Meghan L. Ames, DrPH, MSPH, RDN

Trained at the top research institution, Dr. Ames couples medical nutrition therapy with behavior change principles to generate scalable interventions grounded in clinical effectiveness and safety. At the Johns Hopkins Institute for Clinical and Translational Research she led nutritional interventions investigating treatment efficacy for obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and other chronic diseases. As part of this effort, Dr. Ames adapted and delivered the Diabetes Prevention Program for the behavioral weight loss arm of a randomized controlled trial investigating diabetes treatment. She advised and tested technology-enabled interventions targeting weight loss and hypertension, demonstrating that digital tools can be critical in disease management. These experiences prepared her to balance scientific rigor with usability and safety.

As an implementation scientist and public health professional, Dr. Ames is uniquely qualified to identify and scale clinical solutions for population health impact. As part of her doctoral research, she investigated health system-level implementation strategies to promote lifestyle medicine practice and impact. This work was grounded in behavioral (Theory of Planned Behavior) and implementation science (CFIR—Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research) frameworks to understand and change clinician practice behaviors—specifically around adopting health behavior counseling to prevent and treat chronic disease. Dr. Ames’s dissertation work demonstrated a scalable and effective implementation strategy to train healthcare professionals and ultimately increase their adoption of lifestyle medicine practices, such as motivational interviewing and behavioral counseling. These experiences can translate to aid the implementation of health technology through complex medical and public health systems for real-world adoption and impact.

Beyond being a clinician and scientist, Dr. Ames is a seasoned program and product manager that coordinates multiple teams to couple market insights with subject expertise for scalable and outcomes-oriented products. At the Lerner Center for Public Health Advocacy, she spearheaded the Center’s first revenue-generating training suite, the Advocacy Leadership Academy. Her contributions included conceiving of the product and business model, producing training assets, managing operational considerations, and overseeing go-to-market activities. Since launching in 2024, she led her team to release three distinctive products, recruit over 250 customers from 13 states, and increase their year-over-year revenue by 80%. Once it is fully scaled, the Academy’s revenue will secure financial sustainability for non-revenue generating activities. Through Ames Health Strategies, Dr. Ames brings this expertise to health technology companies and other clients, contributing to data-driven, cross-functional product development.