Pamela Peeke, M.D., M.P.H.

Dr. Pamela Peeke is a nationally recognized expert and speaker in the fields of nutrition, metabolism, stress, and fitness. Dr. Peeke has distinguished herself as one of the only physicians in America with formal training in nutrition science. An avid athlete, Dr. Peeke is also known as the doctor who “walks the talk”, appearing in media appearances wearing her workout clothes to emphasize the importance of regular physical activity in daily life. Dr. Peeke holds the position of Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine as well as adjunct senior scientist at the National Institutes of Health.

A native of San Francisco and a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, Dr. Peeke received her Masters Degree in Public Health and Public Policy before pursuing her medical degree at Michigan. She completed her training in internal medicine at the George Washington University Medical Center. After over ten years as a specialist in critical care , Dr. Peeke received the Pew Foundation Post-doctoral Scholarship in Nutrition and Metabolism from the University of California at Davis. As a Pew Scholar, Dr. Peeke was invited to come to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and pursue her work in nutrition and stress physiology. As a senior scientist, Dr. Peeke has focused her basic and clinical research upon the relationship between chronic stress and nutrition. At the NIH, Dr. Peeke was the recipient of the National Research Science Award Fellowship as well as the Intramural Research Training Award Fellowship. Dr. Peeke received her training in molecular biology at the NIH Howard Hughes Foundation. She was the first Senior Research Fellow at the NIH’s Office of Alternative Medicine where she established the scientific foundation for the research and development of investigations involving nutrition funded and supervised by the office.

Dr. Peeke is the author of the national bestseller Fight Fat After Forty (2001, Viking Press), which presented groundbreaking research describing how chronic stress contributes to weight gain and threatens the length and quality of life after the age of forty. Dr. Peeke has become known as the scientist who first presented the scientific basis of the stress-fat connection to the American public, raising awareness about this potentially life threatening medical condition.

Dr. Peeke is featured weekly on the Food Network’s most popular consumer show, Cooking Thin, which profiles healthy nutritional solutions for families struggling to achieve a healthier lifestyle. Dr. Peeke is the monthly columnist and contributing editor for numerous national magazines including Prevention, Good Housekeeping, O magazine, Shape, Allure, and First for Women. Dr. Peeke is a member of Oprah Winfrey’s O Team of nationally recognized experts in women’s health, and is regularly featured in O magazine.

Dr. Peeke is a faculty member of the American College of Sports Medicine. She also works as one of the physicians for the NBA’S Washington Wizards where she helps the maintenance of the players in basketball season. Dr. Peeke has just received her governor appointed position as a member of the Maryland Council on Fitness. She is a marathoner, mountain climber and resistance trained athlete. She ran the 2001 New York marathon, along with 12 of her women patients, the Peeke Performers, and will be summit 14,000 ‘ Castle Peak in Aspen with another group of Peeke Performers in August 2003. Dr. Peeke traditionally walks with her patients during their appointments, emphasizing the need for physical activity in daily life.

In May 2003, Dr. Peeke was selected by Reebok to direct a national campaign to promote walking for the prevention and treatment of heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Dr. Peeke is an advisor and expert in mind-body fitness with the former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop for his national Shape Up America campaign. Dr. Peeke works directly with the Vice President’s Office as the Medical Director of the National Race for the Cure for Breast Cancer, which hosts the largest 5K (over 80,000 walkers and runners) in the world.

As a recognized scientist and physician, Dr. Peeke has appeared frequently as a regular in-studio expert on The Today Show, NBC Nightly News, Oprah Winfrey Show, The View with Barbara Walters, Larry King Live, Dateline, Primetime, and the national morning shows. Dr. Peeke is a regular medicine and science commentator for CNN. Dr. Peeke is medical correspondent with PBS’s Health Week for which her year 2000 national series, “Weighing the Diets in America” was nominated for a Freddie Award. Her ABC News Special “When Stress Hurts” with Dr. Nancy Snyderman won the 2001 Freddie Award for excellence in health and science commentary. Dr. Peeke was featured in PBS’s documentary “Mind Over Mirror: Women’s Body Image” funded by the Theresa Heinz Foundation, which won the coveted 1998 Gracie Award, the highest honor bestowed by Women in Film and Television. Dr. Peeke is the Medical Advisor for the National Women’s Resource Center and the Sister to Sister Heart Foundation.