Dr. John Scharffenberg, MPH, at over 100 years old, gives keynote presentations that help people learn how healthy habits can help them avoid disease and live longer. Scharffenberg graduated from the School of Medicine just six years after the first U.S. patient was saved by penicillin and five years before the DNA double helix was discovered.
While medical knowledge and practice can change rapidly, videos featuring Scharffenberg sharing information about health and longevity he has gained over decades have garnered millions of views.
Scharffenberg, who was born in Shanghai in 1923, teaches that following a plant-based diet together with exercise and restful sleep among others, can reduce inflammation and combat against many chronic diseases
Following his internship at Loma Linda, Scharffenberg completed his MPH degree at Harvard’s School of Public Health (1956). He went on to serve as a nutritionist on the Interdepartmental Committee of Nutrition for National Defense, National Institutes of Health; and was a faculty member at Loma Linda for 63 years. While working at Loma Linda Food Company he was among the first in the U.S. to add iodine to infant soy milk. He has served as director, San Bernardino Health Department; and director, International Nutrition Research Foundation (Riverside).
In his quest to share guidance on health as widely as possible he continues to travel internationally to places such as Guam, Madagascar and the Czech Republic (all in 2024).
