On Thursday, Sept. 18, the Osher Center for Integrative Health at Northwestern Medicine will host a fundraiser celebrating delicious ways to build a healthier future.

Osher Center executive director Dr. Melinda Ring said there are many ways that food impacts all of our lives and health. She explained what using food as medicine looks like.

"It means we can take what's on our plates and turn it into a part of our wellness plan," said Ring, "and we can do that using whole, culturally meaningful foods."

Ring provided some specific examples.

"Think about things like supporting immunity with vitamin C-rich fruit, supporting our gut health with probiotics and Greek yogurt, getting fiber in beans and grains to support metabolic wellness," she said. "At Osher, we're teaching medical students hands-on culinary skills, we're helping patients translate nutrition science into simple swaps, and we partner with communities so that people can cook their way toward better outcomes."

Dr. William Li, a world-renowned physician and researcher who relationship between food and health, will be the keynote speaker at the Thursday event.

'Dr. Li is amazing," said Ring. "He brings cutting-edge research on how foods that influence our body's own defense systems — like blood vessels that impact whether a cancer can metastasize, to the foods that speed up or slow down our metabolism — and he translates that into the food that we eat."

The event on Thursday will pair Dr. Li's insights with healthy dishes, and some stories about the impact of the work at the Osher Center.

"Every donation that comes in for the Osher Center for Integrative Health at Northwestern helps us expand our teaching kitchens, our scholarships, and community programs that put prevention back on the table," Ring said.

Tickets for the fundraiser this Thursday with Dr. Li are sold out. Suzanne Le Mignot is honored to be the emcee for the evening.

The Osher Center for Integrative Health has both an academic website and a site for patients.