Neal D. Barnard

Neal D. Barnard (born 10 July 1953) is an American physician, researcher, animal rights advocate, and founding president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM). Barnard has authored books advocating a whole food plant-based dietary eating pattern.

Barnard was born and raised in Fargo, North Dakota. He received his medical degree from George Washington University School of Medicine, where he began exploring vegan diets. He is board-certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, a fellow of the American College of Cardiology and a lifetime member of the American Medical Association.

In an interview with VegNews, Barnard said that seeing a clogged coronary artery while working in a hospital morgue early in his career influenced his interest in diet and heart disease.

Barnard founded Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) in 1985 to promote preventive medicine. By 2016, the Washington D.C.–based PCRM had 150,000 members, including 12,000 physicians, and reported revenues of more than $20 million. He appeared in the documentaries Super Size Me (2004), Forks Over Knives (2011), PlantPure Nation (2015), and What the Health (2017). Since 2003, Barnard has served as an adjunct professor of medicine at George Washington University School of Medicine. In January 2016, Barnard founded the Barnard Medical Center in Washington, D.C., which provides primary care with a focus on nutrition guidance.

In 2006, Barnard completed a National Institutes of Health-funded trial to test the impact of diet on blood sugar control in individuals with type 2 diabetes.

In his active practice, Barnard works with patients with diabetes, obesity, and other conditions in clinical research protocols.

In 2011, Barnard was inducted into the Vegetarian Hall of Fame of the North American Vegetarian Society during its summer conference, where he has occasionally spoken.

In February 2013, Barnard's self-help book Power Foods for the Brain: An Effective 3-Step Plan to Protect Your Mind and Strengthen Your Memory was published. Reviewing it, biological psychologist David O Kennedy noted that the book provides a practical guide to lifestyle changes that may benefit general health and brain function for readers with poor diets or prediabetic risk factors. He also cautioned that Barnard’s strict vegan approach may be difficult to follow and could raise anxiety about cognitive decline.