Dr. Christopher M. Palmer is a Harvard psychiatrist and researcher working at the interface of metabolism and mental health. He is the director of the department of postgraduate and continuing education at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass., and an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, where he has held administrative, educational, research and clinical roles in psychiatry for more than 25 years. As a pioneer of the use of a medical ketogenic diet in the treatment of psychiatric disorders, Dr. Palmer conducts research and treats patients, while also writing and speaking about the topic worldwide. Most recently, he has proposed a comprehensive theory of what causes mental illness by integrating existing theories and research into one unifying theory: the brain-energy theory of mental illness.

Ignacio Cuaranta is an Argentinian-based clinical psychiatrist who specializes in metabolic therapies in mental health. The high rate of metabolic disorders that he consistently assessed in his practice prompted Dr. Cuaranta to consider a more functional approach that integrated updated interventions that go beyond pharmacotherapy. Challenging preconceived notions about nutrition, he started paying specific attention to the effects of food on the human body and brain health, as well as the consequences of obesity and other metabolic disorders on mental, physical and social health and quality of life. Lifestyle interventions Dr. Cuaranta considers include diet, movement, sleep, technology use and stress management. He always keeps both subjective and objective quality of life in mind and aims to increase metabolic flexibility and patient self-empowerment. Dr. Cuaranta endorses and promotes real food, low carb and ketogenic lifestyles, as well as intermittent-fasting protocols in synergy with pharmacotherapy when required.

Dr. Matt Bernstein is passionate about constantly learning as much as he can to help people achieve their best functioning. He is the Chief Medical Officer at Ellenhorn, where he has also served as a psychiatrist since 2010. After graduating from Columbia University with a bachelor’s degree in English literature, he received his medical degree from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and then trained at the MGH/McLean Hospital Psychiatry Residency Program in Belmont, Mass., where he served as chief resident. Dr. Bernstein remained at McLean Hospital after residency as a psychiatrist-in-charge, and later served as assistant medical director of its schizophrenia and bipolar inpatient program. His other roles at McLean have included medical director of the substance-abuse residential treatment program, and attending psychiatrist and substance-abuse consultant at the Pavilion; he continues his teaching affiliation with McLean and Harvard Medical School to this day. Dr. Bernstein also has a private practice in psychopharmacology and psychotherapy, and has developed a passion for alternative ways to help individuals achieve better outcomes by focusing on metabolism, nutrition and exercise in brain function, as an enhancement to traditional psychiatric approaches.

Dr. Guido Frank is a professor of psychiatry at the University of California San Diego and a board-certified adult, child and adolescent psychiatrist who earned his medical degree from Germany’s Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München and has received training in psychosomatics at the Center for Behavioral Medicine Klinik Roseneck in Prien am Chiemsee, Germany, UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pa., and the University of California San Diego, Calif. Dr. Frank has been studying the neurobiology of eating disorders for the past 25 years and has been funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and numerous private-foundation grants for the past 15. His overarching goal is to develop translational models that bridge clinical presentation with neuroscience in order to develop more effective treatments for eating disorders.

Dr. Georgia Ede is a Harvard-trained psychiatrist specializing in nutritional and metabolic psychiatry. Her two decades of clinical experience include 12 years at Smith College in Northampton, Mass., and Harvard University Health Services in Cambridge, Mass., where she was the first to offer nutrition-based therapies as an alternative to psychiatric medication. Dr. Ede writes about food and the brain for Psychology Today, as well as for her own website, DiagnosisDiet. She speaks internationally about nutrition science, nutrition-policy reform, and dietary approaches to psychiatric conditions. Dr. Ede developed the first and only medically accredited Ketogenic Diets for Mental Health clinician training program, through which she teaches practitioners of all backgrounds how to safely incorporate metabolic therapies into their care of people with psychiatric conditions. In 2022, she co authored the first inpatient study of the ketogenic diet for serious mental illness, and was honored to be a recipient of the Baszucki Brain Research Fund’s first annual Metabolic Mind Award. Her forthcoming book, Change Your Diet, Change Your Mind, will be published by Hachette in January 2024.

Dr. Bret Scher is a board-certified cardiologist, lipidologist and leading expert in metabolic therapies, including ketogenic diets. He is the director of Metabolic Mind, a nonprofit initiative of the Baszucki Group, the former medical director at dietdoctor.com and also runs a preventive-cardiology telemedicine practice at lowcarbcardiologist.com. Dr. Scher has spent most of his 20-year career helping people improve their metabolic health and prevent heart disease by using low-carb nutrition and lifestyle interventions. Dr. Scher creates educational videos and podcasts regarding the connection between metabolic and mental health and how metabolic therapies can play a key role in mental-health treatment. He believes that we can revolutionize the mental-health field through a greater understanding of metabolic therapies and ketogenic diets. You can find his content on The Metabolic Mind YouTube page and podcast and at www.metabolicmind.org.

Beth Zupec-Kania, a registered dietitian nutritionist, certified nutritionist and owner of Ketogenic Therapies LLC, began her career as a hospital dietitian who prescribed ketogenic diets for individuals with epilepsy, and, since 2006, has been a private consultant for individuals with neurological, endocrine and psychiatric disorders. Beth is an author of the “Ketogenic Diet Therapies for Neurological Disorders: Pocket Guide–4th Edition,” has co authored research on keto therapy for use in Prader-Willi syndrome, anorexia nervosa and canine epilepsy, has provided training for more than 300 medical centers worldwide, and is the cofounder of Ketogenic Therapeutics Mastery training for medical professionals. She is also the architect and owner of the KetoDietCalculator®, a web-based program for calculating and managing ketogenic diets, a consultant for the Charlie Foundation for Ketogenic Therapies, a member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and on the advisory board for nonprofits that include the International Neurological Ketogenic Society, the European Keto Live Centre and the Baszucki Family Foundation.