Plant-Based Educator and Founder of Plant-Based Life Foundation
Dr. Rosane Oliveira is the founder, president and CEO of the Plant-Based Life Foundation, a nonprofit organization with a mission to help individuals develop key health-promoting habits on their journey towards health and well-being. Between 2011-2021, Dr. Rosane Oliveira served as the Founding Director of the first University of California Davis Integrative Medicine Program, where she created a 10-week Lifestyle Medicine elective, published a #1 Amazon bestseller cookbook, and ran an annual online challenge that gave nearly 150,000 individuals across 60 countries the chance to try out plant-based eating.
Dr. Oliveira holds an appointment as Visiting Clinical Faculty in Public Health Sciences at the University of California Davis where she teaches lifestyle medicine to first- and second-year medical students. She is also an instructor at Stanford Continuing Studies program where she teaches an evidence-based course on plant-based nutrition. At the Plant-Based Life Foundation, Dr. Oliveira teaches its signature lifestyle behavioral change program, Life Lab 360TM. The program is designed to take a comprehensive, sustainable, and evidence-based approach to health and weight loss that includes the neuroscience of behavioral change and emotional regulation, as well as the science of plant-based nutrition, exercise, sleep, and mindfulness and meditation. Dr. Oliveira has over 25 years of scientific experience as a molecular geneticist and has done studies in fields ranging from molecular epidemiology of infectious diseases, microorganism resistance to drugs, cancer initiation and progression, and diet-driven gene expression changes in the development of metabolic diseases. She completed her graduate studies in Brazil and did her postdoctoral training in immunogenetics and functional genomics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign She is a native of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and has lived in the US since 2003.
PBLifeOrg
Dr. Rosane
CARIBBEAN CRUISE
March 1-8, 2026
Classes
KEYNOTE | Nutritional Genomics: How Diet Shapes Gene Expression and Health
Nutritional genomics explores how diet influences gene expression, metabolism, and long-term health. Evidence from large population studies and clinical trials—including the Harvard cohorts, the Adventist Health Study, and the Ornish trials—shows that plant-centered diets can favorably influence pathways related to inflammation, aging, and disease risk. This lecture also highlights findings that illustrate how dietary patterns can lead to measurable biological differences despite shared genetics. You will leave with a clearer understanding of how everyday food choices interact with your genes—and how this knowledge can be used to support better health, vitality, and longevity.
Plant-Based Protein Across the Lifespan: Needs, Myths, and Practical Strategies
Protein needs change across the lifespan, yet public messaging around protein—especially in plant-based diets—often creates confusion and unnecessary fear. This lecture explores how protein requirements differ between younger and older adults, with special attention to adults over 65 and to peri- and post-menopausal women. Drawing from current research on protein quality, amino acid distribution, and muscle health, this session separates myth from evidence and highlights practical, food-based strategies to meet protein needs without excess. You will gain clarity on how to optimize protein intake within a whole-food, plant-based pattern that supports strength, metabolic health, and healthy aging.
Is It My Genes, My Hormones, or My Dinner?
Weight regulation is often attributed to genetics or hormones, yet the reality is more complex. This lecture explores how genetic predisposition, hormonal changes across life stages, and daily food choices interact to influence body weight over time. Drawing from human research and real-world examples, this session clarifies which factors are biologically constrained, which shift with age and hormones, and which remain modifiable through diet. This integrative lecture brings together concepts from earlier sessions to explain why weight loss is often difficult to maintain—and offers a clearer framework for understanding what is working with your biology rather than against it.
Book Signing
Thursday, March 5, 8:15PM
