David S. Ludwig, MD, PhD, a pediatric endocrinologist, is Director of the Obesity Program and Associate Director of the General Clinical Research Center at Children’s Hospital, Boston. He holds the position of Associate Professor in Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School.

        Dr. Ludwig received his bachelor's degree at University of California, Berkeley, and his medical and doctorate degrees at Stanford University.  He completed internship and residency at Children's Hospital, Boston, continuing on to become a Fellow and then an Attending in the Division of Endocrinology.

        Dr. Ludwig's research focuses on the effects of diet on hormones, metabolism and body weight.  In particular, he has been developing a novel “low glycemic” diet (i.e., one that decreases the surge in blood sugar after meals) for the treatment of obesity and prevention of type 2 diabetes. This work has been cited as providing a scientific basis for numerous popular diets, including The South Beach Diet, The Zone, SugarBusters, and The Glucose Revolution. He has published the first long-term studies linking soft drinks and fast food to obesity and related health problems in children and young adults.  Described as an “obesity warrior” by Time Magazine (June 7, 2004), Dr. Ludwig has fought for fundamental policy changes to restrict food advertising directed at young children, improve quality of school nutrition programs and increase insurance reimbursement for obesity prevention and treatment programs. 

        Dr. Ludwig is Founding Director of the Obesity Program and the Optimal Weight for Life (OWL) clinic at Children's Hospital, a multidisciplinary center for the diagnosis and management of overweight children.  He currently supervises a number of research fellows and junior faculty.