Andrew Weil was born in Philadelphia in 1942, received an A.B. degree in biology (botany) from Harvard in 1964 and an M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1968. After completing a medical internship at Mt. Zion Hospital in San Francisco, he worked a year with the National Institute of Mental Health, then wrote his first book, The Natural Mind. From 1971-75, as a Fellow of the Institute of Current World Affairs, Dr. Weil traveled widely in North and South America and Africa collecting information on drug use in other cultures, medicinal plants, and alternative methods of treating disease. From 1971-84 he was on the research staff of the Harvard Botanical Museum and conducted investigations of medicinal and psychoactive plants.

Dr. Weil is the founder and Director of the University of Arizona Center for Integrative Medicine, where he also holds the Lovell-Jones Endowed Chair in Integrative Rheumatology and is Clinical Professor of Medicine and Professor of Public Health. The Center is the leading effort in the world to develop a comprehensive curriculum in integrative medicine. Graduates serve as directors of integrative medicine programs throughout the United States. Through its Fellowship and Integrative Medicine in Residency curricula, the Center is now training doctors and nurse practitioners around the world.

Dr. Weil is the editorial director of the popular website, Dr. Weil.com, and appears in video programs featured on PBS. He can be found on Facebook and Twitter. Dr. Weil is the founder and Chairman of the Weil Foundation, and the founder and co-Chairman of Healthy Lifestyle Brands. He is also a founder and co-owner of the growing group of True Food Kitchen restaurants. Dr. Weil writes a monthly column for Prevention magazine and the popular Dr. Andrew Weil’s Self Healing monthly newsletter. A frequent lecturer and guest on talk shows, Dr. Weil is an internationally recognized expert on medicinal plants, alternative medicine, and the reform of medical education. He lives in Tucson, Arizona, USA.

Andrew Weil is the author of many scientific and popular articles and of 13 books: The Natural Mind; The Marriage of the Sun and Moon; From Chocolate to Morphine (with Winifred Rosen); Health and Healing; Natural Health, Natural Medicine; the international bestsellers Spontaneous Healing and 8 Weeks to Optimum Health; Eating Well for Optimum Health: The Essential Guide to Food, Diet, and Nutrition; The Healthy Kitchen: Recipes for a Better Body, Life, and Spirit (with Rosie Daley); Healthy Aging: A Lifelong Guide to Your Well-Being; and Why Our Health Matters: A Vision of Medicine That Can Transform Our Future (issued in paperback (with new content) as You Can’t Afford to Get Sick). Spontaneous Happiness was published in 2011, and his latest book, True Food: Seasonal, Sustainable, Simple, Pure (with Sam Fox and Michael Stebner) in October 2012. Oxford University Press is currently producing the Weil Integrative Medicine Library, a series of volumes for clinicians in various medical specialties; the first of these, Integrative Oncology (co-edited with Dr. Donald Abrams) appeared in 2009. Since then, Integrative Psychiatry, Integrative Pediatrics, Integrative Women’s Health, Integrative Rheumatology, Integrative Cardiology, Integrative Gastroenterology, Integrative Nursing, Integraive Men’s Health, and Integrative Dermatology have been published. More volumes are in progress.