Free Laconiko Educational Webinar: Discover the Health Benefits of Olive Oil with Mary Flynn, PhD, RD

Mary M. Flynn

Mary M. Flynn, PhD, RD, LDN is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Brown University, where she has taught courses in both the undergraduate program and at the medical school for the past 30 years. From 1984 until she retired in February 2026, she was a Senior Research Scientist at The Miriam Hospital, one of the teaching hospitals of the medical school. Her main research interest was how food can be used as medicine and her main food of interest was extra virgin olive oil which she began researching in 1999 when she developed a plant-based, olive oil diet. From 1999 until she retired in 2026, she tested her diet for weight loss in women diagnosed with invasive breast cancer; in men with prostate cancer for weight loss and improvement in components of the metabolic syndrome; and to decrease food insecurity. She developed cooking programs for food pantry clinics in 2007 and the medical school in 2015 with both programs leading to improvements in food security for the participants previously food insecure. She is an internationally recognized expert on the health benefits of extra virgin olive oil and has lectured extensively on the topic.

She is the co-author of two books, Low-fat lies, high fat frauds and the healthiest diet in the world (Lifeline Press, 1999), which came from her concern regarding the widespread promotion of low-fat diets. Her second book The Pink Ribbon Diet: A Revolutionary New Weight Loss Plan to Lower Your Breast Cancer Risk (DaCapo Press, 2010), is based on her research of her plant-based olive oil diet with women who were survivors of invasive breast cancer and in need of weight loss.