Dr. Casey Means Named Surgeon General Pick by Trump

The Levels co-founder and a leading voice for health and wellness reform is poised to take the nation’s top public health post

Dr. Casey Means, a Stanford University graduate and co-founder of metabolic health company Levels, has been nominated to serve as the next U.S. Surgeon General. President Trump announced the news on his social media platform, Truth Social, where he praised her “impeccable ‘MAHA’ credentials,” referencing his administration’s Make America Healthy Again initiative.

He added that Dr. Means will work closely with Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. to “reverse the Chronic Disease Epidemic.”

“Her academic achievements, together with her life’s work, are absolutely outstanding,” President Trump continued. “Dr. Casey Means has the potential to be one of the finest Surgeon Generals in United States History.”

Dr. Means replaces Trump’s earlier nominee, Dr. Janette Nesheiwat, a physician and Fox News contributor, reportedly following scrutiny over her credentials and criticism from some conservative figures within Trump’s orbit. Dr. Nesheiwat will instead work closely with Secretary Kennedy in a senior policy role.

In an interview last June with Athletech News, Dr. Means voiced concerns over the growing prevalence of chronic conditions among Americans, citing rising rates of pre-diabetes, high blood pressure, autoimmune disorders, mental illness and cancer, particularly among children, and the alarming uptick in colon cancer among young people. Her book, “Good Energy,” a New York Times bestseller, highlighted several proactive strategies for managing health, including eating whole, unprocessed foods, walking regularly, strength training, quality sleep, getting sun, stress management and tracking basic biomarkers, such as fasting glucose.

“I think the most disruptive truth that needs to be brought to the forefront is that it’s actually very simple and very straightforward to be healthy,” Dr. Means told ATN last year. “We are absolutely missing the forest for the trees in the health and longevity conversation — so focused on the margins and on products…The average American is eating 70% of their calories from ultra-processed food — step one is literally just making that towards eating real, unprocessed food. The average American is walking 3,500 steps per day, less than two miles. We need to just at a baseline get that up to at least 7,000 steps per day.”

Dr. Means is also known for her work alongside her brother and TrueMed co-founder, Calley Means, who has also been a vocal critic of the U.S. healthcare system and has become Kennedy’s special advisor. Together, the siblings have gained visibility for their joint advocacy surrounding health reform and have appeared together on “The Joe Rogan Experience.”

Calley, a former lobbyist for the food and pharmaceutical industries who shifted focus following his mother’s death from pancreatic cancer, launched TrueMed in 2022. The telehealth platform enables consumers to apply their HSA and FSA funds toward fitness, wellness and preventive care products. In addition to advocating for reform, he has urged fitness brands to play a greater role in improving the health of Americans.

“We are in a metabolic health crisis that will destroy the United States of America – physical fitness is a linchpin of getting ourselves out of that,” Calley Means told ATN last fall. “There’s a generational opportunity for the gym industry to, in one voice, explain how they’re at the center of health.”

Perhaps one of the most notable points of contrast between Dr. Means and Calley’s philosophy and current healthcare trends is the widespread adoption of GLP-1 medications – a development they’ve both approached with a mix of dismay and caution, consistently advocating for lifestyle-first interventions instead.

While Dr. Means acknowledged last year that medications like Ozempic and Wegovy can help jumpstart weight loss, she emphasized that such drugs fall short as a public health solution. Her brother expressed a similar viewpoint during last November’s Eudemonia summit.

“It’s a very dark trend that is essentially trying to gaslight Americans to believe that health is found in a weekly injection for life and not from changing the environment that is so obviously crushing our ability to be healthy,” Dr. Means told ATN last year. “If you had a sick fish in a fish tank filled with dirty, polluted water, you obviously would not inject that fish every week for the rest of its life. You would change out the water.”

As for what’s ahead, Dr. Means offered a possible glimpse with a health policy “wishlist” she shared in October, ahead of the presidential election.

“Regardless of who gets elected, we need to move towards a healthy American population,” she wrote.

The list included 15 priorities she hoped the next administration would consider, among them: banning or restricting toxic chemicals in the food supply, placing warning labels on ultra-processed foods, banning direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical advertising, eliminating conflicts of interest in food and drug policy and research funding, incentivizing healthy food purchases in public assistance programs like SNAP, reforming crop subsidies to support regenerative agriculture, breaking up meatpacking monopolies, funding research into alternative and holistic medicine, expanding HSAs and reforming the 1986 National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act.

Calley Means will join human biologist and longevity expert Gary Brecka and  boutique fitness entrepreneur Anthony Geisler at Athletech News’ two-day Innovation Summit 2025 this June for a panel titled “The Fitness Industry’s Role in America’s Healthcare Crisis.” Together, they’ll explore how the fitness industry can position itself as a driving force in reshaping the nation’s healthcare amid the “Make America Healthy Again” movement—a central idea Geisler underscored in a recent ATN podcast episode.

Coming to New York City this June 17-18, the ATN Innovation Summit is the premier in-person event for wellness and fitness leaders, featuring two days of impactful content, a wellness lounge, a cutting-edge expo floor and ample space for networking. For more information on the event and to get your ticket, click here.

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