Exploring the natural world.
Innovating for human health.
Cardiologist and evolutionary biologist Barbara Natterson-Horowitz, MD, PhD, is redrawing the boundaries of human medicine. Chair of the National Academies' Board on Animal Health Sciences, Conservation, and Research and a past President of the International Society for Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health, Dr. Natterson-Horowitz pushes against the barriers separating human, animal and planetary health.
Dr. Natterson-Horowitz pioneered Zoobiquity, a species-spanning approach to health that recognizes the natural world as a powerful source of lifesaving insights for human health. She spotlighted this approach in her keynote address for the Nobel Assembly’s 2019 Nobel Conference.
Her bestselling books and global Zoobiquity conferences have brought together thousands of physicians, veterinarians, wildlife experts and evolutionary biologists, leading to dozens of collaborations aimed at inspiring new approaches to modern medicine. Her studies have uncovered roadmaps for solving human health challenges – from depression and heart failure to breast cancer and infertility.
“Dr. Barbara Natterson-Horowitz exemplifies Darwin's spirit in making connections to figure out what's true. She has created a whole new field at the intersection of evolutionary biology, human medicine and veterinary medicine."
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– Dr. Randolph Nesse, Founding Director of The Center for
Evolution and Medicine
Image credit: Alisha Jucevic
Redefining the boundary between animal and human medicine
Natterson-Horowitz's research turns to the animal world for insights into human health. She has pioneered a new scientific lens that can find solutions to human health challenges in nature. Her research and published papers on heart disease, cancer, mental illness, women's health and more; her award-winning courses at Harvard and UCLA; and her New York Times bestselling book Zoobiquity have inspired scholars and universities around the world to host Zoobiquity Conferences to help other health professionals to identify medical solutions in nature.
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In 2019, Natterson-Horowitz delivered the keynote address on bio-inspired medicine at the Nobel Conference in Stockholm, Sweden. She called for physicians to recognize global biodiversity as an irreplaceable source of insights for human health.​
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Partnering with naturalist and science writer Kathryn Bowers (also a Zoobiquity co-author) Natterson-Horowitz's most recent book, Wildhood, turns to the animal world for insights into human adolescence. An Editor’s Pick by the New York Times Book Review, Wildhood won a Book of the Year Award from the Association for Science Education.
Natterson-Horowitz holds faculty appointments at Harvard Medical School's Department of Global Health and Social Medicine and Harvard University's Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, where she teaches courses on Zoobiquity. She is a Clinical Professor of Medicine in the Division of Cardiology at UCLA, served as President of the International Society for Evolution, Medicine and Public Health, and continues as a cardiovascular consultant to the Los Angeles Zoo.
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Image credit: Crystal Whiteaker, Crystal Lily Creative