Neal D. Barnard

Neal D. Barnard, M.D., is a nutrition researcher, author, and health advocate. As an adjunct associate professor of medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine, Dr. Barnard conducts studies on the role of nutrition in diabetes, obesity, and lipid management, among other health issues. His most recent clinical trial, funded by the National Institutes of Health, established the value of a novel dietary program for type 2 diabetes and set a new standard for dietary approaches to this increasingly common condition.

Dr. Barnard’s articles have appeared in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the American Journal of Medicine, the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, Scientific American, the American Journal of Cardiology, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Lancet Oncology, Preventive Medicine, and many other scientific and medical journals. Dr. Barnard is the editor-in-chief of the Nutrition Guide for Clinicians and the author of more than a dozen books for lay audiences.

In 1985, Dr. Barnard established the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a nonprofit organization advocating for preventive medicine and higher ethical standards in research. He later established The Cancer Project, a nonprofit organization providing nutritional services for cancer patients and survivors and public education geared toward prevention, and the Washington Center for Clinical Research, an organization dedicated to studies of diet and health.

Growing up in Fargo, N.D., his extended family includes both doctors and cattle ranchers, two groups that are increasingly butting heads over America’s health policies. Dr. Barnard’s scientific approach aims to shed new light on these important issues.