Dr Akil Palanisamy is a Harvard-trained physician who practices integrative medicine, blending his conventional medical expertise with holistic approaches including functional medicine and Ayurveda. Dr Akil attended Harvard University and graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor of arts in biochemical sciences. He earned an MD from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and completed family medicine residency training at Stanford University. He then graduated from a fellowship in integrative medicine with Dr Andrew Weil at the University of Arizona and received certification from the Georgetown University Center.

Dr Akil is the Department Chair for Integrative Medicine at the Sutter Health Institute for Health and Healing (IHH). He also serves as IHH Physician Director for Community Education and leads their educational initiatives and programmes. Dr Akil has been a consultant with the Medical Board of California for many years.

A widely known speaker and educator, he is the author of The Paleovedic Diet: A Complete Program to Burn Fat, Increase Energy, and Reverse Disease. Dr Akil has been seeing patients and conducting clinical research studies in the San Francisco Bay Area for more than two decades. In his free time, he enjoys playing tennis, travelling and spending time with his wife and daughter.