Dean Ornish, M.D., is the Founder and President of the nonprofit Preventive Medicine Research Institute, and Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and also at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Ornish was trained in internal medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and the Massachusetts General Hospital. He earned a B.A. in Humanities summa cum laude from the University of Texas in Austin, where he gave the baccalaureate address.

For over 40 years, he has directed clinical research demonstrating, for the first time, that comprehensive lifestyle changes may begin to reverse many chronic diseases, including even severe coronary heart disease, without drugs or surgery. Medicare created a new benefit category, “intensive cardiac rehabilitation,” to provide coverage for this program.

He directed the first randomized controlled trial demonstrating that comprehensive lifestyle changes may slow, stop or reverse the progression of early-stage prostate cancer. His research showed that comprehensive lifestyle changes affect gene expression, “turning on” disease-preventing genes and “turning off” genes that promote cancer and heart disease, as well as the first controlled study showing that these lifestyle changes may begin to reverse cellular aging by lengthening telomeres, the ends of our chromosomes which regulate aging (in collaboration with Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn, awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine & Physiology).

His research and writings have been published in the leading peer-reviewed medical journals, including the Journal of the American Medical Association, Lancet, and New England Journal of Medicine. His work has been featured in all major media, including cover stories in Newsweek, Time, and U.S. News & World Report.

He has received numerous awards, including the 1994 Outstanding Young Alumnus Award from the University of Texas, Austin, the National Public Health Hero Award from the University of California, Berkeley, a U.S. Surgeon General Citation, the Beckmann Medal from the German Society for Prevention and Rehabilitation of Cardiovascular Diseases, a Presidential Citation from the American Psychological Association, the Stanley Wallach Award from the American College of Nutrition, the Plantrician Project Luminary Award, and the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award from the American College of Lifestyle Medicine.

Dr. Ornish’s TED talks have been viewed by more than 5 million people. He has written a monthly column for TIME, Newsweek and Reader’s Digest magazines, is a LinkedIn Influencer, was the medical editor for the Huffington Post,(2009-2016), and cochaired Google Health with Marissa Mayer (2007-2009).

He was appointed by President Clinton to the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy and by President Obama to the White House Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion, and Integrative and Public Health.

The “Ornish diet” has been rated “#1 for Heart Health” by U.S. News & World Report every year from 2011-2017. The author of six books, all national bestsellers, he was honored as “one of the 125 most extraordinary University of Texas alumni in the past 125 years;” by TIME magazine as a “TIME 100 Innovator;” by Life magazine as “one of the 50 most influential members of his generation;” and by Forbes magazine as “one of the world’s seven most powerful teachers.”

About Anne Ornish

Anne Ornish is the Digital Director of Ornish Lifestyle Medicine and Vice President of Program Development at the nonprofit Preventive Medicine Research Institute. She received a B.A. in Art History and Digital Art in 1997 with honors from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

She is the creator of Ornish Lifestyle Medicine's digital platform—including ornish.com—and Empower, a turnkey learning management system that trains health care professionals throughout the country. Empower also guides participants through foundational courses that support people to transform suffering into health and well-being. Empower provides best in class tools for sustainable behavior change and ongoing healthy living via enlivening educational and practice videos, workshops and community support.

Her multimedia series of guided meditation practices are featured on a DVD inside Dr. Ornish’s book, The Spectrum, and at ornish.com. She also produced the Ornish Program's online channel at WebMD from 1998-2006.

Anne has over twenty-five years of advanced training in yoga and meditation. She is a certified Integrative Health & Spirituality practitioner through the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco and also received professional training in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction in Mind-Body Medicine with Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn of the University of Massachusetts School of Medicine. She was featured on the cover of Yoga Journal.

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