Home Institution: University of Maryland School of Medicine
Field: Nutrition, Family & Community Medicine, Epidemiology
Current Positions: University of Maryland School of Medicine
- Director, Center for Integrative Medicine
- Assistant Professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine
- Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health
Fellow Project
According to a 2019 study published in The Lancet, which analyzed the health effects of poor diet across 195 countries, 11 million deaths and 255 million disability-adjusted life-years were attributed to dietary risk factors. In the US, much of the nation’s healthcare costs result from the negative health outcomes from poor diet, due largely to the lack of practical nutritional knowledge, both in the health field and among the general public. In response to this crisis, Dr. D’Adamo has led the Nova Institute-supported Culinary Health and Medicine Program at University of Maryland School of Medicine, which developed and implemented a core curriculum for medical students that prepared students to support their future patients’ dietary needs while working around various personal, financial, and geographic barriers. This program answers the decades-long call for increased nutrition education for physicians and provides a practical, scalable, repeatable approach to culinary health education in medical schools.
In addition to the Culinary Health and Medicine Program, Dr. D’Adamo works as a principal investigator in a variety of Nova Institute projects, such as the current Primary Care: From Fear to Flourishing, a project that aims to change clinicians’ behavior—specifically, to include integrative medicine approaches to health and healing—and thereby improve the well-being and mental health of physicians and their patients.
Biography
Dr. Chris D’Adamo is an epidemiologist with research interests in the synergistic effects of healthy lifestyle practices and genetics on human health, as well as outcomes evaluations of multi-modality, whole-practice integrative health interventions and programs.
He received his PhD in epidemiology from the University of Maryland School of Medicine and is currently an assistant professor with dual appointments in the Center for Integrative Medicine within the Department of Family & Community Medicine as well as in the Department of Epidemiology & Public Health.
Dr. D’Adamo serves as the director of research at the University of Maryland Center for Integrative Medicine and holds an adjunct faculty position in the multi-campus Gerontology Doctoral Program of the University of Maryland. He also serves as senior program advisor to the Institute for Integrative Health.
Dr. D’Adamo has served as principal investigator on a wide variety of studies, including a large outcomes evaluation conducted across a national collaborative of integrative medicine clinics, exercise as a treatment for chronic disease, the efficacy of dietary supplements in promoting overall health and wellness, therapeutic music for improvement in cancer outcomes, and outcomes evaluations of nutrition, physical activity, and mindfulness meditation programs in urban communities.
Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Dr. D’Adamo held positions in the federal government as a research analyst at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and in industry as a health care management consultant.
In addition to his current academic work, Dr. D’Adamo is a certified personal trainer through the American Council on Exercise (ACE) and a certified sports nutrition consultant through the International Sports Medicine Association (ISMA). He has received advanced training in mind-body medicine and ayurvedic medicine from the Institute for Integrative Health.
Dr. D’Adamo regularly lectures and conducts workshops on the topic of healthy lifestyles to both public and health care professional audiences, and manages a small exercise and nutritional consulting practice incorporating the latest research findings into program development and support for his clients.
Education and Training
- College of the Holy Cross, Worcester, MA, Pre-Med/Mathematics, BA, 1999
- University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, Epidemiology, PhD, 2010
- American Council on Exercise, Certified Personal Trainer, 2007
Selected Publications
- LIFEHOUSE’s Functional Nutrition Examination (Physical Exam, Anthropometrics, and Selected Biomarkers) Inform Personalized Wellness Interventions. Journal of Personalized Medicine. 2023.
- The Relationship between Gastrointestinal Health, Micronutrient Concentrations, and Autoimmunity: A Focus on the Thyroid. Nutrients. 2022.
- Culinary medicine training in core medical school curriculum improved medical student knowledge and confidence in providing nutrition counseling. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine. 2021.
- The addition of spices and herbs to vegetables in the National School Lunch Program increased vegetable intake at an urban, economically-underserved, and predominantly African-American high school. Food Quality and Preference. 2021.
- Using herbs and spices to increase vegetable intake among rural adolescents. Journal of Nutrition Education & Behavior. 2019.
- A common variant in the SETD7 gene predicts serum lycopene concentrations. Nutrients. 2016.
- Spice MyPlate: Nutrition education focusing upon spices and herbs improved diet quality and attitudes among urban high school students. American Journal of Health Promotion. 2016.
- Soy foods and supplementation: A review of commonly perceived health benefits and risks. Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine. 2014.