Naresh C. Rao, DO, FAOASM

Dr. Naresh C. Rao is board certified in Family Medicine and Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment and holds a Certificate of Added Qualifications in Sports Medicine. He served on Team USA's Medical Team for the Summer Olympics in Tokyo 2021 as well as the Olympic Team USA Water Polo Physician for the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He continues to serve as a team physician for USA Water Polo. His critically acclaimed book, Step Up Your Game: The Revolutionary Program Elite Athletes Use to Increase Performance and Achieve Total Health, was published in 2016. Being touted as a playbook by which one can assemble her or his own "inner wellness dream team," the book sheds light on performance secrets elite athletes use and how to apply them to everyday life. The book has been the subject of medical research investigating its potential to create meaningful lifestyle changes for not only athletes but for patients who wish to live healthy lives and prevent disease. He is passionate about speaking on the topic, and has delivered keynote speeches nationwide. Dr. Rao had been practicing Sports and Wellness Medicine for ten years in San Diego, California before relocating back to his roots in New York in 2011. He had been on faculty as an instructor at the University of California San Diego, San Diego State University, and Western University of Health Sciences. He currently serves as a Clinical Assistant Professor at the New York Institute of Technology College of Osteopathic Medicine as well as clinical faculty at NYU School of Medicine, Mount Sinai Beth Israel Family Medicine Residency, and Northwell Plainview Hospital Sports Medicine Fellowship. Dr. Rao is the Chairman of the New York Athletic Club's Saturday Morning Program, a sports program that has taught the Olympic tradition to children for over 127 years. He played club water polo at Colgate University, is a competitive tennis player, and completed the San Diego Rock and Roll Marathon in 2006. Dr. Rao's love for sports thoroughly pervades his professional and personal life. He donates his time to educating children on health and wellness and has a strong belief in giving back to the community through philanthropy. He is happily married to his wife of over 21 years and has two children and a Maltipoo.