Servan-Schreiber was born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, Hauts-de-Seine, the eldest son of French journalist and politician Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber (1924–2006). He became co-founder and then director of the Centre for Integrative Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Following his volunteer activity as a physician in Iraq in 1991, he was one of the founders of the US branch of Médecins Sans Frontières, the international organization that was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999. He also served as volunteer in Guatemala, Kurdistan, Tajikistan, India and Kosovo.