Robert Graham
Dr. Graham is a public health scientist, health service researcher, TED speaker, food activist, and chef. He and his wife founded FRESH Medicine and FRESH Med U. FRESH Medicine is an integrative health and wellness center located in NYC. FRESH is an acronym for the five ingredients in their recipe for health: food, relaxation, exercise, sleep, and happiness.
Dr. Graham is the proud son of a farmer and an immigrant born and raised in Jackson Heights in Queens, NYC. A lifelong "food fighter" and a leader in the field of integrative/functional and holistic medicine, Dr. Graham has prescribed “food as medicine” for over 15 years. This includes teaching over 1,000 healthcare workers, mostly doctors, how to cook whole food, and plant-based meals.
When not seeing patients, Dr. Graham trades his white lab coat for chef whites with the goal of expanding his toolkit both as a healthcare provider and as an advocate for a new model of integrative, “food-first” lifestyle-focused healthcare called culinary medicine. Additionally, he serves as the first Chief Health Officer of a food company called Performance Kitchen where he not only advises but also designs medically tailored meals for patients with chronic diseases.
In the fall of 2021, Dr. Graham was asked to be part of NYC Mayor Eric Adams' Food Transition team, focusing on institutional foods, a true honor for a native New Yorker.
Dr. Graham is a Harvard-trained researcher and physician. He is board certified in both internal and integrative medicine and trained in holistic and functional medicine.
Dr. Graham received a master of public health from the Harvard School of Public Health while completing three additional fellowships in general internal medicine and complementary and integrative medical therapies at Harvard Medical School as well as medical education at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts. His clinical research focused on health disparities and integrative therapies, including dietary supplements among racial and ethnic minorities. He also completed coursework in mind/body medicine, positive psychology, lifestyle medicine, culinary medicine, and botanical and traditional Chinese medicine.
In 2018, Dr. Graham became one of less than 20 doctors/chefs worldwide, as he obtained his culinary degree from the Natural Gourmet Institute.
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