University School of Medicine.  In addiiton, Dr. Sperling is a Professor in the Rollins School of Public Health in Global Health. Dr. Sperling Is a member of the writing group for the 2018 Cholesterol Guidelines, serves as Co-Chair for the ACC's Cardiometabolic and Diabetes working group, and is Co-Chair of the WHF Roadmap for Cardiovascular Prevention in Diabetes. He was awarded The American College of Cardiology Harry B. Graf Career Development Award for Heart Disease Prevention and The American Heart Association Council on Clinical Cardiology Scholarship for Physical Activity and Public Health in 2001.Dr. Sperling is originally from New York. He received his undergraduate degree from Emory College where he was accepted into Emory University School of Medicine’s Early Acceptance Program as a college sophomore. He graduated with his M.D. in 1989, and subsequently completed 8 additional years of training at Emory including a residency in internal medicine, chief resident year at Emory University Hospital, an NIH-supported research fellowship in molecular and vascular medicine, and a clinical fellowship in cardiovascular diseases.Dr. Sperling serves or has served as medical director for a number of unique programs at Emory including The HeartWise Risk Reduction Program, InterVent Atlanta, Staying Aloft, and has served as special consultant to The Centers for Disease Control. He founded (in 2004) and directs the first and only LDL apheresis program in the state of Georgia. He has been voted one of America’s and Atlanta’s Top Doctors and appeared often on local and national TV, newspaper, radio, and magazines. In 2011 he was chosen as one of 20 national dietary experts by U.S. News and World Report to evaluate and rank America’s popular diets. He has received awards for excellence in both teaching (including 4 Golden Apple Awards and The Dean’s Teaching Award) and mentorship. He was chosen by the Dean at Emory University School of Medicine to be among the first faculty society advisors for the school’s new curriculum. He had served as Associate Director of the Cardiovascular Fellowship Training program at Emory for over a decade. He has been an investigator in a number of important clinical trials including JUPITER, COURAGE, and BARI-2D and has authored over 250 manuscripts, abstracts, and book chapters. He is co-editor of the American College of Cardiology’s Diabetes Self Assessment Program, was a member of the American College of Cardiology Prevention Committee. In addition, he served as Presdient for The American Society for Preventive Cardiology.Dr. Sperling has been a marathon runner having completed the New York, Prague, and Atlanta marathons. In 2010 he ran the original course from Marathon to Athens, Greece to celebrate the 2500th anniversary of this event. He lives in the Druid Hills neighborhood of Atlanta with his wife, Sidney. Their sons, Mathew and Daniel have been students at Emory. This podcast is brought to you by Emory Lifestyle Medicine & Wellness. To learn more about our work, please visit https://bit.ly/EmoryLM

Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., received his B.A. from Yale University and his M.D. from Western Reserve University. In 1956, pulling the No. 6 oar as a member of the victorious United States rowing team, he was awarded a gold medal at the Olympic Games. He was trained as a surgeon at the Cleveland Clinic and at St. George’s Hospital in London. In 1968, as an Army surgeon in Vietnam, he was awarded the Bronze Star. Dr. Esselstyn has been associated with the Cleveland Clinic since 1968. During that time, he has served as President of the Staff and as a member of the Board of Governors. He chaired the Clinic’s Breast Cancer Task Force and headed its Section of Thyroid and Parathyroid Surgery. He is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology. In 1991, Dr. Esselstyn served as President of the American Association of Endocrine Surgeons, That same year he organized the first National Conference on the Elimination of Coronary Artery Disease, which was held in Tucson, Arizona. In 1997, he chaired a follow-up conference, the Summit on Cholesterol and Coronary Disease, which brought together more than 500 physicians and health-care workers in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. In April, 2005, Dr. Esselstyn became the first recipient of the Benjamin Spock Award for Compassion in Medicine. He received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Cleveland Clinic Alumni Association in 2009. In September 2010, he received the Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame Award. Dr. Esselstyn received the 2013 Deerfield Academy Alumni Association Heritage Award In Recognition of Outstanding Achievement & Service, and the 2013 Yale University George H.W. Bush ’48 Lifetime of Leadership Award.  Dr. Esselstyn has also received the 2015 Plantrician Project Luminary Award, the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine 2016 Distinguished Alumni Award, and the American College of Lifestyle Medicine 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award. His scientific publications number over 150, “The Best Doctors in America” 1994-1995 published by Woodward and White cites Dr. Esselstyn’s surgical expertise in the categories of endocrine and breast disease. In 1995 he published his bench mark long-term nutritional research arresting and reversing coronary artery disease in severely ill patients. That same study was updated at 12 years and reviewed beyond twenty years in his book, Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease, making it one of the longest longitudinal studies of its type. In July of 2014 he reported the experience of 198 participants seriously ill with cardiovascular disease. During 3.7 years of follow up of the 89% adherent to the program, 99.4% avoided further major cardiac events. Dr. Esselstyn and his wife, Ann Crile Esselstyn, have followed a plant-based diet since 1984. Dr. Esselstyn presently directs the cardiovascular prevention and reversal program at The Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute. The Esselstyns have four children and ten grandchildren.   Dr. Esselstyn will be speaking at the virtual event on March 12, 2022:Women vs. Inflammation: Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease and Inflammation For more information, please visit: https://www.dresselstyn.com   Emory Lifestyle Medicine invites you to join our upcoming virtual heart health cooking class on Friday, February 11 at 12pm EST! Learn more or register HERE. Leave a review for our show on your favorite podcast platform, and get a chance to win a free admission to the class! *Please email krystyna.rastorguieva@emoryhealthcare.org with the screenshot of your review, to enter the raffle and collect your prize. We thank you for your support and value your feedback! This podcast is brought to you by Emory Lifestyle Medicine & Wellness. To learn more about our work, please visit https://bit.ly/EmoryLM  

John La Puma, MD, FACP is the New York Times best selling author of seven books, translated into 10 languages, with over a million copies sold. Co-founder of ChefMD, a consumer-health media company, he is considered the founder of culinary medicine, now taught in 40% of U.S. medical schools and worldwide. He is also Founder of EcoMedicine.org, a nature-based approach to optimal well-being and optimal aging.  Dr. La Puma has lectured on nature therapy and culinary medicine at Harvard University, the University of Chicago, Stanford University, TEDMED and TEDx, Kaiser Permanente and aboard The World. With Leeza Gibbons and Joan Lunden, Dr. La Puma co-hosted the national cable weekly series “Health Corner”, underwritten by Walgreenʼs, for Lifetime TV for five years and 120 episodes. He has published over 60 peer-reviewed scientific papers, three medical books and hundreds of other works. His first general-audience book, with Cleveland Clinic Wellness Institute Founder Michael Roizen, M.D, RealAge Diet: Make Yourself Younger with What You Eat became a NYTimes bestseller, as did his ChefMD’s Big Book of Culinary Medicine. Dr. La Puma focuses on helping patients connect with nature as a way of enhancing wellness, preventing and treating medical problems, and creating more joy in their lives. He has identified Nature Deficit Disorder as a clinical problem and created ComfortNatureQuiz.com to help people identify their comforting places in nature, and SADQuiz.com as a way of detecting Seasonal Affective Disorder. He considers outdoors to be an outpatient clinic, with the ability to help people live, feel and look years younger. Dr. La Puma currently stewards a biodiverse, regenerative certified organic educational farm in Santa Barbara, California.   Resources and links: Free RealAge recipe download, and Nature as Medicine Primer https://www.drjohnlapuma.com/join-our-community/ Quizzes naturedeficitquiz.com comfortnaturequiz.com www.SADquiz.com (to give resources for and likelihood for Seasonal Affective Disorder) Farm website www.lapumafarms.com   This podcast is brought to you by Emory Lifestyle Medicine & Wellness. To learn more about our work, please visit https://bit.ly/EmoryLM Emory Lifestyle Medicine invites you to join our upcoming virtual heart health cooking class on Friday, February 11 at 12pm EST! Learn more or register HERE. Leave a review for our show on your favorite podcast platform, and get a chance to win a free admission to the class! *Please email krystyna.rastorguieva@emoryhealthcare.org with the screenshot of your review, to enter the raffle and collect your prize. We thank you for your support and value your feedback!

Sean Hashmi, MD, MS, FASN, is a practicing Nephrologist and Obesity Medicine specialist in southern California.  He is a sought-after speaker on topics ranging from health, nutrition, fitness, and wellness.  Currently, Dr. Hashmi serves as the Regional Director for Clinical Nutrition and Weight Management at a large healthcare ogranziation in Southern California.  Driven by his lifelong commitment to be of service to others, Dr. Hashmi provides evidence-based health, nutrition, and wellness research through his 501c(3) nonprofit, SELFPrinciple.org. In addition, SELF Principle also supports children's education efforts through scholarships, books, and supplies. To learn more about Dr. Hashmi's work, please follow the links below: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/selfprinciple Podcast: https://podcast.selfprinciple.org/ Website: https://www.selfprinciple.org/ Community: https://www.facebook.com/groups/selfprinciple   This podcast is brought to you by Emory Lifestyle Medicine & Wellness. To learn more about our work, please visit https://bit.ly/EmoryLM Follow us on Instagram @the_whole_health_cure

Rollin McCraty, Ph.D. is Director of Research of the HeartMath Research Center at the HeartMath Institute. As a psycho-physiologist, Dr. McCraty’s research interests include the physiology of emotion, heart-brain communication and the global interconnectivity between people and the earth’s energetic systems. Findings from this research have been applied to the development of tools and technology to optimize individual and organizational health, performance, and quality of life. Dr. McCraty has acted as Principal Investigator in numerous studies examining the effects of emotions on heart–brain interactions and on autonomic, cardiovascular, hormonal, and immune system function, and outcome studies to determine the benefits of positive emotion-focused interventions and heart rhythm coherence feedback in diverse organizational, educational and various clinical populations. He has been featured in a number of documentary films such as I Am, The Truth, The Joy of Sox Movie, The Power of the Heart, Solar Revolution, and The Living Matrix among many others. To learn more please visit: HeartMath Institute  HeartMath Inc. HeartMath Experience Training (free) This podcast is brought to you by Emory Lifestyle Medicine & Wellness. To learn more about our work, please visit https://bit.ly/EmoryLM