Courtesy of Michael F. Roizen, M.D.

Curiosity Expert: Michael F. Roizen, M.D.

Chief Wellness Officer, Cleveland Clinic

• Follow the Cleveland Clinic on Facebook!
• Follow Michael F. Roizen, M.D., on Twitter!

Michael F. Roizen, M.D., is a physician, anesthesiologist, international speaker, New York Times best-selling author and entrepreneur. As Chief Wellness Officer at Cleveland Clinic, he is responsible for implementing wide-reaching wellness programs that aggressively advocate healthy living and remove possible barriers to this end. He joined the Cleveland Clinic as Chair, Division of Anesthesiology, Critical Care Medicine and Comprehensive Pain Management in 2005. In 2007, he was named Chief Wellness Officer, the first person in the country to hold such a position. Under his leadership, the Wellness Institute has become a leader in helping patients, community members and employees achieve optimal well-being and a high quality of life.

Dr. Roizen has developed several ground-breaking employee, patient and community wellness programs including instituting a system-wide policy to stop hiring smokers, launching the weekly North Union Farmers Market at Cleveland Clinic for employees and the community, expanding employee wellness programs to include free Curves and Weight Watchers® memberships, and implementing Lifestyle 180®, a ground-breaking program to help reverse the effects of common chronic diseases. Through Dr. Roizen's energy and passion, Cleveland Clinic has become a leader in championing wellness and prevention as the hospital attempts to shift the national focus from "sick" care to "health" care.

Prior to Cleveland Clinic, Dr. Roizen spent nine years on the faculty of the University of California, San Francisco. He then chaired the department of Anesthesia and Critical Care at the University of Chicago. From there, he became Dean of the School of Medicine and Vice President for Biomedical Sciences at SUNY Upstate.

Dr. Roizen is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Williams College and an Alpha Omega Alpha graduate of the University of San Francisco, School of Medicine. He completed his clinical training at Harvard's Beth Israel Hospital while also completing public health service training at the National Institute of Health. Dr. Roizen is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Anesthesiology.

Dr. Roizen is a past chair of a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committee, and former editor for six medical journals. He has published more than 165 peer-reviewed scientific papers, 100 textbook chapters, 30 editorials and four medical books. As an innovator, Dr. Roizen has received many U.S. and foreign patents, and has founded six companies.

The author of the award-winning RealAge book series, Dr. Roizen has changed the way people think about aging, health and wellness. This message is reinforced through his YOU book series, co-authored by Mehmet Oz, M.D. The duo has written six books in the YOU series – five of which are New York Times best-sellers.

A world-renowned speaker, Dr. Roizen has given more than 1,400 lectures to professional medical groups and has been recognized with more than 20 professional lectureships. He is regularly quoted and featured in national newspapers, magazines and televised news programs including Oprah Winfrey Show, Today Show, 20/20, CNN, Good Morning America, Fortune, Men's Health, Reader's Digest and Prevention.

Dr. Roizen resides in Cleveland with his wife, Nancy Roizen, M.D., a developmental pediatrician. The Roizens' have two children – Jenny, a Ph.D. graduate of the California Institute of Technology, and Jeffrey, a M.D./Ph.D. graduate of Washington University and resident at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.