Dr. Dean Ornish, MD

Dean Ornish, M.D., is the founder and president of the non-profit Preventive Medicine Research Institute and Clinical Professor of Medicine at UCSF and at UCSD.  He received his M.D. from the Baylor College of Medicine, was a clinical fellow in medicine at Harvard Medical School, and completed a residency in internal medicine at 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. 

Dr. Ornish was recognized 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 fifty most influential members of his generation;” by People magazine as “one of the most interesting people of the year;” the University of California, Berkeley, “National Public Health Hero” award; and by Forbes magazine as “one of the world’s seven most powerful teachers.” 

For over 47 years, he has directed clinical research demonstrating, for the first time, that comprehensive lifestyle changes may often begin to reverse coronary heart disease, prostate cancer, and other chronic diseases without drugs or surgery as well as “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, Nobel Laureate). 

Medicare created a new benefit category, “intensive cardiac rehabilitation,” to provide coverage for this program, which is now being covered when offered virtually. 

He recently directed the first randomized controlled trial showing that lifestyle changes may often improve cognition and function in those with early Alzheimer’s disease. 

Dr. Ornish is a #1 New York Times bestselling author of UnDo It! (co‑authored with Anne Ornish) and six other books, all national bestsellers.  His three main-stage TED.com talks have been viewed by over eight million people. 

The “Ornish diet” was rated “#1 for Heart Health” by a panel of experts at U.S. News & World Report for eleven years.  He co-chaired the Google Health Advisory Council with Marissa Mayer 2007-9. 

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.