Peter Attia (born March 19, 1973)[1] is a Canadian-American author and former researcher known for his work in longevity medicine. He is the author of Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity.
Peter Attia | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Attia in 2025 | |
| Born | March 19, 1973[1] Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Education | Queen's University (BS) Stanford University (MD) |
| Occupation | Author |
| Spouse | Jill Attia |
| Children | 3 |
| Website | peterattiamd |
Early life and education
editAttia was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is the child of Egyptian Christian immigrant parents.[2] He graduated from Queen's University at Kingston in 1996 with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering and applied mathematics. He then attended Stanford University School of Medicine, graduating in 2001 with a Doctor of Medicine.[citation needed]
Career
editFrom 2001 to 2006, Attia began a residency in general surgery at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.[3] He left his general surgery residency at Johns Hopkins in 2006 and spent two years as a research fellow at the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health, studying immunotherapy for melanoma.[4][5]
After dropping out of his residency program, Attia joined the consulting firm McKinsey & Company in the Palo Alto office as a member of the Corporate Risk Practice and Healthcare Practice.[citation needed] In 2014, he founded a private clinic dedicated to longevity medicine.[6] Attia also created the blog "The Eating Academy" (later "War on Insulin" and now peterattiamd.com) that mostly focuses on topics related to nutrition, physical activity, and longevity. Subsequently, he launched the podcast The Peter Attia Drive, in which he interviews experts each week, covering topics such as longevity, metabolic health, and medical research.
In 2012, Attia co-founded the Nutrition Science Initiative (NuSI) with Gary Taubes, with a primary focus on promoting nutrition research and tackling the growing health challenges linked to obesity, diabetes, and metabolic diseases.[7][8] In 2013, Attia was a speaker at TEDMED, where he shared insights on longevity.[9][10][11] Attia has a chapter giving advice in Tim Ferriss's book Tools of Titans. He had a central role in Limitless with Chris Hemsworth, a six-part documentary for National Geographic and Disney+ starring Chris Hemsworth and directed by Darren Aronofsky. In episode 5, Attia told Hemsworth that he carried the high-risk APOE4 allele, which places him at elevated risk of neurodegenerative aging of the Alzheimer's type.[12]
In 2017, he posted on his YouTube Channel, with his first set of videos being instructional exercise videos. It now has more than a million subscribers and focuses on longevity content.[13]
On March 28, 2023, Attia (with coauthor Bill Gifford) published his book Outlive: The Science & Art of Longevity.[14] According to The New York Times Magazine, the book "has been a runaway best seller since it was published this spring [of 2023]";[15] it was No. 3 on the Amazon Charts for nonfiction as of August 24, 2023.[16][15] Attia was named in Time's 2024 list of influential people in health. [17]
In October 2025, Attia appeared on CBS's 60 Minutes, where he discussed the role of structured exercise and preventative health strategies in extending health span.[18]
From January to February 2026, Attia was a contributor to CBS News.[19]
Relationship with Jeffrey Epstein
editAttia was introduced to Epstein in 2015 through Eva Andersson-Dubin.[20] Epstein's appointment calendars, disclosed in 2025, showed meetings with Attia continuing until 2019.[21] Emails released in the Epstein files showed that Attia asked Epstein for patient referrals in 2015, stayed in an apartment Epstein owned in 2016, discussed a hiring decision for his clinic with him in 2017, and provided him with health advice over several years.[20] According to Politico, the emails showed Attia offering Epstein longevity advice in familiar and joking terms over several years.[20]
Following the revelations of Attia's relationship with Epstein, in February 2026, Attia resigned his position as contributor to CBS News and as Chief Science Officer at David, a protein bar company.[22][23]
Personal life
editAttia currently lives in the Austin, Texas, area with his wife and three children.[24] In 2005, Attia swam across the channel between Santa Catalina Island and Los Angeles, the 120th person to achieve that feat.[25]
References
edit- 1 2 "Amazon.com". Amazon. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
- ↑ Machell, Ben (9 June 2023). "How to stay fit over 60? 9 changes to make now". The Times of London. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
- ↑ "Dr. Peter Attia on why he left residency". Retrieved 23 February 2024.
- ↑ "Peter Attia, MD | Penguin Random House".
- ↑ Martin, Kristen (26 February 2026). "The Problem With Peter Attia". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved 3 July 2026.
- ↑ Martin, Kristen (26 February 2026). "The Problem With Peter Attia". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved 3 July 2026.
- ↑ Szokan, Nancy (25 August 2014). "Is it what we eat? Or that we overeat? A look at the effort to figure out why we're fat". washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
- ↑ "What Makes You So Smart, Peter Attia? Pacific Standard". psmag.com. 25 August 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
- ↑ O'Connor, Anahad (12 July 2013). "Blaming the Patient, Then Asking Forgiveness". nytimes.com. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
- ↑ Munro, Dan (24 April 2018). "Are We Fighting The Wrong Battle In The Obesity War?". forbes.com. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
- ↑ "Attia P. TED: Is the Obesity Crisis Hiding a Bigger Problem?". ted.com. 24 April 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
- ↑ Angeline Jane Bernabe, Madison Marmen, Matthew Yahata (17 November 2022). "Chris Hemsworth discovers he may be at risk for Alzheimer's disease in new series, 'Limitless'". Good Morning America. ABC News. Retrieved 28 March 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ↑ "Peter Attia MD". YouTube. Retrieved 31 January 2026.
- ↑ "Outlive: The Science & Art of Longevity - New Book by Peter Attia". Peter Attia. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
- 1 2 Marchese, David (21 May 2023). "Want to Live Longer and Healthier? Peter Attia Has a Plan". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
- ↑ "Amazon Charts: Week of August 20, 2023". Amazon.com. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
- ↑ "TIME100 Health". TIME. Archived from the original on 23 September 2024. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
- ↑ "Dr. Peter Attia says enjoying a longer, healthier life requires serious training: "Life is a sport" - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. 26 October 2025. Retrieved 3 December 2025.
- ↑ Luscombe, Richard (30 January 2026). "A 'wellness bro', a cosmologist and an RFK Jr crony: meet Bari Weiss's new CBS News contributors". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 31 January 2026.
- 1 2 3 Kaufman, Maya; Gardner, Lauren (16 March 2026). "'I think she will be loyal': Jeffrey Epstein's role in Peter Attia's rise". Politico. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
- ↑ "Jeffrey Epstein cultivated celebrity relationships for years. Many continued until his 2019 arrest for sex trafficking, documents show. - CBS News". 31 October 2025. Retrieved 1 February 2026.
- ↑ Astor, Maggie; Mullin, Benjamin (23 February 2026). "Peter Attia Leaves CBS News Amid Epstein Files Fallout". New York Times. Retrieved 23 February 2026.
- ↑ Arkin, Daniel (23 February 2026). "Peter Attia leaves CBS News contributor role amid fallout from Epstein files". NBC News. Retrieved 23 February 2026.
- ↑ "About Peter - Peter Attia". Peterattiamd.com. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
- ↑ Rainey, James (18 October 2005). "30,000 strokes to go". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
