Biography

Robert Kushner is Professor of Medicine and Medicine Education at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and Director of the Center for Lifestyle Medicine in Chicago, IL, USA. After finishing a residency in Internal Medicine at Northwestern University, he went on to complete a post-graduate fellowship in Clinical Nutrition and earned a Master’s degree in Clinical Nutrition and Nutritional Biology from the University of Chicago. Dr. Kushner is past-President of The Obesity Society (TOS), the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN), the American Board of Physician Nutrition Specialists (ABPNS), and a founder and past-Chair of the American Board of Obesity Medicine (ABOM). He was awarded the ‘2016 Clinician-of-the-Year Award’ by The Obesity Society, John X. Thomas Best Teachers of Feinberg Award at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in 2017, and the Friend Award by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Weight Management Group in 2020. Dr. Kushner has authored over 250 original articles, reviews, books and book chapters covering medical nutrition, medical nutrition education, and obesity, and is an internationally recognized expert on the care of patients who are overweight or obese. He is author/editor of multiple books including Nutrition and Bariatric Surgery (CRC Press, 2015), Lifestyle Medicine: A Manual for Clinical Practice (Springer, 2016), Obesity Medicine, Medical Clinics of North America (Elsevier, 2018), Creating a Lifestyle Medicine Center (Springer, 2020), and Primary Care: Evaluation and Management of Obesity (Wolter Kluwer, 2022). His latest popular book is Six Factors to Fit: Weight Loss that Works for You! (Eat Right Press, 2020). Dr. Kushner’s research interests include medical and obesity education, and lifestyle and pharmacological approaches to obesity.