He served as vice chairman of the VHL cancer research organization and is a regular guest lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania.

Rath’s first book, How Full Is Your Bucket?, coauthored with his grandfather, Donald O. Clifton, during his final year of life, became a New York Times bestseller in 2004.

[11] At the age of 16, Rath was diagnosed with VHL disease, a rare genetic disorder that causes cancer cells to appear in various parts of the body.

Since the time of the diagnosis, Rath has been researching and experimenting with various ways of slowing down the growth of tumors in his kidneys, adrenal glands, pancreas, and spine.

[12] In 2012, he took a sabbatical from his full-time position in Gallup to focus on writing a new book, titled Eat Move Sleep: How Small Choices Lead to Big Changes which became a New York Times bestseller[13] upon its publication in October 2013.