Ian Smith

Dr. Ian Smith has served as the medical/diet expert for six seasons on VH1's highly-rated Celebrity Fit Club, is the creator and founder of The 50 Million Pound Challenge, and is a medical contributor on the nationally syndicated television show Rachael Ray. Dr. Smith is also the host of his own nationally syndicated radio show "HealthWatch" on American Urban Radio Networks. He is the former medical correspondent for NBC News network and for NewsChannel 4, where he filed reports for NBC's Nightly News and The Today Show as well as WNBC's various news broadcasts. He has appeared extensively on various broadcasts including Oprah, The View, The Tyra Show, Larry King Live, Anderson Cooper 360, and Showbiz Tonight. Dr. Smith has recently been appointed by President Obama to the President's Council on Fitness, Sports, and Nutrition. He has written for various publications including Time, Newsweek, Men's Health, and the New York Daily News, and has been featured in several other publications including People, Essence, Ebony, University of Chicago Medicine on the Midway, Cosmopolitan, and Black Enterprise.

A highly sought after speaker, Dr. Smith's work has been honored by several organizations, including the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for his coverage on the momentous events beginning on 9/11. Dr. Smith is very active in charitable causes. He is currently a national advisory board member for the Maya Angelou Center for Health Equity. He has also served on the boards of the American Council on Exercise, the New York Mission Society, the Prevent Cancer Foundation and the New York Council for the Humanities.

Dr. Smith graduated from Harvard College with an AB (class of '91) and received a master's in science education from Teachers College of Columbia University. He attended Dartmouth Medical School and completed the last two years of his medical education and graduated from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine.

Dr. Smith is also the author of seven books: the #1 New York Times Bestseller Extreme Fat Smash Diet, the #1 New York Times Bestseller The Fat Smash Diet, the New York Times Bestseller The 4 Day Diet, the critically acclaimed The Blackbird Papers (2005 BCALA fiction Honor Book Award winner), Happy, Dr. Ian Smith's Guide to Medical Websites, and The Take-Control Diet. His eighth book, Eat, will be available in spring 2011.