The Global Wellness Institute (GWI) has announced the appointment of John Kao, MD, best-selling author on innovation and enterprise transformation, to its advisory board.

As a board member, Kao will work with the GWI on its PositivelyWell Initiative to “Reset the World with Wellness” and to extend the impact of the organisation’s five pillars – Research, Initiatives, Roundtable Discussions, WellnessEvidence.com and The Wellness Moonshot.

Kao specialises in innovation and enterprise transformation and has a Philosophy BA and MD, with a speciality in psychiatry, from Yale, as well as an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he went on to serve as a professor specialising in enterprise creativity for 14 years.

He has served as an advisor on innovation strategy and execution for public and private sector leaders, including the governments of Finland, Singapore and the US; the Clinton Global Initiative; and firms like Nike and Intel.

In addition, he’s authored numerous books, including the best-selling Jamming: The Art and Discipline of Business Creativity, has been featured in The New York Times and Harvard Business Review, and is also a regular contributor to Forbes.com.

Kao is also past chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Innovation Council.

“John was a keynote at the 2012 Summit, and his talk made a huge impression on delegates,” said Susie Ellis, GWI chair and CEO.

“He was instrumental in inspiring the audience to expand/extend education and research on the wellness economy into industries that hadn’t previously been thought of as being under the ‘wellness’ umbrella, such as real estate and technology.”

Kao joins existing GWI board members including Richard Carmona, MD, chief of health innovation, Canyon Ranch and 17th surgeon general of the US; Sue Harmsworth MBE, founder of ESPA International; and Dr Michael Roizen, chief wellness officer, Cleveland Clinic.

“Wellness is one of those ‘suitcase’ words that needs unpacking,” said Kao, “I believe we’ll come to see wellness as fundamental, rather than a ‘nice-to-have,’ and the GWI plays a unique role in leading this paradigm shift.

“I couldn’t be happier to contribute by bringing my diverse background – including innovation, medicine, psychiatry, education, non-Western wellness and media – to the table.”