James Rippe, MD, is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Medical School with post graduate training at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is currently the Founder and Director of the Rippe Lifestyle Institute and Professor of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Central Florida.

Over the past 25 years, Dr. Rippe has established and run the largest research organization in the world exploring how daily habits and actions impact short and long-term health and quality of life. This organization, Rippe Lifestyle Institute (RLI), has published hundreds of papers that form the scientific basis for the fields of lifestyle medicine and high performance health. RLI also conducts numerous studies every year on nutrition and healthy weight management. One recent research interest of the RLI team has been the metabolism and health effects of sugars.

A lifelong and avid athlete, Dr. Rippe maintains his personal fitness with a regular walking, jogging, swimming, and weight training program. He holds a black belt in karate and is an avid wind surfer, skier, and tennis player. He lives outside of Boston with his wife, television news anchor Stephanie Hart, and their four children, Hart, Jaelin, Devon, and Jamie.