Mary Flynn is a research dietitian at The Miriam Hospital in Providence, RI and an associate professor of medicine at Brown University where she teaches courses in nutrition. She lectures at the Brown medical school and oversees nutrition work by medical students. She has been researching extra virgin olive oil since 1999 when she developed a plant-based, olive oil diet. Her protocols over the past 20 years with this diet have shown it to be effective for weight loss, decreasing food insecurity, and lowering blood insulin and glucose.