Stories
These are the stories of people and organizations around the world who believe that lifestyle medicine is the solution to many problems that health-care systems encounter in countries around the world. These stories also tell you about the change that they create in their countries.
Philippines
Mechelle Acero Palma, President of the Philippine College of Lifestyle Medicine (PCLM), is a Family Medicine physician and was one of the first diplomated Lifestyle Medicine Physicians in Asia. In 2016 she developed and launched the Culinary Medicine Curriculum to help clinicians, coaches, and other practitioners offer healthier versions of staple foods to their patients. Mechelle’s work with Philippine government agencies has been instrumental to the growth of the lifestyle medicine field in the Philippines and the PCLM. She has been recognized as a Fellow by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine.
Qatar
Ravinder Mamtani is a specialist in occupational and general preventive medicine, public health, and integrative medicine. He is a Professor of Population Health Sciences and Medicine and Vice Dean for Population Health and Lifestyle Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q), where he also serves as the Vice Dean for Student Affairs-Admissions. For his unwavering dedication to advancing the field of lifestyle medicine, Dr. Mamtani has been awarded the status of Fellow by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine.
The United Kingdom
Rob Lawson is a co-founder and the Chairman of the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine. He has retired from the National Health Service practice to concentrate on Lifestyle Medicine’s applications to healthcare. Rob is also the President of the European Lifestyle Medicine Council where he supports the development of legally constituted national Lifestyle Medicine organizations and advances the field in Europe.
Poland
Alicja Baska, Executive Director of the Polish Society of Lifestyle Medicine, grew her passion for lifestyle medicine while still being a medical student and actively participated in the Lifestyle Medicine Academic Circle at the Medical University of Warsaw. Later on, Alicja became one of the founders of the Polish Society of Lifestyle Medicine, working tirelessly to bring awareness about lifestyle medicine to students and doctors in Poland.
Pakistan
Shagufta Feroz, the founder Shagufta Feroz, Founder and President of the Pakistan Association of Lifestyle Medicine, has more than 28 years of family medicine experience and was the first certified Lifestyle Medicine Physician in Pakistan. Shagufta runs a clinic that treats chronic disease patients with lifestyle interventions. She continues expanding the lifestyle medicine movement in her country by educating and inspiring her colleagues, collaborating with universities, capturing students’ attention, and growing the Pakistan Society of Lifestyle Medicine.
Lithuania
Ramunė Kalėdienė is the Dean of Public Health Faculty at the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (LUHS). In 2019 LUHS received the inaugural Award of Excellence by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine for the groundbreaking work and outstanding achievement by its Public Health faculty in establishing Europe’s first Master’s Degree of Lifestyle Medicine. LUHS, and Lithuania as a nation, is a global leading light in Lifestyle Medicine in education, policy development, and healthy lifestyle integration. LMGA sister organization Lithuanian Lifestyle Medicine Association unites many lifestyle medicine physicians and practitioners graduating this program in Lithuania.
Philippines
Johann Kim T. Mañez came across lifestyle medicine after facing the fact that his work was mostly managing his patients’ conditions instead of helping them get better. What started as his personal search for meaning has transformed into a growing movement among physicians and other health professionals in the Philippines and resulted in the creating of the Philippine College of Lifestyle Medicine in 2015. After thousands of hours spent speaking in hospitals and medical schools, the Philippines have a dynamic lifestyle medicine community.
Nigeria
Ifeoma Monye, the founder of the Brookfield Centre for Lifestyle Medicine in Nigeria, is a family physician practicing in the UK and Nigeria. She has been a member of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine since 2009 and is a founding member of the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine. In 2017 she established the Society of Lifestyle Medicine of Nigeria. Having been part of many great starts and practicing lifestyle medicine daily, she is also a much-needed spark of inspiration for physicians setting out on a similar path from around Africa.