Ardmore Institute of Health Announces Fall 2025 Grant Recipients
Ardmore Institute of Health (AIH) is delighted to announce its Fall 2025 grant recipients. Through grant-making, AIH partners with mission-aligned organizations by funding innovative projects that support AIH's strategic objectives.
This fall, AIH awarded $1,894,818 across 17 projects that will help advance our vision: a future where healthy environments and lifestyles provide equitable and preferred methods to prevent, treat, and reverse chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.
Continue reading to learn more about each project.
Fresh Rx: Advancing Lifestyle Medicine Education for Equitable Chronic Care
Albany Area Primary Health Care Inc | Albany, GA
$70,113
Fresh Rx: Advancing Lifestyle Medicine Education for Equitable Chronic Care expands a proven produce prescription and lifestyle medicine program at Albany Area Primary Health Care (AAPHC), serving rural and underserved communities in Southwest Georgia. In partnership with A.T. Still University (ATSU), the project embeds Shared Medical Appointments (SMAs) into two adult AAPHC clinics and two PEDS school-based health centers, targeting high rates of chronic disease, food insecurity, and poverty. Using the Full Plate Living curriculum, Fresh Rx integrates plant-forward nutrition, mindful eating, cooking demonstrations, and community to build self-efficacy and support sustainable behavior change. Participants receive fresh produce boxes and set SMART goals within supportive group visits led by PAs, NPs, and ATSU trainees. Goals include reducing HbA1c, BMI, and blood pressure; increasing plant-based food consumption and physical activity; and improving resilience, depression, and stress outcomes. Measurements will include biometric data, dietary surveys, and validated psychosocial tools, analyzed with IRB oversight as needed. The initiative also trains future providers by embedding lifestyle medicine into ATSU’s curriculum, building capacity for prevention-focused care. Anticipated outcomes include healthier patients, stronger community partnerships with local farmers, and a replicable model for chronic disease reversal and health equity in underserved populations nationwide.
Paying for Obesity Care: A National Forum on Lifestyle Medicine and Coverage Innovation
Alliance of Community Health Plans | Washington, DC
$100,000
To integrate Lifestyle Medicine and Whole Person Care into the U.S. health system, payers must recognize and reimburse these approaches. The Alliance of Community Health Plans (ACHP), representing nearly three dozen nonprofit, community health plans covering 24 million Americans, proposes a national forum on transforming obesity care through policy and payer innovation. Through a decade-long ACHP Chronic Disease Pledge our member plans have committed to improving outcomes in diabetes, hypertension and childhood obesity by 2030. This forum will bring together C-suite executives and policy experts to explore how value-based payment models and informed benefit design can enable ACHP plans to reach their pledge goals through supporting evidence-based, lifestyle-focused interventions for obesity. Discussions will highlight the cost-effectiveness of lifestyle medicine, tackling the growing financial pressures from weight loss drugs and opportunities for systemic change. Through expert panels and peer-to-peer exchange, the event aims to catalyze systemic change, embedding lifestyle medicine into payer strategies and empowering health plans to lead the transition toward Whole Person, value-based obesity care. Central to this vision are federal policy reforms that shape coverage, reimbursement and care models across the nation.
Nourishing Generations: Cultural Food, Motherhood, and a Full Plate Approach
Cardea Services | Seattle, WA
$100,000
Nourishing Generations is a culturally centered pilot to improve maternal health outcomes for Black mothers in Central Texas. Rooted in the evidence-based Full Plate Living framework, the program blends cultural food traditions with lifestyle medicine to promote heart-healthy eating, stress management, and community connection during pregnancy and postpartum. Key objectives are to:
Deliver culturally affirming nutrition education through group sessions, workshops, cooking demonstrations, and meal planning with affordable, accessible foods.
Foster supportive peer groups for mothers and engage family, clinicians, and nutritionists.
Address stress and mental well-being through mindfulness, movement, and self-care practices.
Promote sustainable behavior change via continued access to Full Plate Living resources.
In partnership with People’s Community Clinic, Cardea will conduct a needs assessment, design a program grounded in cultural traditions with an interdisciplinary advisory group, and implement an 18-month pilot. Activities include food prescriptions, nutritional education sessions, peer support, and integration into clinical workflows. A mixed-methods evaluation approach will assess clinical, behavioral, and engagement outcomes. Anticipated outcomes include improved maternal health, enhanced lifestyle practices, stronger social support, and evidence to advance food-as-medicine policy and replication.
Community of Hope Healthy Lifestyle Program
Community of Hope | Washington, DC
$20,000
Community of Hope (COH) plans to continue our Healthy Lifestyle Program to reach additional patients by offering a new series of in-person group health education classes. As before, COH will convene three separate cohorts, with each group lasting eight weeks, using the AIH’s Full Plate Living Healthy Lifestyle Program® curriculum. We will focus on recruiting patients who have some type of chronic health condition. For each cohort, we plan to include up to 10 participants, resulting in the engagement of approximately 30 patients over the three cohorts. One of the three cohorts will be held in Spanish, to provide an option for patients who would prefer to receive the session information in Spanish. The overall goal of the program will be to enhance participants’ awareness and understanding of how good nutrition, physical activity, and mindfulness can improve health outcomes. Patients will identify personal goals related to healthy nutrition practices, physical activity routines, and/or mindfulness approaches based on the Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound (SMART) model. We expect that through the support provided by the classes, patients will achieve at least one of their SMART goals. We also anticipate that participation in the program will lead to positive health outcomes such as improvements in blood pressure and/or BMI reductions. Further, we expect the program will help patients feel better equipped to manage their chronic diseases overall.
Lifestyle Medicine-framed Primary Care using Full Plate Living Shared Medical Appointments at an FQHC in North Philadelphia
Esperanza Health Center | Philadelphia, PA
$103,000
Our project, Lifestyle Medicine-framed Primary Care using Full Plate Living Shared Medical Appointments at an FQHC in North Philadelphia, will expand the scope and breadth of Esperanza Health Center’s current Lifestyle Medicine (LM) program. Utilizing shared medical appointments (SMAs) with Full Plate Living (FPL) as the core curriculum, our current 10-week bilingual LM course covers four key domains: 1) nutrition education through the FPL curriculum; 2) interactive plant-forward recipe demonstrations; 3) behavioral health-led activities; and 4) guided group physical movement. Our project adds two new cohorts—one focused on nutrition, sleep, stress, and spirituality, and the other an adaptation of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine’s Lifestyle Empowerment Approach to Diabetes Remission (LEADR) curriculum, incorporating hands-on Culinary Medicine and utilizing FPL—in addition to continued FPL cohorts. All cohorts, to be offered to both patients and community members, will be implemented as culturally-relevant group visits with behavioral health support and a focus on social connectedness, and will provide opportunities for experiential learning to build skills for health-promoting lifestyles. Data about participants’ health outcomes and program delivery for all cohorts will be captured and analyzed. We hope to observe improvements in participants’ markers of chronic disease, including blood pressure, weight, and mental/emotional health.
Demonstrating the Value of Activating Employers as Agents of Change in Promoting Whole Health for Low-Wage Workers via Lifestyle as Medicine
Health Enhancement Research Organization | Raleigh, NC
$83,810
The Health Enhancement Research Organization (HERO) successfully executed 2 previous Ardmore Institute of Health-funded grants to develop and refine a model for, and to demonstrate the value of, activating employers as agents of change in the implementation of Lifestyle as Medicine (LM). HERO will conduct additional intensive case studies with employers who employ low-wage workers, including at least one health system, to promote whole health. The case studies will involve strategic planning, technical assistance, and evaluation. These case studies will ensure that 1) the model and tools being disseminated to employers have the maximum potential to advance health equity; 2) the LM framework being applied explicitly addresses meaning and purpose to optimize whole health; and 3) health systems recognize the significant opportunity they have to foster whole health for their employees via LM and see the path to and benefit of doing so. Assisting health systems in infusing LM into the foundational elements of whole health initiatives for their employees could pave the way for broader adoption of that approach for patients and the communities in which they operate. A diverse array of outcome measures of particular interest to health systems (e.g., retention, burnout) will be considered. The results will be widely shared as practical, applied guidance and tools for employers of all sizes to adopt as they chart their own course to sustainably implement LM to promote whole health.
Validating the Lifestyle Medicine Assessment for Use in Lifestyle Medicine Clinics and Research
HealthPartners Institute | Bloomington, MN
$100,000
Lifestyle Medicine is an expanding field within healthcare that focuses on reducing the risk of chronic disease through promoting engagement in healthy behaviors. As more clinicians and researchers develop and implement Lifestyle Medicine programs, there is an increasing need for concise, comprehensive, and validated tools to assess the six pillars of Lifestyle Medicine. Such assessments help pinpoint areas needing improvement at the start of these programs and measure progress over time, which can be helpful in both clinical and research settings. To address this need, Bonnet (2024) created the Lifestyle Medicine Assessment (LMA), a 21-item screening tool designed to evaluate the six pillars of Lifestyle Medicine. Although the LMA has already demonstrated face and content validity, it requires further research to confirm its reliability and its construct and criterion validity. This project aims to strengthen the evidence for the LMA by conducting a cross-sectional survey of 315 patients within a large health system. Participants will complete the LMA, as well as several established measures related to each pillar of Lifestyle Medicine. Researchers will link survey responses to data from participants’ electronic health records to examine how the LMA relates to objective health metrics. The findings from this study will be shared through scientific presentations and publications, with the goal of further disseminating the LMA in both clinical and research settings.
Evaluating the Outcomes of Community Efforts to Improve Population Health and Well-Being in Eight Blue Zones and Wellville Communities
Johns Hopkins University | Baltimore, MD
$150,000
Blue Zones Project (BZP) and Wellville (WV) aim to improve community health and well-being through community-based efforts, such as environmental and policy changes. The ultimate aim is for residents to adopt healthy lifestyles by making healthy choices easy, normative, and affordable. While there is strong evidence that the setting in which one resides is predictive of good health, there is limited evidence for long-term population health improvements attributable to community initiatives such as those promoted by BZP and WV. Data are now available, accessible, and of sufficient quality to evaluate the population health impacts of BZP and WV initiatives. This project, a collaboration between Johns Hopkins University and the University of Missouri Extension Center for Applied Research and Engagement Systems (CARES), conducts a “deep dive” evaluation of eight BZP and WV communities. Using a jointly developed methodology and data framework, the project examines the health impacts of these community initiatives to determine whether they “work.” Multi-year trend lines are investigated for key health risk measures, disease prevalence rates, and social determinants of health. BZP and WV data trends are contrasted with comparator sites and national norms to determine whether community-based initiatives can successfully “bend” population-wide metrics in a healthy direction.
Accelerating the Scalability of Sustainable Models of Whole-Person Health in Community Health Centers: An Innovation Incubator for Lifestyle Medicine
National Association of Community Health Centers | Bethesda, MD
$150,000
Led by the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) in partnership with the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM), this project aims to advance whole-person care models across Community Health Centers (CHCs). CHCs serve nearly 34 million individuals each year, many of whom face barriers to health due to poverty, limited access to nutritious food, and high rates of chronic disease. As the primary care provider for these communities, CHCs are uniquely positioned to transform chronic disease care through scalable, nutrition-forward, and team-based models of care. This initiative focuses on equipping CHCs with tools and Continuing Medical Education (CME) accredited training to integrate lifestyle medicine and nutrition-forward care into primary care, including the integration of Full Plate Living and Lifestyle Medicine Shared Medical Appointments (LMSMAs). Over 12 months, NACHC will launch a national CME-accredited learning series, featuring five 90-minute interactive webinars. Pre/post assessments will track knowledge, confidence, and implementation readiness gains. NACHC will also co-develop an LMSMA incubator curriculum with tools and implementation guidance for CHC settings. All activities will be shared through NACHC and ACLM communication channels. By strengthening the CHC workforce, this project aims to reduce chronic disease burden and improve health outcomes for medically underserved populations.
FreshRx Latinx Food is Medicine Program
Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts, Inc. | Tulsa, OK
$100,000
FreshRx Oklahoma is launching an innovative pilot program in East Tulsa that integrates Lifestyle Medicine principles with the Full Plate Living model to improve health outcomes in the Latinx community with 100 participants. This initiative recognizes the cultural, linguistic, and systemic barriers many Latinx adults face when managing or preventing Type 2 Diabetes, a condition disproportionately impacting this population. Our goal is to empower adults at risk for, or living with, Type 2 Diabetes to improve metabolic health, build sustainable nutrition habits, and reduce disparities in chronic disease management. Participants referred through local clinics will receive a biweekly prescription for regeneratively grown produce, hands-on bilingual cooking demonstrations, and wraparound support from trusted UMA Tulsa promotoras who provide culturally responsive guidance and encouragement. We will measure program impact by tracking clinical outcomes (HbA1c, blood pressure, weight), monitoring dietary behavior change, and capturing engagement data at three-month intervals. By pairing food access with culturally relevant education and peer support, this pilot aims to demonstrate a scalable, evidence-based Food is Medicine model that can be integrated into Oklahoma’s Medicaid reimbursement framework. Ultimately, FreshRx Oklahoma seeks to improve health equity and empower communities through accessible, culturally resonant nutrition interventions.
Spreading & Scaling Community As Medicine to Provide Clinically-Integrated Lifestyle Medicine in Low-Income Communities to Improve Health & Wellbeing
Open Source Wellness | El Cerrito, CA
$300,000
Building on the success our 2024 AIH grant, which launched Open Source Wellness’s (OSW’s) inaugural Community As MedicineR (CAM) Learning Collaborative (CAMLC), our project aligns with AIH’s priority of making “lifestyle medicine-infused whole person care” integral to the healthcare system. AIH’s funding will support one-time expenses associated with building our capacity to spread and scale CAM - our evidence-based model of trauma-informed, culturally-relevant health and wellness coaching - in partnership with community-based organizations and clinical healthcare entities across the U.S. Members of CAMLC’s 2024 cohort (n=3) are in various stages of implementing their CAM programs in collaboration with clinical partners. The 2025 cohort members (n=5) are designing CAM programs for launch in 2026. Five (5) or more are expected to join the 2026 cohort. AIH’s funding will build OSW’s infrastructure to support the spread and scale of CAM. This includes developing tools to support organizations in building capacity to deliver CAM in partnership with clinical healthcare and to sustain their CAM programs beyond their participation in CAMLC. Funds will support OSW’s strategic expansion of clinical partnerships and institutional alliances to integrate the CAM model of lifestyle medicine into mainstream medical practice as the standard of care and to elevate CAM as the overarching framework for promoting holistic health and wellbeing.
Better Together - Building a Collaborative SMA Model in a Residency Program
Swedish Health Services | Seattle, WA
$60,895
This project will demonstrate the financial and clinical benefits of integrating lifestyle medicine shared medical appointments (LM SMA) with a community organization behavior change group. The project focuses on determining how to improve the blood pressure of our BIPOC (Black Indigenous and People of Color) patient population by integrating five physician-led LM-SMA with the YMCA coach-led Blood Pressure Self-Monitoring Program. The LM SMA uses content from the 4-session slide deck of the Full Plate Living SMA program. We will assess objective changes in blood pressure and weight, and subjective measures of patient reported lifestyle changes, autonomy in chronic disease management, and resource engagement pre and post-participation. We will review billing data to determine if a percentage of the revenue from LM SMA billing can be used to cover the cost of the YMCA patient fees. A secondary goal of this project is to demonstrate the scalability potential at a residency training site or other low resource setting. This component will be integrated into the experiential part of our LM Residency Curriculum to fulfill the experiential board certification eligibility requirements. We hope to provide proof of principle that this model creates a financially synergistic relationship with a community organization that improves patient engagement, increases long-term positive health behavior, and improves physician confidence in LM counseling and LM SMA delivery.
Food as Medicine Community Educational Forum
The 4R Foundation | Orlando, FL
$50,000
Physicians and health care workers are deeply committed to patient care but often lack the tools to address the root causes of chronic illness. Too frequently, treatment relies on medications rather than holistic, lifestyle-based approaches. The Culinary Health Institute at 4Roots Farm aims to change this model by equipping providers with the knowledge and skills to use Food as Medicine in clinical and community settings. On February 6–7, 2026, we will host a two-day Train-the-Trainer Continuing Medical Education Conference in Orlando, Florida, led by Dr. Monica Aggarwal. Participants will earn 16–18 CME credits while gaining evidence-based education, practical culinary skills, and tools to implement Shared Medical Visits using the Full Plate Living program. Through a mix of lectures, hands-on cooking, gardening, and teaching kitchen demonstrations, HCWs will learn to integrate nutrition, lifestyle interventions, and culturally responsive patient education into practice. This train-the-trainer model prepares participants to replicate programs in their own settings, creating a ripple effect of impact. Success will be measured through participant assessments, skills competency, and follow-up surveys at 3 and 6 months to track implementation. The anticipated outcome is a growing network of Food as Medicine champions who advance health equity, reduce reliance on pharmaceuticals, and improve patient outcomes by addressing nutrition, behavior, and the social drivers of health.
Whole Person Care Initiative – 2026 National Convening
The University of Arizona Foundation fbo The Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine | Tucson, AZ
$120,000
The Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine (AWCIM) proposes a primary convening to advance Whole Person Care (WPC) as a unifying framework for transforming healthcare delivery in the US. It will take place over 2.5 days at AWCIM’s campus in Tucson, AZ. For decades, leaders across Lifestyle Medicine (LM), Integrative Medicine (IM), Functional Medicine (FM) & other associations have each worked to shift healthcare toward prevention, equity, & person-centered care. Despite overlapping tenets, they often remain siloed, resulting in diffuse messaging & fragmented influence. Well-structured convenings have a validated record of catalyzing systemic change. As a convener of landmark gatherings, AWCIM has the trust, infrastructure, & interdisciplinary relationships to bring diverse stakeholders together. Event concept:
Curated participation of 30 influential cross-sector leaders in healthcare & public health
Professional facilitation to move beyond conversation toward action
Pre-post baseline data collection, outcome deliverables, impact tracking
WPH resource availability & access
Outcomes include concrete proposals, toolkits, collaborative initiatives to develop aligned external messaging around whole health care to improve public messaging across organizations & hasten the adoption of new care models, policy shifts, & funding collaborations. These results will have positive effects after the event, ensuring impact toward transforming healthcare delivery beyond the convening.
Sprouting Health through Interactive Nutrition Education (SHINE)
The University of Massachusetts | Hadley, MA
$75,000
This project builds upon two previously AIH funded projects, “Let’s Grow: Food and Farm Summer Camp” with Stanford University and "Resources and Outreach for Ongoing Teaching (ROOT)." During the Let's Grow project, an open access/free children’s activity book, “Full Plate for Kids,” based on Lifestyle Medicine and Whole Health Best Practices was created. The ROOT project focuses on development of a parent/teacher facilitator guides and a healthcare provider quick guide. Since completion of the book, there have been numerous requests from healthcare providers, educators, and families for additional books, and translations. Through the SHINE project, we plan to translate and culturally tailor “Full Plate for Kids” into five languages (the six official working languages of the World Health Organization—including English), as well as parent/teacher facilitator guides and a healthcare provider quick guide. Collaborating with the original activity book team to scale this project, we plan to work with the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Edwin C. Gentzler Translation Center. Surveys and interviews will be conducted to obtain feedback and evaluation on the books and guides. We believe these resources will engage pediatric populations, nationally and internationally, while helping to share Full Plate Living principles with future generations.
Developing an Ongoing Lifestyle Medicine Academic Council (LMAC)
UMass Chan Medical School | Worcester, MA
$220,000
We propose to develop and execute an academically focused physician organization which we are calling the “Lifestyle Medicine Academic Council (LMAC).” We are seeking funding from AIH to provide seed money to assist in this development. Materials utilized for the LMAC will be those already developed with the initial funding from AIH to develop a “High Level Medically Oriented Lifestyle Medicine Curriculum.” We will also utilize a book and embedded curriculum in the book written by Dr. Rippe and Dr. Elizabeth Frates entitled Academic Lifestyle Medicine: A Curriculum for Medical Educators which has been developed with our first AIH Grant. We also intend to engage various cardiology groups both within academic medical schools and private practice settings. In addition to engaging medical schools and cardiology groups, we also intend to seek collaboration from multiple professional organizations including the American Academy of Family Practitioners (AAFP), the American College of Preventive Medicine (ACPM), the American Medical Association (AMA) and/or the American Association for Medical Colleges (AAMC), and the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. We will also seek collaboration with the organizations which have previously received funding in the area of undergraduate medical education from AIH. We will emphasize that this effort does not intend to compete with their work but rather expand the field of lifestyle medicine.
Evaluating the Implementation and Outcomes of Full-Plate Living Group Medical Visits for Educators: A Mixed-Methods Analysis
Vanderbilt University Medical Center | Nashville, TN
$92,000
This project evaluates and expands the implementation of Full-Plate Living (FPL), a program that emphasizes increased dietary fiber intake through a whole-food, plant-based approach, delivered through either 4- or 8-week Group Medical Visits (GMVs) at Vanderbilt Health at Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS). Serving over 11,000 school district employees and their family members, the program addresses the high prevalence of chronic illness, burnout, and nutritional disparities in this workforce through weekly 90-minute sessions that combine nutrition education, culinary demonstrations, and peer support. Using a mixed-methods design, the study evaluates implementation feasibility and acceptance while assessing changes in fiber intake, health, and well-being, measured through validated PROMs, nutrition assessments, attendance, surveys, and interviews with participants and clinic staff. Findings will inform subsequent program enhancements, including the establishment of a clinic-based teaching kitchen and culinary garden, and support the development of a scalable implementation guide. Anticipated outcomes include improved dietary habits and overall measures of health, and a replicable model for lifestyle medicine GMVs in employer-sponsored care. Findings will be disseminated broadly, through presentations at national conferences, publications in peer-reviewed journals, and policy recommendations to support reimbursement of nutrition-focused group care.
Learn more about AIH grant-making, funding priorities, and the process for applying for funding below.
