2026 WRC Men's Health Speaker

Dr. Bill Releford, D.P.M.

Dr. Bill Releford is a podiatric surgeon, entrepreneur, author, and health equity advocate dedicated to helping people live healthier lives. For more than three decades, his work in diabetic limb preservation has shaped his belief in prevention, nutrition, and the power of mindset. These experiences continue to guide his medical practice, community outreach, and entrepreneurial efforts.

His impact goes beyond clinical care. Dr. Releford combines medicine, education, and community engagement to address health at every level — body, mind, and environment. He has advanced innovative approaches to limb preservation, promotes sustainable agriculture through Bloom Ranch, and shares practical wellness strategies through his writing and public speaking. His Black Barbershop Health Outreach Program has provided health screenings to more than 30,000 Black men, expanding access to care in trusted community spaces.

Committed to reducing diabetes-related amputations, he founded the Diabetic Foot Institute and later helped develop a multidisciplinary limb-salvage model at the Daniel Freeman Wound Care Center, bringing together specialists to improve patient outcomes. As Founder and CEO of The Releford Institute for Limb Salvage and Wound Care at Miracle Mile Medical Center in Los Angeles, he leads a team focused on personalized treatment plans and advanced wound care.

In 2001, Dr. Releford established the Diabetic Amputation Prevention Foundation (DAP) to promote culturally relevant health education and community-based programs. The foundation’s outreach extends internationally to countries including Fiji, Brazil, Ghana, Uganda, and Cuba, addressing cardiovascular and diabetes disparities through prevention and education. An assistant professor at Charles R. Drew University, he regularly lectures on limb salvage and community health innovation.

Dr. Releford’s work has been featured on NBC Nightly News, ABC’s The View, The Washington Post, Newsweek, and the Los Angeles Times. He is also the author of Five Colors to Better Health. A graduate of the Temple University School of Podiatric Medicine, he has been a leader in diabetic limb salvage and wound care since beginning his practice in 1990.