Family Physician and Author

For over a decade, my clinical work and writing have focused on the balance and interplay between nature, traditional healing and western medical interventions. I often describe my job as part-time  family doctor, part-time writer and full-time teacher. As a family physician, I work with patients (ages 0 to 100+) at WholefamilyMD, a  San Francisco primary care practice that I founded in 2000. I also teach nutrition and integrative medicine at the University of California San Francisco and lecture nationally and internationally on topics related to food, the environment, farming and health.

My recent book, The Jungle Effect (HarperCollins 2008) is a nutrition cookbook/travelogue, which chronicles my voyages to areas around the world that are still relatively free of modern chronic diseases. I also contribute a column to the health section of the Washington Post and occasionally write for other publications. These days, I am researching and writing my next book which explores the many important connections between medicine and farming. Look for it early 2013 from HarperCollins!

If you are interested in reading interviews and profiles about me, take a look here. As you can see, it is an odd assortment of publications and media outlets ranging from Vogue Magazine and the Dr Oz Show, to the Commonwealth Club, the New York Times and Harvard Medical Magazine.

I have learned so much over the years from my patients, my collaborators, my family and my world travels. But I also feel very lucky to have had wonderful teachers at Brown University (where I majored in medical anthropology), Harvard  Medical School and at the University of California, San Francisco where I did my family medicine residency and primary care research fellowship. I was also  a Bravewell Fellow in integrative medicine at the University of Arizona.

I live in Berkeley California with my architect husband Ross Levy and my two teenagers, Arlen and Emet. Most afternoons I can be found walking up Claremont canyon or tending to vegetables and fruit trees in my back yard garden.