Peter Attia

Peter Attia
Attia in 2025
Born (1973-03-19) March 19, 1973[1]
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
EducationQueen's University (BS)
Stanford University (MD)
OccupationsAuthor
Podcaster
SpouseJill Attia
Children3
Websitepeterattiamd.com

Peter Attia (born March 19, 1973)[1] is a Canadian-American author and former researcher known for his work in longevity medicine. He is the author of Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity.

Early life and education

Attia was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is the child of Egyptian Christian immigrant parents.[2] He graduated from Queen's University at Kingston in 1996 with a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering and applied mathematics. He then attended Stanford University School of Medicine, graduating in 2001 with a Doctor of Medicine.[3]

Career

From 2001 to 2006, Attia began a residency in general surgery at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.[4] He left his general surgery residency at Johns Hopkins in 2006 and spent two years as a research fellow at the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health, studying immunotherapy for melanoma.[5][6]

After dropping out of his residency program, Attia joined the consulting firm McKinsey & Company in the Palo Alto office as a member of the Corporate Risk Practice and Healthcare Practice. In 2014, he founded a private clinic dedicated to longevity medicine.[7] Attia also created the blog "The Eating Academy" (later "War on Insulin" and now peterattiamd.com) that mostly focuses on topics related to nutrition, physical activity, and longevity. Subsequently, he launched the podcast The Peter Attia Drive, in which he interviews experts each week, covering topics such as longevity, metabolic health, and medical research.

In 2012, Attia co-founded the Nutrition Science Initiative (NuSI) with Gary Taubes, with a primary focus on promoting nutrition research and tackling the growing health challenges linked to obesity, diabetes, and metabolic diseases.[8][9] In 2013, Attia was a speaker at TEDMED, where he shared insights on longevity.[10][11][12] Attia has a chapter giving advice in Tim Ferriss's book Tools of Titans. He had a central role in Limitless with Chris Hemsworth, a six-part documentary for National Geographic and Disney+ starring Chris Hemsworth and directed by Darren Aronofsky. In episode 5, Attia told Hemsworth that he carried the high-risk APOE4 allele, which places him at elevated risk of neurodegenerative aging of the Alzheimer's type.[13]

In 2017, he posted on his YouTube Channel, with his first set of videos being instructional exercise videos. It now has more than a million subscribers and focuses on longevity content.[14] Subsequently, in 2018, he launched the podcast The Peter Attia Drive.[15]

On March 28, 2023, Attia (with coauthor Bill Gifford) published his book Outlive: The Science & Art of Longevity.[16] According to The New York Times Magazine, the book "has been a runaway best seller since it was published this spring [of 2023]";[17] it was No. 3 on the Amazon Charts for nonfiction as of August 24, 2023.[18][17] Attia was named in Time's 2024 list of influential people in health.[19] By October 2025, CBS News reported that Outlive had sold nearly three million copies and that The Peter Attia Drive had been downloaded more than 100 million times.[20] The Guardian called the book an "exhaustive, lucid exploration" of Attia's ideas while noting that the lifestyle changes it proposes could appear onerous and complicated.[21] GQ described it as exhaustive and clear, while observing that it raised more questions than it answered.[22]

In October 2025, Attia appeared on CBS's 60 Minutes, where he discussed the role of structured exercise and preventative health strategies in extending health span.[23]

From January to February 2026, Attia was a contributor to CBS News.[24]

On February 3, 2026, David founder Peter Rahal announced that Attia had stepped down as the company's chief science officer, and Attia's name and image were removed from the company's website.[25] Biograph, the testing startup Attia co-founded, declined to comment on his status.[26]

Personal life

Attia currently lives in the Austin, Texas, area with his wife and three children.[27] In 2005, Attia swam across the channel between Santa Catalina Island and Los Angeles, the 120th person to achieve that feat.[28]

He trained for the crossing by swimming roughly 20 to 30 miles per week alongside a surgical residency that at times reached 100 hours per week, and drew on his undergraduate training in mechanical engineering to analyse the physics of his stroke.[29] He said at the time that the swim was intended in part to draw attention to the Terry Fox Foundation's cancer-research work.[29] He has since completed the channel in both directions. Attia has also boxed, cycled competitively and competes in archery.[30][31]

Relationship with Jeffrey Epstein

Attia was introduced to Jeffrey Epstein in 2015 through Eva Andersson-Dubin.[32] Epstein's appointment calendars, released in 2025, recorded meetings involving Attia through 2019.[33] Emails released in connection with the Epstein files documented communications between Attia and Epstein concerning patient referrals, accommodation, a hiring decision at Attia's clinic, and health and longevity.[32]

In February 2026, following the release of information about his relationship with Epstein, Attia resigned as a contributor to CBS News and as chief science officer of the protein bar company David.[34][35] Attia also publicly apologized for the content of some of his emails with Epstein.[36]

References

  1. 1 2 "Amazon.com". Amazon. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  2. ↑ Machell, Ben (9 June 2023). "How to stay fit over 60? 9 changes to make now". The Times of London. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  3. ↑ Marchese, David (21 May 2023). "Want to Live Longer and Healthier? Peter Attia Has a Plan". The New York Times Magazine.
  4. ↑ "Dr. Peter Attia on why he left residency". Retrieved 23 February 2024.
  5. ↑ "Peter Attia, MD | Penguin Random House".
  6. ↑ Martin, Kristen (26 February 2026). "The Problem With Peter Attia". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved 3 July 2026.
  7. ↑ Martin, Kristen (26 February 2026). "The Problem With Peter Attia". Slate. ISSN 1091-2339. Retrieved 3 July 2026.
  8. ↑ Szokan, Nancy (25 August 2014). "Is it what we eat? Or that we overeat? A look at the effort to figure out why we're fat". washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  9. ↑ "What Makes You So Smart, Peter Attia? Pacific Standard". psmag.com. 25 August 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  10. ↑ O'Connor, Anahad (12 July 2013). "Blaming the Patient, Then Asking Forgiveness". nytimes.com. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  11. ↑ Munro, Dan (24 April 2018). "Are We Fighting The Wrong Battle In The Obesity War?". forbes.com. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  12. ↑ "Attia P. TED: Is the Obesity Crisis Hiding a Bigger Problem?". ted.com. 24 April 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  13. ↑ Angeline Jane Bernabe, Madison Marmen, Matthew Yahata (17 November 2022). "Chris Hemsworth discovers he may be at risk for Alzheimer's disease in new series, 'Limitless'". Good Morning America. ABC News. Retrieved 28 March 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  14. ↑ "Peter Attia MD". YouTube. Retrieved 31 January 2026.
  15. ↑ "CBS Pulls '60 Minutes' Episode Featuring Peter Attia". TheWrap. February 2026. Retrieved 11 August 2026.
  16. ↑ "Outlive: The Science & Art of Longevity - New Book by Peter Attia". Peter Attia. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
  17. 1 2 Marchese, David (21 May 2023). "Want to Live Longer and Healthier? Peter Attia Has a Plan". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  18. ↑ "Amazon Charts: Week of August 20, 2023". Amazon.com. Retrieved 24 August 2023.
  19. ↑ "TIME100 Health". TIME. Archived from the original on 23 September 2024. Retrieved 23 September 2024.
  20. ↑ O'Donnell, Norah (26 October 2025). "Dr. Peter Attia says enjoying a longer, healthier life requires serious training: "Life is a sport"". CBS News.
  21. ↑ Harris, John (28 March 2023). "The healthspan revolution: how to live a long, strong and happy life". The Guardian.
  22. ↑ Reiss, Sami (29 March 2023). "Why Mainstream Medicine Struggles to Prevent Chronic Disease—and What You Can Do About It". GQ.
  23. ↑ "Dr. Peter Attia says enjoying a longer, healthier life requires serious training: "Life is a sport" - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. 26 October 2025. Retrieved 3 December 2025.
  24. ↑ Luscombe, Richard (30 January 2026). "A 'wellness bro', a cosmologist and an RFK Jr crony: meet Bari Weiss's new CBS News contributors". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 31 January 2026.
  25. ↑ Santhosh, Christy (3 February 2026). "Longevity expert Dr. Peter Attia steps down from David Protein after Epstein links". Reuters. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  26. ↑ Bort, Julie (3 February 2026). "Epstein-linked longevity guru Peter Attia leaves David Protein, and his own startup 'won't comment'". TechCrunch. Retrieved 20 August 2026.
  27. ↑ "About Peter - Peter Attia". Peterattiamd.com. Retrieved 30 July 2023.
  28. ↑ Rainey, James (18 October 2005). "30,000 strokes to go". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  29. 1 2 Rainey, James (18 October 2005). "30,000 strokes to go". Los Angeles Times.
  30. ↑ Cite error: The named reference Marchese20232 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  31. ↑ Court, Ben (10 March 2023). "Get Stronger, Live Longer!". Men's Health.
  32. 1 2 Kaufman, Maya; Gardner, Lauren (16 March 2026). "'I think she will be loyal': Jeffrey Epstein's role in Peter Attia's rise". Politico. Retrieved 16 March 2026.
  33. ↑ "Jeffrey Epstein cultivated celebrity relationships for years. Many continued until his 2019 arrest for sex trafficking, documents show. - CBS News". 31 October 2025. Retrieved 1 February 2026.
  34. ↑ Astor, Maggie; Mullin, Benjamin (23 February 2026). "Peter Attia Leaves CBS News Amid Epstein Files Fallout". New York Times. Retrieved 23 February 2026.
  35. ↑ Arkin, Daniel (23 February 2026). "Peter Attia leaves CBS News contributor role amid fallout from Epstein files". NBC News. Retrieved 23 February 2026.
  36. ↑ "Dr. Peter Attia, longevity expert, apologizes for "indefensible" emails to Jeffrey Epstein - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. 2 February 2026. Retrieved 11 August 2026.

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