Pamela Peeke, MD, MPH, FACP
Writer, WebMD, Inc.
Pamela Peeke, MD, MPH, FACP, is a nationally recognized physician, scientist, and expert in the fields of nutrition, metabolism, stress, and fitness. She combines her wit and humor with the latest scientific data and common sense approaches to holistic health.
Peeke is the author of the national bestseller Fight Fat After Forty, which presented research describing how chronic stress contributes to weight gain and threatens the length and quality of life after the age of 40. Peeke's new book, Body-for-LIFE for Women, shows how a woman can achieve and sustain her healthiest body composition by undergoing a unique and life-giving mental and physical transformation.
Peeke is a Pew Foundation Scholar in Nutrition and Metabolism and is an assistant clinical professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine as well as adjunct senior scientist at the National Institutes of Health. She was recently recognized as one of the leading women physicians in America by the National Institutes of Health Library of Medicine's first exhibit on the history of American women physicians. A practitioner of holistic, integrative medicine, Peeke was the first senior research fellow at the National Institutes of Health Office of Alternative Medicine, where she established the scientific foundation for the research and development of investigations involving nutrition and fitness. She is a fellow of the American College of Physicians and a member of the American College of Sports Medicine. Peeke is an expert in the newly emerging field of gender-specific health and medicine, emphasizing the strengths and vulnerabilities of both sexes as they practice healthy lifestyles.
A native of San Francisco and a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, Peeke received a master's degree in public health and public policy before pursuing her medical degree at Michigan State University. She completed her training in internal medicine at the George Washington University Medical Center. After more than 10 years as a specialist in critical care and trauma, Peeke received the Pew Foundation postdoctoral Scholarship in Nutrition and Metabolism from the University of California at Davis. As a Pew Scholar, she was invited to come to the National Institutes of Health and pursue her work in nutrition and stress physiology. As a senior scientist, Peeke has focused her basic and clinical research upon the relationship between chronic stress and nutrition. At the NIH, Peeke was the recipient of the National Research Science Award Fellowship as well as the Intramural Research Training Award Fellowship. She received her training in molecular biology at the NIH Howard Hughes Foundation. Peeke was also the first senior research fellow in the NIH Office of Alternative Medicine, where she helped create the research foundation for the study of complementary therapies in the prevention and treatment of cancer and heart disease.
Peeke also maintains a private practice at the Peeke Performance Center in Bethesda, Md., where she and her staff practice integrative and holistic medicine in the diagnosis and treatment of metabolic disorders.
Peeke is a regular in-studio medical commentator for the national networks and CNN, appearing as a nationally recognized nutrition and women's health expert on Today, Larry King Live, The View, Oprah, Dateline, Primetime, and others. Peeke leads the Discovery Health TV National Body Challenge as the Discovery Health TV chief medical correspondent for nutrition and fitness, providing her guidance and expertise on camera and through the web to a national audience. Peeke's Fight Fat After Forty PBS special is in national syndication, and her Body-for-LIFE for Women show will be released in 2005. Peeke is a regular contributor to numerous national magazines including Good Housekeeping, O magazine, Shape, Allure, Fitness, More, and First for Women. Peeke is a member of Oprah Winfrey's O Team of nationally recognized experts in women's health. She has served as the first medical advisor to the International Spa Association, is a long-standing member of its board of directors, and an expert advisor to the spa industry in the development of the medical/healing spa concept.
Peeke is a member of the American College of Sports Medicine. She also works as one of the physicians for the NBA'S Washington Wizards where she maintains players in optimal shape for the basketball season. Peeke is a member of the Maryland Governor's Council on Fitness establishing public policy regarding nutrition and fitness statewide and serves on numerous boards including America on the Move and the Pepsi Medical Advisory Board. She is a consultant to the food, fitness, and wellness industry. Peeke is also an advisor and expert in mind-body fitness with the former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop for his national Shape Up America campaign.
An avid athlete, Peeke is also known as the doctor who "walks the talk," wearing her workout clothes to emphasize the importance of both eating well and getting regular physical activity in daily life. Peeke is a marathoner and mountain climber. Peeke provides opportunities for men and women to join her in mind and body challenges each year. She ran the 2001 New York marathon, along with 12 women, the Peeke Performers, and climbed Aspen's Green Mountain 14,000 foot summit with another group of men and women Peeke Performers in August 2003. In May of 2005 Peeke, joined by her Peeke Performers, gathered at Utah's Red Mountain Spa to hike, climb, and kayak as they challenged their minds and bodies to Peeke Performance. Her August Peeke Week Retreat at the Golden Door Spa in California is a traditional highlight of her work in women's health. The Peeke Week Retreats for Healthy Living occur at destination spa resorts annually.
