David L. Katz, MD, MPH, FACPM, FACP, is an internationally renowned authority on nutrition, weight control, and the prevention of chronic disease.

He is an associate professor (adjunct) of public health practice, and formerly the director of medical studies in public health, at the Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Katz directs Yale University's Prevention Research Center (YaleGriffinPRC.org), which he co-founded in 1998. As director of this clinical research laboratory dedicated to chronic disease prevention, Dr. Katz has served as principal investigator for numerous community and clinical trials and has acquired and managed over $25 million in research funds.

Dr. Katz has published over 100 scientific articles and chapters; innumerable abstracts, newsletter articles, health columns, essays, poems; and 12 books to date. He is also the author of The Way to Eat, and the second edition of this nutrition textbook is newly released (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2008).

Elected to the governing board of the American College of Preventive Medicine in 2002 and elected president of the Association of Teachers of Preventive Medicine in 2004, Dr. Katz has twice been recognized as one of America's top physicians in Preventive Medicine by the Consumers' Research Council of America. He was inducted as a fellow into the American College of Preventive Medicine in 2002 (FACPM) and the American College of Physicians in 2006 (FACP). In 2007, he was named the honorary nutrition fellow for Hunter College (New York City) and awarded the Rickett's Prize for outstanding contributions to cardiovascular medicine by the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula, Monterey, California. In 2008, he was recognized by the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation of New Haven, Connecticut, and by Shape Up Rhode Island with awards honoring his contributions to public health.

In 2005, Dr. Katz became a medical contributor for ABC News, with regular appearances on Good Morning America and occasional appearances on 20/20, World News Tonight, and other ABC programming, serving in this role until March 2007. He is currently an ABC News medical consultant. In 2005, Dr. Katz became a syndicated health/nutrition columnist for The New York Times. His work on the Overall Nutritional Quality Index (ONQI.com) resulted in a front-page article in The New York Times and an editorial in USA Today.

Dr. Katz has served as an adviser on weight control policy to the National Governors Association and gave the opening plenary address at a meeting of the nation's governors in Washington, D.C., in February 2006. He has also served as a consultant to the World Health Organization on standards of scientific evidence in complementary/alternative and traditional medicine.

Dr. Katz and his family love delicious and nutritious food that loves them back. He works out at least 40 minutes most days, committed to "practicing what he preaches." He believes he should not be offering advice to patients, readers, or the public that he himself would be unwilling to follow.

Dr. Katz lives in Connecticut with his wife, Catherine, and their three younger children: Valerie; Natalia; and Gabriel. Their oldest daughter, Rebecca, is a student at the University of Vermont, and their next oldest, Corinda, is at the University of Michigan.

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