P.K. Newby, ScD, MPH, MS, is a Harvard- and Columbia-trained scientist, thought-leader, and visionary whose multidisciplinary background creates a richly textured view on why what we eat matters, farm to fork and far beyond. Dr. Newby is an expert on diet, chronic disease prevention, and sustainability, bringing deep knowledge, dark humor, and sound scientific evidence into today’s critical conversations—and fights misinformation in all the ways she can.
In 2019, Dr. Newby launched her second company, Food Matters Multimedia, her first an award-winning nonprofit theater company in Boston, Massachusetts. Her mission is to build a kinder and more just food system that promotes health, longevity, and sustainability while protecting people and the planet and all its inhabitants.
Dr. Newby’s passion for nutrition stems from a life-long love affair with food, from cooking, baking, and gardening to working in the restaurant industry. She was one of the “best undiscovered cooks” on ABC’s The Taste in 2015, where she dished up plant-based, globally-inspired cuisine rooted in her Healthy Hedonism™ philosophy.
Dr. Newby has authored more than 65 peer-reviewed scientific publications as well as multiple books and e-books, including National Geographic’s Superfoods (2015; 2025) and Foods for Health (2014), and the second edition of Food and Nutrition: What Everyone Needs to Know is coming in September 2025. She is now a recovering academic, previously serving on the faculties at Tufts, Boston University, and Harvard, where she won multiple research, teaching, and leadership awards, despite the male patriarchy.
Bios, headshots, and press materials are here.