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Real Food. Real Medicine. Real Change.
VITAL SIGNS 2026
October 18-20th, 2026 • Case Western Reserve University • Cleveland, Ohio
A three-day conference for healthcare providers, researchers, and health leaders ready to integrate Food as Medicine into clinical care.
Expand What's Possible in Your Practice
You already know how to manage chronic disease.
Vital Signs equips you to prevent and reverse it.
Treat Root Causes
Address the lifestyle and metabolic drivers behind the conditions you see every day.
Apply Evidence With Confidence
Learn clinically grounded, peer-reviewed approaches you can integrate immediately into patient care.
Change the Trajectory of Care
Support meaningful patient improvement — not just stabilization.
The practical tools we use every day to bring lifestyle medicine into the exam room.
Five practicing clinicians. One hour. The specific language, frameworks, and patient conversations that actually work — shared directly from their daily practice.
Most providers believe in lifestyle medicine. The challenge is not conviction — it's implementation. Join us and leave with tools you can use the next morning.
Free to watch. No credit card required. On-demand, any time.
After this session you will have:
Five physicians sharing exactly what works — from their own practices, with their own patients, every single day.
- The exact language that opens the lifestyle medicine conversation without losing the patient
- A practical framework for introducing food as medicine inside a standard visit — regardless of your specialty
- Specific tools our clinicians use daily to help patients connect their choices to outcomes
- An understanding of why patients resist behavior change — and the clinical approach that works
- Special appearance by Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., MD
Featured Panelists
Dr. Brian Asbill
Dr. Laurie Marbas
Dr. Sunny Sharma
Dr. Kristin Kaelber
Dr. Caldwell EsselstynWhy This Moment Matters
Healthcare is shifting. Employers, payers, and health systems are demanding measurable outcomes. Vital Signs brings together the clinicians and researchers building the future of evidence-based nutrition.
Review landmark and emerging clinical trials
Examine biomarker improvements in lifestyle interventions
Translate research into billable, practical protocols
Explore patient adherence and behavioral strategy
Network with clinicians implementing Food as Medicine programs
"We now have decades of evidence showing that heart disease is largely preventable and even reversible with lifestyle change. Vital Signs is where science meets practice, giving clinicians and patients alike the confidence to use real food as real medicine."
— Dr. Brian Asbill
Earn CME Credits While You Transform
Meet your continuing education requirements while gaining practical, evidence-based tools you can immediately apply in your practice.
AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™
12.50
For physicians
Contact Hours
13.50
For nurses & other professionals
CEUs
1.30
National Task Force criteria
CEUs — 1.300
The Mountain Area Health Education Center designates this entire live continuing education activity as meeting the criteria for 1.30 CEUs as established by the National Task Force on the Continuing Education Unit.
AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ — 12.500
Accreditation: This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Southern States CME Collaborative (SSCC) through the joint providership of Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC) and PLANTSTRONG. MAHEC is accredited by the SSCC to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
Credit Designation: MAHEC designates this live activity for a maximum of 12.50 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Contact Hours — 13.500
MAHEC designates this live continuing education activity as meeting the criteria for 13.50 Contact Hours.
Credits Available For
MDs / DOs / PAs: CME
NPs / Nurses: Contact Hours
Dietitians / Dietetic Technicians / Public Health Nutritionists: CEUs
Faculty & Clinical Leaders
A Once-in-a-Career Opportunity
Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Jr., MD is joining us in Cleveland for a personal Q&A and meet and greet.
Few physicians have shaped the course of cardiovascular medicine the way Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn has. Conducting his landmark research at the Cleveland Clinic beginning in 1985, Dr. Esselstyn demonstrated what the medical establishment considered impossible — that whole-food, plant-based nutrition could halt and reverse coronary artery disease, even in patients told they had less than a year to live.
His book Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease has guided hundreds of thousands of patients and clinicians. The Esselstyn Heart Disease Program continues to this day at the Cleveland Clinic — the very city where Vital Signs takes place.
Dr. Esselstyn will join attendees for a dedicated Q&A session and personal meet and greet. This is a rare and intimate opportunity to speak directly with the physician whose research changed what medicine believes is possible.
Dr. Michael Greger, MD, FACLM
Physician, New York Times best-selling author, and founder of NutritionFacts.org.
An internationally recognized speaker on public health, Dr. Greger has lectured at the Conference on World Affairs and the National Institutes of Health, testified before Congress, appeared on The Colbert Report, and served as an expert witness in defense of Oprah Winfrey at the "meat defamation" trial. In 2017, he received the American College of Lifestyle Medicine's Lifestyle Medicine Trailblazer Award.
A founding member and Fellow of the ACLM and a general practitioner specializing in clinical nutrition, he founded NutritionFacts.org — a non-profit providing free, evidence-based videos and studies on diet and nutrition that has become one of the most trusted resources in the Food as Medicine movement.
Rip Esselstyn
Host & Founder of PLANTSTRONG
New York Times Best Selling Author, featured in Forks Over Knives and The Game Changers.
Dr. Brian Asbill
Cardiologist
Board certified in Cardiovascular Diseases, Clinical Lipidology, and Lifestyle Medicine. Former Director of the Lipid Clinic at Asheville Cardiology Associates.
Dr. Elizabeth Winings
Nurse Practitioner
Specializes in the relationship between diet, lifestyle, and mental health. Diplomat of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine.
Dr. Will Bulsiewicz, MD, MSCI
Gastroenterologist · Gut Health Expert
Board-certified gastroenterologist, bestselling author of Fiber Fueled, and one of the world's leading experts on the gut microbiome. Specializes in the connection between plant-based nutrition, gut health, and whole-body wellness. His work has reached millions of patients and clinicians worldwide.
Dr. Stephen Lupe, PsyD
Clinical Health Psychologist · Cleveland Clinic
Director of Behavioral Medicine in the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition at the Cleveland Clinic. Specializes in the brain-gut-microbiome connection, behavior change, and helping patients sustain lasting dietary transformation. Assistant Professor of Medicine at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University.
Dr. Sunny Sharma, MD, DipABLM
Internal Medicine & Lifestyle Medicine Physician
Board-certified in Internal Medicine and Lifestyle Medicine. A brain tumor diagnosis transformed his approach to medicine — today he helps patients prevent and reverse chronic disease through nutrition, movement, sleep, and connection. Featured on the PLANTSTRONG Podcast. Practice based in the Chicago area.
Alison Tierney, MS, RD, CD, CSO
Board-Certified Oncology Dietitian · Cancer Thriver
Board-certified oncology dietitian and cancer thriver with a decade of oncology nutrition experience. She empowers survivors to reduce their risk of recurrence and thrive using plant-based nutrition and lifestyle medicine. Having navigated her own cancer diagnosis through surgery, chemotherapy, targeted therapy, and endocrine therapy, she helps clients combat treatment side effects, gain energy, reduce food fear, and take back control against cancer.
Dr. Kristin Kaelber, MD, PhD, FAAP, FACP
Integrative & Lifestyle Medicine Physician · UH Connor Whole Health
Board-certified in internal medicine, pediatrics, and lifestyle medicine. Earned her MD and PhD in developmental neurosciences from Case Western Reserve University. Faculty member of the American Meditation Institute, she integrates mind-body medicine, yoga science, and nutrition into her clinical practice to help patients prevent and reverse chronic disease.
More Speakers Coming Soon!
"I've seen what happens when patients discover the power of real food — lives change. Vital Signs is about bringing that transformation into the mainstream of medicine, where it belongs."
— Dr. Laurie Marbas
Three Days. One Mission: Change the Standard of Care.
Sunday, October 18th
Registration
Welcome
Rip Esselstyn
How Not to Hurt
Dr. Michael Greger
Plant Strong Dinner Buffet
Prevent & Reverse: Clinical Outcomes When Food is Prescribed
Dr. Brian Asbill
Peer Exchange: Identifying Barriers to Food as Medicine in Practice
Monday Night
Culinary Experience
With Jane Esselstyn & Ann Crile Esselstyn
Join us for a hands-on culinary session designed to translate nutrition science into practical, repeatable meals.
This bonus evening includes:
- A live demonstration focused on whole-food, plant-based meal preparation
- Strategies for improving patient adherence through food accessibility
- A dedicated networking dinner buffet
- Additional time for peer exchange and faculty interaction
Event Registration
3-Day Conference — In Person
Final price
- Full event admission & video replays
- Sunday Dinner
- Breakfast and Lunch on Monday
- Breakfast on Tuesday
- 12.50 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™
- Monday Night Culinary Experience with Jane & Ann Esselstyn
3-Day Conference — Virtual
Watch from anywhere
- Live stream access to all sessions
- Full recording access after the event
- CME/CEU Credits(not available for virtual)
* Your event ticket is fully refundable up to May 31, 2026, less a $50 non-refundable fee.
Case Western Reserve University
The conference will be held in the heart of University Circle—steps away from world-class museums, botanical gardens, and restaurants. Discounted hotel blocks will be shared upon registration.
🏨 Hotel Room Block
A discounted room block has been reserved for Vital Signs attendees. Book early — rooms are limited.
To book by phone: Call 216-455-1260 and ask for a room under the Vital Signs Block (C-VSG).
To book online: Use the link below.
Book Your Hotel Room
Join us in Cleveland for three transformative days
of evidence, education, and empowerment.
Vital Signs 2026 — Real Food. Real Medicine. Real Change.
Questions? Call us at (512) 815-3322 | events@plantstrong.com