Press kit for P.K. Newby, ScD, MPH, MS

P.K. Newby, ScD, MPH, MS, is a Harvard- and Columbia-trained nutrition scientist, thought leader, and visionary whose multidisciplinary background creates a richly textured view on why what we eat matters, from farm to fork and far beyond. She is an expert on healthy, sustainable diets and fights rising science misinformation and mounting agshittification in all the ways that she can while nourishing food literacy and igniting activism to build a brighter food future. foodmattersmedia.com

P.K. Newby, ScD, MPH, MS, is a Harvard- and Columbia-trained nutrition scientist, thought leader, and visionary whose multidisciplinary background creates a richly textured view on why what we eat matters, from farm to fork and far beyond. Dr. Newby is an expert on healthy, sustainable diets and founded Food Matters Media in 2019 to fight rising misinformation and mounting agshittification in all the ways that she can. Her 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, dishing up plant-based, globally inspired cuisine rooted in her Healthy Hedonism philosophy, and her blog includes 300+ recipes. Dr. Newby has authored more than 65 peer-reviewed scientific publications as well as multiple books and e-books, most recently Food and Nutrition: What Everyone Needs to Know (2025). Through all her work, Newby aims to nourish food literacy and ignite activism to build a brighter future for all, one bite at a time. She is also 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. foodmattersmedia.com

P.K. Newby, ScD, MPH, MS, is a Harvard- and Columbia-trained nutrition scientist, thought leader, and visionary whose multidisciplinary background creates a richly textured view on why what we eat matters, from farm to fork and far beyond. Dr. Newby is an expert on healthy, sustainable diets and brings deep knowledge, dark humor, and sound evidence into today’s critical food conversations. She launched Food Matters Media in 2019 to fight rising misinformation and mounting agshittification in all the ways that she can. 

Newby’s worldview is rooted in a nutritional ecology paradigm that examines the intersection of health, environment, society, and economy while celebrating the pleasure and community at the heart of how we eat. With over 20 years of research experience investigating dietary patterns and chronic disease prevention, she has published more than 65 peer-reviewed articles and has served as a science advisor, consultant, or board member for a wide range of organizations. 

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, and she’s also an on-air, onstage talent with experience both performing and producing. She founded an award-winning nonprofit theater company in Boston (1998-present) and she was one of the “best undiscovered cooks” on ABC’s The Taste in 2015. 

Newby recently authored Food and Nutrition: What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford University Press, 2025), the first edition now published in Chinese and Turkish. Other works include National Geographic's bookazine Superfoods (2015, 2025) and Foods for Health: Choose and Use the Very Best Foods for Your Family and Our Planet (2014). During the COVID pandemic, she created a set of free e-cookbooks (2019-2021) to support hunger relief efforts based on her blog Cooking and Eating the PK Way (2011-2018), which includes 300+ plant-based, globally inspired recipes rooted in her Healthy Hedonism philosophy. 

Through all she does, Newby aims to nourish science literacy and ignite food activism to build a brighter future for all, one bite at a time. She is 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—and she dreams of producing a docuseries on all the food things.  foodmattersmedia.comP.K. Newby, ScD, MPH, MS, is a Harvard- and Columbia-trained nutrition scientist, thought leader, and visionary whose multidisciplinary background creates a richly textured view on why what we eat matters, from farm to fork and far beyond. She is an expert on healthy, sustainable diets and founded Food Matters Media in 2019 to fight rising misinformation and mounting agshittification in all the ways that she can. She aims to nourish food literacy and ignite activism to build a brighter future for all, one bite at a time. 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, dishing up plant-based, globally inspired cuisine rooted in her Healthy Hedonism philosophy, and her blog includes 300+ recipes. Dr. Newby has authored more than 65 peer-reviewed scientific publications as well as multiple books and e-books, most recently, the second edition of Food and Nutrition: What Everyone Needs to Know (2025). Newby is 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. foodmattersmedia.com

P.K. Newby, ScD, MPH, MS, is a Harvard- and Columbia-trained nutrition scientist, thought leader, and visionary dedicated to exploring what we eat and why it matters, from farm to fork and far beyond. Her multidisciplinary background spanning the social, biomedical, and environmental sciences and passion for all things food informs a richly textured view on the past, present, and future of human diets. An expert on healthy, sustainable eating, she brings deep knowledge and sound evidence into today's critical food conversation. In all things, she aims to nourish science literacy and ignite food activism to build a brighter future for all, one bite at a time.

Dr. Newby launched Food Matters Media in 2019 to fight food and nutrition misinformation firsthand, in all the ways that she can. Her interest in diet and health stems from a life-long love affair with food, from cooking, baking, gardening, and entertaining to working in the restaurant industry. In 2015, she was featured as one of the "best undiscovered cooks" on ABC's The Taste, where she created plant-based, globally-inspired cuisine—and she was the last woman standing with domestic goddess Nigella Lawson. Newby grew up acting and singing, and she is an on-air, onstage talent with experience performing and producing, founding and establishing an award-winning nonprofit theater company still running in Boston (est. 1998). 

An engaging and charismatic speaker, Dr. Newby has delivered dozens of talks around the world of a wide array of food and nutrition issues. Notable gigs include chatting about the future of food with Chewbacca at Sci-Fi Food Day (Museum of Science, Boston, MA, 2019); talking "Plant-Based Meat: Green Eats or Just Junk Food?" at SXSW  (Austin, TX, 2022); and discussing "Food and Nutrition in the 21st Century: How Science, Taste, and Technology (Still) Shape What We Eat" at the USA Pavilion on American Food 2.0, Expo Milan (Milan, Italy, 2015). Newby returns to the scene in 2026 for the launch of her newest book, Food and Nutrition: What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford University Press, 2025), the groundbreaking 2018 edition now published in Chinese (2023) and Turkish (2020).

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Newby created a set of free e-cookbooks (2020-2021) to support hunger relief for Feeding America, including How to Eat: Plant-Based Recipes to Save Your Life and Our Planet (2020) and Create Delicious Health: Science-Based Strategies to Lose Weight and Achieve Your Diet Goals (2021). The content was drawn from Newby’s blog, Cooking and Eating the PK Way(2011-2018), which includes 300+ plant-based recipes, videos, and articles on diet, disease prevention, and sustainable eating. Other written works include Superfoods (National Geographic, 2015), a special edition bookazine rereleased in 2025; two e-books on employee health and wellness (Virgin Pulse, 2015); and Foods for Health: Choose and Use the Very Best Foods for Your Family and Our Planet (National Geographic, 2014, with Barton Seaver). 

Dr. Newby’s work and worldview are rooted firmly in a nutritional ecology paradigm that examines the intersection of health, environment, society, and economy, a framework used in research, teaching, and course development. With almost two decades investigating dietary patterns, nutrition, plant-based diets, and chronic disease prevention, she has published more than 65 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and white papers and has served as a science advisor with organizations ranging from local nonprofits to international research policy groups and global food companies.

Newby holds a doctorate from Harvard (ScD) in nutritional epidemiology, where she concentrated on diet and disease prevention. She also earned two master's degrees from Columbia (MPH, MS), where she crafted a novel dual-degree program in public health nutrition focused on the behavioral and environmental sciences and nutritional ecology. Her BS from SUNY-Albany is in social welfare, where she also completed pre-med coursework. A recovering academic, she previously served on the faculties at Tufts (Research Scientist and Assistant Professor; 2001-2006) Boston University (Assistant and Associate Professor; 2006-2012), and Harvard (Instructor and Adjunct Associate Professor; 2011-2018), where she received multiple research, teaching, and leadership awards—despite the male patriarchy. She dreams of producing a docuseries on all the food things. foodmattersmedia.com