About the Author
Arthur Agatston, M.D., is an internationally recognized pioneer in cardiac disease prevention. Dr. Agatston worked with Dr. Warren Janowitz to develop the Agatston Score (also called the Calcium Score), a method of screening for coronary calcium as an indicator of atherosclerosis that is used at medical centers throughout the world and considered by most experts to be the best single predictor of a future heart attack.
Dr. Agatston and colleagues initiated the "Healthy Options in Public Schools" study, which demonstrated that by providing healthy school lunches, combined with an innovative education program in pre-K through grade 6, you can encourage healthy weights and improve blood pressures and standardized test scores in children. This project continues through the "Agatston Urban Nutrition Initiative" at the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Agatston is an associate professor of medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and a clinical professor of medicine at Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine. He is a member of the American College of Cardiology Nutrition Committee.He is the medical director of The Agatston Center for Private Medicine in Miami Beach where his cardiology practice is focused on preventing heart attacks in high-risk patients. This is also the focus of his continuing research endeavors.
Known as the author of the internationally best-selling book The South Beach Diet, his first nonacademic work, Dr. Agatston created his balanced approach to healthy eating to help his patients improve their blood chemistries, lose weight, and prevent diabetes and heart disease. Today, the South Beach Diet remains the trusted choice of millions and there are more than 23 million copies of The South Beach Diet and its companion books in print worldwide. Dr. Agatston's most recent book, The South Beach Diet Gluten Solution, was published in 2013.
Dr. Agatston has published more than 200 scientific articles and abstracts in medical journals and is a frequent lecturer across the U.S. and around the world on diet, cardiac imaging, and the prevention of heart disease. In recognition of his contributions to cardiac prevention, the Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT) created the prestigious Arthur S. Agatston Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Award in 2011, which is given annually to pioneers in cardiac prevention. He was named as one of the "Time 100" most influential people of 2004. Among his many television appearances, Dr. Agatston was featured along with President Bill Clinton on Sanjay Gupta's 2011 CNN special, "The Last Heart Attack."
