My Biography
Dr. Ritenbaugh received her Anthropology PhD from UCLA and her Community Nutrition MPH from University of Michigan. Active in Medical Anthropology throughout her career, she was a founding mother of the Society for the Anthropology of Food and Nutrition. She taught Anthropology at the University of Arizona and Michigan State, and then turned to full-time biomedical research. From 1980-2010, she focused on nutrition and disease prevention, being among the first to point to the dangers of soft drinks. Since 2000, she has studied Complementary and Alternative Medicine, serving as President of the International Society for Complementary Medicine Research 2009-2011. Throughout, she has worked with Native Americans. Her biomedical research has been infused with a strong anthropological perspective. Her many publications are searchable via pubmed.