Distinguished Achievement Award
Walter C. Willett, M.D., Ph.D.
Walter
Willett (M.D. 1970) is a professor of epidemiology and nutrition,
and chair of the Department of Nutrition at the Harvard School
of Public Health, and professor of medicine at the Harvard
Medical School.
Dr. Willett has focused on the development of methods, using questionnaire and biochemical approaches, to study the effects of diet on the occurrence of major diseases. He has applied these methods, beginning in 1980 with the Nurses’ Health Studies I and II and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. Together, these cohorts — which include nearly 300,000 men and women with repeated dietary assessments — are providing the most detailed information on the long-term health consequences of food choices.
Author of more than 1,000 articles, primarily on lifestyle risk factors for heart disease and cancer, Dr. Willett wrote the textbook, Nutritional Epidemiology. Another book, Eat, Drink and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating, has appeared on most major bestseller lists, and he recently published a second book, co-authored with Mollie Katzen, Eat, Drink, and Weigh Less.
Dr. Willett studied food science at Michigan State University and earned a doctorate in public health from the Harvard School of Public Health. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, and recipient of many national and international awards for his research.