Founder of the Salerno Center for Complementary Medicine in New York City, with additional locations nationwide, as well as in Brazil, Japan, and South Korea. John P. Salerno (D.O. ’87) is also the author of Dr. Salerno’s Silver Cloud Diet, The Salerno Solution, and Fight Fat with Fat. His 60+ media appearances across television, radio, and print and online publications include ABC News, Bloomberg, CBS, Fox News, Harper’s Bazaar, Yahoo, Huffington Post, and more. Salerno has also worked alongside famed nutritionist and physician, the late Robert Atkins, as well as actress and health spokesperson Suzanne Somers.

A lifelong Yankees fan, Salerno played baseball for St. John the Baptist High School (West Islip, N.Y.) and Adelphi University (on the mound, his best pitch was a fastball). After earning his undergraduate degree, he worked in hospitals and learned about the value of holistic medicine that focuses on the optimal attainment of the physical, mental, and spiritual health—one of the core principles of osteopathic medicine. He chose NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine (NYITCOM) because “it complemented my lifestyle and was exactly what I wanted to do.” This led him to become one of the first and youngest preceptors at Yale University.

“This is a discipline based on quality,” Salerno says of osteopathic medicine. Whenever he gives interviews with media outlets, he emphasizes how this field of practice differs from allopathic medicine. “Patients want to be off medications,” Salerno adds. “We talk about the benefits of vitamins, lifestyle, and stress reduction. As osteopathic physicians, we get to know our patients holistically and personally.”

Still, more needs to be done. “It’s an evolving area of medicine,” he says. “It’s still not very well known but we’re getting results. The general population is becoming more interested.”

Following 9/11, Salerno served as the medical director for the World Trade Center Landfill, monitoring the health of public workers near the massive landfill that was filled with airborne chemicals, heavy metals, and toxic buildup. His actions earned him a commendation from then-NYC mayor Rudy Giuliani. “All I wanted to do was get down there and help these first responders who were at risk,” he says.

Salerno wrote The Salerno Solution and Dr. Salerno’s Silver Cloud Diet to help patients prevent and fight disease. The books emphasize the importance of diet, nutrition, and environmental factors on our overall wellbeing.

For his third book, Fight Fat with Fat, Salerno described how to optimize health with unprocessed foods that are high in fat and low in carbs and dietary supplements that include vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. “We need to eat as organically possible,” says Salerno. He adds how osteopathic medicine has pioneered this nutrition-based approach. “Things that osteopathic doctors have been doing for years are only now being adopted by traditional physicians.”

When he’s not helping his patients reach their best quality of life, you may find John outside biking or running with his wife Helene, son John (12), and daughter Sophia (8). “Exercise is my favorite de-stressor,” says the doctor and lifelong athlete.

Salerno is following in his father’s baseball footsteps—with one of the fastest pitching speeds in the United States for his age bracket—while Sophia excels in equestrian competitions.