More About the Author
Arthur Agatston, MD
Leading Preventive Cardiologist and Creator and Author of the South Beach Diet
Dr. Arthur Agatston is a leading preventive cardiologist and an associate professor of medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. A pioneer in the field of noninvasive cardiac imaging, Dr. Agatston's scientific work with Dr. Warren Janowitz, first reported in 1991, resulted in the Agatston Score, a method for screening for coronary calcium that is currently used throughout the world and considered by many experts to be the best predictor of heart disease.
Dr. Agatston has had published more than 100 scientific articles and abstracts in medical journals, including the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Circulation, the American Journal of Cardiology, and the Annals of Internal Medicine. He is a frequent lecturer on diet, health, and the prevention of heart disease both nationally and internationally and participates as a speaker, faculty member, and organizer of numerous academic cardiology meetings and symposia. Dr. Agatston has also served as an expert consultant to the Clinical Trials Committee of the National Institutes of Health and has served on committees of the American Society of Echocardiography, the American College of Cardiology, and the Society of Atherosclerosis Imaging. He is currently on the board of directors of the Society for Heart Attack Prevention and Eradication (SHAPE) and the American Dietetic Association Foundation. Recently, Dr. Agatston received the prestigious Alpha Omega Award from New York University Medical Center for outstanding achievement in the medical profession.
In 1995, Dr. Agatston developed a diet to help his cardiac and diabetes patients improve their blood chemistries and lose weight. His eating plan worked so well that a Miami TV station asked if it could offer the diet to its viewers. Hundreds of South Floridians went on the diet and lost weight three years running, and its popularity eventually led to the publication of Dr. Agatston's first book, The South Beach Diet, in 2003. Today, the South Beach Diet is a lifestyle approach to healthy eating for millions of people worldwide. There are more than 23 million copies of The South Beach Diet and its companion books currently in print worldwide, including: The South Beach Diet Cookbook (2004); The South Beach Diet Good Fats/Good Carbs Guide (2004); The South Beach Diet Quick & Easy Cookbook (2005); The South Beach Diet Dining Guide (2005); The South Beach Diet Parties & Holidays Cookbook (2006); The South Beach Diet Taste of Summer Cookbook (2007), The South Beach Heart Health Revolution (2008), The South Beach Diet Supercharged (2008), and his most recent book, The South Beach Diet Super Quick Cookbook (2010). Today Dr. Agatston can also be found on the Web at SouthBeachDiet.com, EverdayHealth.com, and Prevention.com. He also writes a monthly column on preventing heart disease for Prevention magazine.
In 2004, Dr. Agatston founded the nonprofit Agatston Research Foundation for the purpose of conducting and funding original research on diet, cardiac health, and disease prevention. The Foundation is dedicated to improving the heart health and wellness of the nation through research, education, and prevention. In the fall of 2004 the foundation implemented the Healthier Options for Pubic Schoolchildren (HOPS) initiative to provide nutrition and healthy lifestyle education programming, including daily physical activity, to more than 50,000 elementary school children nationally. Data from the initiative, presented at national conferences including those of the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association, the American Dietetic Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, and published in 2010 in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, show that children in HOPS schools improved their weight, blood pressures, and academic test scores more so than children in non-HOPS schools. Today the foundation is also working with the University of Pennsylvania on the Agatston Urban Nutrition Initiative to further pursue better nutrition in public schools and with the Mayo Clinic and the University of Miami on research projects dedicated to developing healthier lifestyles and to the prevention of cardiovascular disease.
Dr. Agatston lives in Miami Beach with his wife, Sari.
