Dr. Wendelin Slusser (MD, MS) serves as Associate Vice Provost of the Semel Healthy Campus Initiative Center at UCLA and as a Clinical Professor at UCLA’s Schools of Medicine and Public Health. Under her leadership, the Semel HCI Center fosters an inclusive culture of health, ensuring everyone in the UCLA community has opportunities to thrive and flourish, and in turn inspire others to do the same.

Dr. Slusser is dedicated to promoting health and wellbeing with an emphasis on equity for children, young adults, and families. Her career began with her work in primary health care coordination for Save the Children in Africa, South America, and Asia. She later brought these global experiences to Los Angeles, contributing significantly as a UCLA physician, researcher, educator, and administrator. Food has always been central to her research, exemplified by the Fruit and Vegetable Bar Intervention study, which influenced local and national policies and campaigns, including former First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move Salad Bar to Schools Campaign.

Dr. Slusser has been instrumental in integrating nutrition into health professional education at UCLA and across California and led the creation of the UCLA Pediatric Residents’ primary care training track at Venice Family Clinic, a Federally Qualified Health Center. She also established the UCLA teaching kitchen and learning laboratory, designed to enhance nutrition education, address student food insecurity, and support research. Currently, she serves as Co-Principal Investigator on the Teaching Kitchen Collaborative multisite clinical trial exploring the impact of food as medicine, and she is the Principal Investigator on the Basic Needs: Learning from our Community study.

Dr. Slusser’s contributions towards promoting wellbeing and optimal nutrition through the lens of equity has garnered wide recognition. In 2008, she received the Beverllee Myers Award of Excellence, presented annually to a single individual in California demonstrating outstanding public health leadership. In 2020, she was honored with the Venice Family Clinic Visionary Award and the UCLA Community Program Office’s Open Heart, Open Mind Award for her collaborative spirit, commitment to creating a healthier campus, and efforts to support food insecure students. In her free time, as a member of a fifth-generation California farming family, she leads sustainability initiatives on her family’s ranch. To learn more, watch Dr. Slusser’s UCLA TedX talk, and UCLA LiveWell podcasts.