Alexandria, VA, USA – A Distinguished Lecture Series presentation exploring the relationships between nutrition and cardiometabolic diseases was presented at the 104th General Session of the IADR, which was held in conjunction with the 55th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research and the 50th Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association for Dental Research on March 25-28, 2026 in San Diego, CA, USA.
The first 2026 IADR/AADOCR/CADR General Session Distinguished Lecture Series session, “Food is Medicine: Past, Present, and Future,” was presented by Dariush Mozaffarian, Tufts University, Boston, USA. Mozaffarian received his B.S. in biological sciences from Stanford University, M.D. from Columbia University, and Doctorate in Public Health from Harvard University; with clinical training in internal medicine at Stanford University and in cardiology at the University of Washington.
Mozaffarian is a cardiologist, public health scientist, and Director of the Food is Medicine Institute at Tufts University. He is also Distinguished Professor, Dean Emeritus, and Jean Mayer Professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy; Professor of Medicine at Tufts School of Medicine; and attending physician in the Division of Cardiology at Tufts Medical Center.
This presentation provided an overview of how nutrition science and policy have evolved over time and how they impact Americans’ health. Throughout the session, Mozaffarian explored the rise of ultra-processed foods and industry-driven health goals, while emphasizing the science-based nutritional priorities for health. Mozaffarian highlighted the transformative potential of “Food is Medicine” strategies in prevention and treatment of chronic disease and the policy actions needed to scale these nutritional interventions.
The Distinguished Lectures Series presentation, “Food is Medicine: Past, Present, and Future,” took place on Thursday, March 26 at 9:45 a.m. PDT (UTC-7).
About IADR/AADOCR
The International Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research (IADR) is a nonprofit organization with a mission to drive dental, oral, and craniofacial research for health and well-being worldwide. IADR represents the individual scientists, clinician-scientists, dental professionals, and students based in academic, government, non-profit, and private-sector
institutions who share our mission. The American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research (AADOCR) is the largest division of IADR. Learn more at www.iadr.org.
