Peter Attia

Peter Attia
Born	19 3, 1973
Birthplace	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Nationality	Canadian-American
Occupation	Physician, author, podcaster
Known for	Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity, longevity medicine
Education	Stanford University (MD) Queen's University (BS)
Spouse(s)	Jill Attia
Children	3
Website	[[peterattiamd.com peterattiamd.com] Official site]

Peter Attia (born March 19, 1973) is a Canadian-American physician and author who became one of the most prominent figures in the field of longevity medicine during the 2020s. Born in Toronto, Ontario, Attia trained as a surgeon at Stanford University School of Medicine before shifting his focus to applied science related to longevity, nutrition, and metabolic health. He is the author of Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity (2023), which reached the top of major bestseller lists, and the host of The Drive, a medical and health podcast. Attia co-founded the Nutrition Science Initiative (NuSI) in 2012 alongside journalist Gary Taubes, an organization aimed at funding rigorous research into the causes of obesity. In January 2026, Attia was hired as a contributor to CBS News, but he departed the role the following month after the release of the Epstein files revealed that he had exchanged emails with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Early Life

Peter Attia was born on March 19, 1973, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He grew up in the Toronto area and later pursued his undergraduate education in Canada before relocating to the United States for medical training.

Attia was an accomplished athlete in his youth and developed a strong interest in endurance sports. He became an open-water swimmer of considerable ability; a 2007 profile in the Los Angeles Times documented his participation in long-distance swimming events, including a swim across the Catalina Channel. His background in endurance athletics later informed his approach to medicine and his interest in human performance, metabolic health, and the physiology of exercise.

Education

Attia received his Bachelor of Science degree from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. He subsequently earned his Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from the Stanford University School of Medicine. After completing medical school, Attia trained in general surgery at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, where he spent five years as a surgical resident. He also spent two years at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a surgical oncology fellow at the National Cancer Institute, where his research focused on immune-based therapies for melanoma.

Career

Early Medical Career and McKinsey

Following his surgical training at Johns Hopkins and his fellowship at the NIH, Attia did not pursue a conventional career in academic surgery or oncology. Instead, he joined McKinsey & Company, the global management consulting firm, where he worked in the healthcare practice. His time at McKinsey exposed him to the business and systems-level aspects of healthcare delivery, though he would eventually leave the consulting world to return to clinical work with a new focus on longevity and preventive medicine.

Nutrition Science Initiative

In 2012, Attia co-founded the Nutrition Science Initiative (NuSI) alongside science journalist Gary Taubes. The organization was established with the goal of reducing the economic and social burden of obesity and obesity-related diseases by funding and facilitating rigorous scientific research into the fundamental causes of weight gain and metabolic dysfunction. Attia and Taubes described their ambition for NuSI as analogous to a "Manhattan Project" for obesity, arguing that existing nutritional science had failed to produce definitive answers about the dietary drivers of the obesity epidemic.

NuSI received significant financial backing and media attention during its early years. A 2013 article in Forbes explored the initiative's central premise — that the conventional focus on caloric balance might be misguided, and that the type of calories consumed, particularly carbohydrates and their effects on insulin, could be a more important factor in obesity. The Washington Post reported on NuSI's research agenda in 2014, describing the effort to determine whether "it is what we eat or that we overeat" and noting the organization's funding of controlled metabolic ward studies designed to test competing hypotheses about the causes of obesity.

A profile in Pacific Standard examined Attia's intellectual background and his approach to nutritional science, describing his transition from surgeon to nutrition researcher and the scientific questions motivating NuSI's work.

Attia also attracted attention for a 2013 TED talk and accompanying essay in which he discussed the stigma associated with obesity and diabetes. Writing in the New York Times "Well" blog, he reflected on his earlier experiences as a surgeon, describing an incident in which he had been dismissive of an obese patient and expressing regret for his lack of empathy. The essay questioned whether the medical profession's tendency to blame patients for their metabolic conditions was itself a barrier to understanding the underlying science.

Longevity Medicine and Private Practice

After his involvement with NuSI, Attia transitioned to private medical practice focused on what he describes as "applied science of longevity." Through his practice, Early Medical, he works with individual patients on strategies to extend both lifespan and healthspan — the period of life spent in good health. His clinical approach integrates principles of exercise physiology, nutritional biochemistry, sleep science, pharmacology, and emotional health, with the stated goal of delaying or preventing the onset of chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease, cancer, neurodegenerative disease, and type 2 diabetes.

Attia's podcast, The Drive, became one of the most downloaded health and medicine podcasts, featuring long-form interviews with researchers, clinicians, and scientists across multiple disciplines. The podcast served as a primary platform for disseminating his views on longevity science to a broad audience.

Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity

In March 2023, Attia published Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity, co-written with journalist Bill Gifford and published by Harmony Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House. The book presents Attia's framework for what he calls "Medicine 3.0" — a proactive, prevention-focused approach to healthcare that he contrasts with the conventional reactive model of treating diseases after they manifest. Outlive covers topics including exercise, nutrition, sleep, emotional health, and the use of pharmaceutical and diagnostic tools to detect and address disease risk factors early in life.

The book became a major commercial success. It appeared on the Amazon bestseller charts, reaching the top of the nonfiction most-sold list. In a 2023 interview with The New York Times Magazine, Attia discussed the ideas behind the book, his personal health journey, and his views on the current state of medical practice.

CBS News Contributor Role and Departure

In January 2026, Attia was hired as a contributor to CBS News, a role in which he was expected to provide on-air commentary on health and medical topics. However, in February 2026, the release of the Epstein files — a tranche of documents made public by the United States Department of Justice — revealed that Attia had exchanged emails with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Multiple major news outlets reported on Attia's departure from CBS News on February 23, 2026. The Hollywood Reporter reported that Attia was "out at CBS News as a contributor" following the disclosures. The New York Times reported that Attia had "resigned from his position as a contributor to CBS News, about three weeks after the revelation" of his correspondence with Epstein. The Washington Post described Attia as "stepping down from his role as a CBS News contributor after the Justice Department" released the files. The Wall Street Journal reported that Attia was "leaving his role as a CBS News contributor after scrutiny" related to the Epstein revelations. CNBC reported that Attia had "resigned as a contributor to CBS News amid fallout over his past email correspondence with convicted sex offender" Epstein. CNN confirmed that Attia had "resigned from his new contributor position at CBS News following new revelations about his relationship" with Epstein. NBC News reported that Attia was "stepping down as a contributor to CBS News amid growing scrutiny on his email exchanges with the late" Epstein. The Guardian reported that the "controversial doctor" had stepped down "after Epstein files reveal communication between the two men."

Personal Life

Attia is married to Jill Attia, and the couple have three children. He holds both Canadian and American citizenship, having been born in Toronto and later settling in the United States for his medical training and career.

Attia has spoken publicly about his interest in endurance sports, including competitive open-water swimming. The Los Angeles Times reported on his participation in a Catalina Channel swim. He has also discussed aspects of his personal health journey, including his own experience with metabolic syndrome and the changes in diet and exercise that prompted his shift in medical focus from surgery to longevity medicine.

In his 2013 essay for the New York Times, Attia described a formative personal experience in which he reflected on his earlier lack of empathy toward an obese patient he had treated as a surgical resident, an episode he said contributed to his decision to devote his career to understanding the science of metabolic disease.

Recognition

Attia was named to the Time 100 Health list, a roster of individuals recognized by the magazine for their influence on health and medicine. His book Outlive was featured prominently on bestseller lists and received coverage from major media outlets upon its publication.

Attia was also referenced in the context of Chris Hemsworth's 2022 National Geographic documentary series Limitless with Chris Hemsworth. Good Morning America reported on Hemsworth's exploration of health and longevity in the series, in which the actor discovered his genetic risk for Alzheimer's disease, a topic closely aligned with Attia's work on neurodegenerative disease prevention.

The Times of London profiled Attia's exercise and fitness recommendations for older adults, reflecting the international reach of his influence in the health and wellness space.