Director of Medical Education at the Institute of Lifestyle Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Assistant Professor, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Harvard Medical School

President, American College of Lifestyle Medicine

Director of Wellness Programming, Stroke Research and Recovery Institute, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital

Author, Lifestyle Medicine Syllabus, American College of Lifestyle Medicine

Author, "Lifestyle Medicine Handbook: An Introduction to the Power of Healthy Habits", ranked by Book Authority as one of the 100 Best Medicine Books of All Time

Founder, Lifestyle Medicine Interest Group, Harvard Medical School

Founder and Co-Chair of the Lifestyle Medicine Networking Group and Member of the Mild Stroke Interest Group, American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine

Co-author, "Lifestyle as Medicine: The Case for a True Health Initiative"

Co-Chair, Pre-Professional Education Member Interest Group, American College of Lifestyle Medicine

Author or co-author of 36 articles in peer-reviewed publications

Elizabeth (Beth) Pegg Frates, MD FACLM DipABLM had a deep interest in medicine, physiatry and stroke launched at age 18 when her father, aged 52, suffered a heart attack and stroke.  She graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College, majoring in psychology and biology, earned her medical degree at Stanford Medical School, interned at Massachusetts General Hospital, and completed her residency as Chief Resident in the Harvard Medical School Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.  She then focused on stroke and stroke prevention, and pursued further training in behavior change through the modalities of health and wellness coaching programs and motivational interviewing.  She has always believed in the power of implementing realistic small changes to create big results.

Since 1996, Dr. Frates has been on faculty at Harvard Medical School, winning multiple teaching awards for her work in various pre-clinical core courses, and developing and teaching a college Lifestyle Medicine curriculum, one of the most popular courses offered at the Harvard Extension School.  In an effort to guide the initiation of Lifestyle Medicine programs elsewhere, she made the syllabus available online as a template through the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM), and it has been widely used and acclaimed.  At Harvard Medical School, she currently serves as Director of Medical Education at the Institute of Lifestyle Medicine, and as Assistant Professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

In 2008, Dr. Frates developed the concept of a Lifestyle Medicine Interest Group (LMIG) for medical schools not currently offering courses on Lifestyle Medicine, and since then has successfully directed such a group at Harvard Medical School.  She was elected to the Board of Directors at ACLM, served as Board Liaison for its Professionals In Training group, and continued to define the scope of this new specialty by serving as a credentialing examination writer for ACLM's affiliated certifying body, the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine.  She is the author or co-author of 36 articles in peer-reviewed publications, including "Lifestyle as Medicine: The Case for a True Health Initiative", and her book “The Lifestyle Medicine Handbook: An Introduction to the Power of Healthy Habits” was included in a list of the 100 Best Medicine Books of All Time by BookAuthority.  She was voted President-elect of ACLM in August 2020 and now serves as its President..

Dr. Frates continues to serve as Director of Wellness Programming at the Stroke Research and Recovery Institute, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, where she created and implemented a 12-step program, PAVING the Path to Wellness™ for patients and providers.  She is also the founder and Co-Chair of the Lifestyle Medicine Networking Group and Member of the Mild Stroke Interest Group for the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine.  Throughout her career she has been an innovative promoter of multi-faceted quality-of-life enhancing opportunities, and empowerment, for stroke survivors.