Lawrence J. Appel is the C. David Molina Professor of Medicine and Director of the Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology and Clinical Research at Johns Hopkins University, a joint program of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Bloomberg School of Public Health.
The focus of his career is the conduct of clinical, epidemiologic, and translational research pertaining to the prevention and control of high blood pressure, cardiovascular-kidney diseases, and other chronic conditions, primarily through nutrition-based interventions.
[1] Appel joined the faculty of Johns Hopkins University in 1989, and became the director of their Welch Center for Prevention, Epidemiology and Clinical Research in 2010.
[1] In 1997, he was the lead author of the study that coined the term "DASH diet".
[6][7] He has also been credited with convincing the FDA that food companies should be able to put labels on their products saying that potassium has health benefits.