David S Ludwig

Professor, Department of Pediatrics

Co-director, New Balance Foundation Obesity Prevention Center, Boston Children's Hospital

David S. Ludwig, MD, PhD is an endocrinologist and researcher at Boston Children’s Hospital. He holds the rank of Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and Professor of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Ludwig is the founding director of the Optimal Wellness for Life (OWL) program, one of the country’s oldest and largest clinics for the care of overweight children.

For 25 years, Dr. Ludwig has studied the effects of diet on metabolism, body weight and risk for chronic disease – with a special focus on low glycemic index, low carbohydrate and ketogenic diets. He has made major contributions to development of the Carbohydrate-Insulin Model, a physiological perspective on the obesity pandemic. Described as an “obesity warrior” by Time Magazine, Dr. Ludwig has fought for fundamental policy changes to improve the food environment. He has been Principal Investigator on numerous grants from the National Institutes of Health and philanthropic organizations totaling over $50 million and has published over 200 scientific articles. Dr. Ludwig was a Contributing Writer at JAMA for 10 years and presently serves as an editor for American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. He appears frequently in national media, including New York Times, NPR, ABC, NBC, CBS and CNN. Dr. Ludwig has written 3 books for the public, including the #1 New York Times bestseller Always, Hungry? Conquer Cravings, Retrain your Fat Cells, and Lose Weight Permanently.