The Ariel Weissmann Foundation was founded in loving memory of Ariel Weissmann, a brilliant physician-scientist whose life was tragically cut short at the age of 33, to ensure others can benefit from Ariel’s powerful legacy of love, compassion, unlimited curiosity, intellectual rigor, academic excellence and commitment to Tikkun Olam. 

After graduating at the top of his class from the University of California Davis, Ariel studied at and received his degree in medicine from Harvard Medical School. Ariel developed his expertise on the benefits of a plant-based diet while pursuing a Master’s degree in Public Health at Harvard and beginning his fellowship at Boston Medical Center. He was well on the path to fulfilling his dream of becoming a renowned physician-scientist and a foremost expert in nutrition in order to widely promote a whole foods plant-based diet, and an end to the mass exploitation of animals.

Ariel also cared passionately for social justice. As a medical student at Harvard University, and as a physician in training at Boston Medical Center, he witnessed the stark injustices of the American healthcare system first-hand and understood the limitation of a medicine oriented mostly towards the mitigation of illness caused by the damages of an unwholesome lifestyle using primarily pharmaceuticals and procedures rather than through a much greater focus on wellbeing, prevention and fighting for a more just system. Human health is being severely impacted by the overconsumption of animal-based foods, ultra-processed foods, stress and other social determinants. He recognized that the overwhelming majority of chronic illnesses and health care costs are avoidable with appropriate measures.