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CouncilPresidentGary D. Foster, PhD President-ElectRobert F. Kushner, MD Immediate Past-PresidentEric Ravussin, PhD Secretary/TreasurerCaroline Apovian, MD CouncilorsNikhil V. Dhurandhar, PhD Myles S. Faith, PhD Penny Gordon-Larsen, PhD Andrew S. Greenberg, MD Hugo A. Laviada-Molina, MD, MMS Patrick Mahlen O'Neil, PhD Denis Richard, PhD Donna H. Ryan, MD Regional IASO Vice-PresidentJennifer Lovejoy, PhD Executive Vice PresidentMorgan Downey, J.D.
Gary Foster, PhD, is the Director of the Center for Obesity Research and Education and Professor of Medicine and Public Health at Temple University. Dr. Foster, who has a background in clinical psychology, has authored or coauthored more than 100 scientific publications, the co-editor of two books: Obesity, Growth and Development, 2001; and Managing Obesity: A Clinical Guide, 2004; and the author of the obesity section of Encarta. Dr. Foster's research interests include the behavioral and metabolic aspects of obesity. He studies a variety of treatment approaches including behavior therapy, pharmacotherapy, and surgery. His currently funded NIH research studies include the effects of weight loss on sleep apnea, the safety and efficacy of low- and high-carbohydrate diets, and the prevention of obesity and diabetes in school settings. Dr. Foster has been active in various Obesity Society committees. He served on the Nominations Committee (2001-2003) the Public Affairs Committee (2002 to current; Chair 2003-current) and Annual Meeting Program Committee (1999 to present).
Robert Kushner is Professor of Medicine at Northwestern University and board certified in Internal Medicine and Clinical Nutrition. Research interests include clinical management of obesity and nutrition and obesity education. He is past president of the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN) and the American Board for Physician Nutrition Specialists (ABPNS). He is a principal member of the Centers for Obesity Research and Education (CORE) and on the editorial board of Obesity Management and the Journal of the American Dietetic Association. Dr. Kushner has published over 140 original articles, reviews, books and book chapters on obesity and nutrition. Dr. Kushner has served on the Nominations Committee (2002-2003, 2005-2006), the Internet CME Course Task Force (2002), and the Clinical Practice Committee (2003-2006 [Chair 2004-2006]). Annual meeting involvement includes abstract reviewer, planning workshops, faculty speaker and presentation of numerous papers. He is committee chair of a committee for the Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Perioperative Nutritional, Metabolic and Nonsurgical Support of the Bariatric Surgery Patient and chair of the task force to development of the Physician Obesity Specialist.
Eric Ravussin, PhD is Professor at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. At Pennington, Eric Ravussin holds the Douglas L. Gordon Endowed Chair in Diabetes & Metabolism and is the Chief of the Health and Performance Enhancement Division. Eric Ravussin has been involved in obesity research since the late 70's when he obtained his Ph.D. in Lausanne, Switzerland using the modern tools of direct and indirect calorimetry to measure energy and heat balance in humans. After post-doctoral training at the University of Vermont, Eric Ravussin spent 14 years at the Clinical Diabetes and Nutrition Section of the NIDDK in Phoenix studying the etiology of obesity and type 2 diabetes in Pima Indians. He then joined the Eli Lilly Company as Director of Endocrine Research before returning to academia in 2000. He has published more than 250 papers in the field of obesity. He has been involved in Obesity Society national meetings from the mid 80's, was a member of The Obesity Society's Council from 1997 - 2000 and has been a member of the Program Committee since 2002. He was instrumental in bringing the Lilly Award to The Obesity Society. Besides his activities with The Obesity Society, Eric Ravussin was an Executive Member of the Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism Council of the American Heart Association and the Vice-Chair of the Obesity Committee of the American Heart Association.
Caroline Apovian, MD, is Associate Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics, Section of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Nutrition at Boston University School of Medicine and Director of the Center for Nutrition and Weight Management at Boston Medical Center. Dr. Apovian has been in the field of obesity management since 1990, and her current research interests are in endothelial cell function and relationship to adipocytokines, medium chain triglycerides and adipose cell metabolism, and drug treatments for obesity. She has recently chaired the Pediatric Surgery Task Group for the Betsy Lehman Center and Massachusetts Department of Public Health Expert Panel on Weight Loss Surgery, whose recommendations were published in Obesity Research February 2005. Dr. Apovian has been a member of The obesity Society since 1992, and has served on the Clinical Committee. She has been a faculty speaker and has presented papers at several of the Society's Annual Scientific Meeting and serves as reviewer for the Society's journal, Obesity.
Dr. Nikhil V. Dhurandhar, is currently an associate professor at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, LA, where he heads the Infections and Obesity Laboratory. As a physician in India, he practiced as an obesity consultant for 8 years and treated about 8,000 cases of obesity. He received a M.S. in Nutrition and Food Science from North Dakota State University and a PhD in biochemistry from the University of Bombay. Through his work, he realized the refractory nature of obesity and recognized the need for more effective prevention and treatment strategies. Dr. Dhurandhar and his team were the first to identify obesity promoting effects of an avian adenovirus (SMAM-1) and a human adenovirus (Ad36). SMAM-1 and Ad36 cause obesity in animal models and show association with human obesity. Eventually, more research teams have identified other adenoviruses that induce obesity. Dr. Dhurandhar coined the term “Infectobesity – obesity of infectious origin”. Recognizing the potential significance of this discovery, he has focused on elucidating the adipogenic role of Ad36. In addition, he is also interested in clinical trials for weight management. Dr. Dhurandhar is a fellow of the American Society for Nutrition, The Obesity Society, and the American College of Nutrition. He has been elected or selected to serve on several committees in professional organizations, including the council of The Obesity Society. He is an associate editor of the International Journal of Obesity and on the editorial board of the journal “Obesity”.
Assistant Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry at the University Of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He received his B.A in Psychology from Rutgers University and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Hofstra University. He completed a Post-doctoral fellowship at the NY Obesity Research Center, Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, before joining the faculty. He moved to the University of Pennsylvania in 2002. Dr. Faith’s professional interests primarily concern the role of the family in childhood obesity onset and treatment. He has received NIH funding to study genetic and home environmental influences on child eating traits and body fat. He is the PI or co-Investigator on intervention studies targeting childhood obesity treatment or prevention in clinical, school, and primary care settings. He is the author of over 70 articles and book chapters on these issues. He is a standing member of the NIH Psychosocial Risk and Disease Prevention Study Section. Clinically, Dr. Faith enjoys his work training parents and professionals in behavioral modification strategies to help care for overweight children. Dr. Faith is a past Chair of The Obesity Society “Pediatric Obesity Interest Group” and currently serves on the society’s publications and ethics committees. He is an Associate Editor of Obesity. Dr. Penny Gordon-Larsen is an associate professor of Nutrition in the Schools of Public Health and Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She was trained in human biology at the University of Pennsylvania and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in nutrition epidemiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Gordon-Larsen’s professional interests primarily relate to population-based trends and determinants of obesity, with particular emphasis on issues related to ethnicity, inequality, and development of obesity over the lifecycle. Her NIH-funded research explores individual susceptibility to environmental context, focusing on genetic and environmental determinants of weight gain. She also conducts research related to environmental factors and their role in shaping obesity, physical activity, and diet in two national, longitudinal datasets. Dr. Gordon-Larsen is an executive member of the Pediatric Obesity Section of TOS and has served on the Scientific Meeting Planning, Audit, and Scientific Review Committees. She is on the editorial boards of Obesity, Annals of Behavioral Medicine, and Annals of Human Biology. Andy Greenberg is Director of the Obesity and Metabolism Laboratory at the JM-USDA HNRCA at Tufts University, recipient of the Robert C. and Veronica Atkins Professorship in Nutrition and Medicine at the Tufts University School of Medicine, and Associate Professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts. Dr. Greenberg received a B.A. from Amherst College, M.D. from New York University and performed his Endocrinology and Metabolism training and postdoctoral research at the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Greenberg has been involved in investigating and clinical care related to obesity and its complications since his fellowship at NIH. Since coming to Tufts in 1993, he has been appointed Director of the Obesity and Metabolism Laboratory at the Nutrition Center where his research has focused on adipocyte metabolism, the basis of obesity, and its complications. He has been PI on funded grants from NIH, the American Diabetes Association, and industry. Dr. Greenberg has published over 70 papers, review articles, book chapters, and a book. He has been involved in clinical and teaching duties in the Endocrinology and Metabolism and Clinical Nutrition Divisions at Tufts School of Medicine and Tufts-New England Medical Center. He also participates in teaching at the Medical School, the Nutrition Center, and has doctoral graduate students from the Friedman School of Nutrition at Tufts. Professionally, Dr. Greenberg is also a member of the executive committee of the NIH funded Boston Obesity-Nutrition Research Center. He was co-director of the 2006 Annual Meeting of The Obesity Society and he is director of the 2007 Annual Meeting.
Patrick M. O'Neil is Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina, where he is Director of the Weight Management Center. He received his B.S. in Economics from Louisiana State University and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Georgia. O’Neil has been professionally involved in obesity since 1977 in numerous clinical, teaching, research and public education roles. He directs a long-standing multi-disciplinary weight management center offering services for people of all degrees overweight, and oversees the psychological assessment of bariatric surgery applicants. His teaching activities include supervision of psychology interns, lectures to medical students and other trainee groups, and invited continuing education lectures to physician and other practitioner audiences. He is and has been an investigator for a number of externally funded clinical trials of weight-loss agents. He is the author of numerous professional publications, chapters, and presentations, primarily concerning psychological, behavioral and other clinical aspects of obesity and its management. He is a member of the Committee on Military Nutrition Research of the Institute of Medicine and serves on the Scientific Council of the South Carolina Nutrition Research Consortium. He is also Past President of the South Carolina Academy of Professional Psychologists, and former member and Chair of the South Carolina Board of Examiners in Psychology. From 1987 to 1996, he authored Weighing the Choices, a weekly column on weight control in the Charleston, SC, Sunday Post and Courier. Since 2001 he has served on the Town Council of Sullivan’s Island, SC. Dr. O'Neil has been a member of The Obesity Society since 1986. Currently, he is Chair of the Education committee. He previously served as Editor of the society's web site and as Program Chair for the 1999 NAASO Annual Scientific Meeting held in Charleston. He has served on the Publications and Finance Committees. He was a member of the NIH/NAASO Ad Hoc Committee for Development of The Practical Guide for the Identification, Evaluation, and treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults.
Dr. Denis Richard is Professor, Department of Anatomy and Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Laval University, Québec City; Director, Hôpital Laval Research Center; Director, Centre for Research on Energy Metabolism of Laval University (CREME); and Chair Person, D.B. Brown Research Chair on Obesity Dr. Richard received his Ph.D. in Physiology at Laval University (Québec City) 1978-1982 and went on to do his postdoctoral training in Nutrition and Physiology at Dunn Nutrition Unit, Cambridge University (Cambridge, UK), 1982-1984. Dr. Richard has been Director of Laval Hospital Research Center since 1999. Recently, in connection with the appointment of Dr. Richard as the new director of the research center, the Board of Directors of Hôpital Laval, the Faculty of Medicine and the FRSQ have officially endorsed the creation of an Obesity and Metabolism component, which constitutes the third research component of the Laval Hospital Research Center. Since 2000, Dr. Richard has held the Donald B. Brown Research Chair on Obesity, the only Chair devoted to obesity research in Canada. Dr. Richard's research interest focuses on the control of food intake and the regulation of energy balance. His research includes study of the neurosystems involved in the control of food intake, thermogenesis and energy balance; study on the relationship between stress and obesity; study of factors inducing uncoupling protein 1 in brown adipose tissue; and study of the role of uncoupling protein 2 in energy metabolism, stress and neuroprotection Dr. Richard's professional affiliations include the American Physiological Society, Association de Physiologistes, Endocrine Society, International Society for Autonomic Neuroscience, North American Association for the Study of Obesity, Society for Neuroscience, and the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior.
Donna Ryan is Professor and Associate Executive Director for Clinical Research at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center. Dr. Ryan’s interest in obesity research was mentored by George Bray, beginning with a 1992 dose-ranging study of sibutramine. She has been an Investigator on DPP (Diabetes Prevention Program), Co PI of POUNDS Lost (macronutrient approaches to weight loss) and Co-PI of Look AHEAD (a study of lifestyle intervention designed to produce ~10% weight loss in diabetic persons). Dr. Ryan is PI of LOSS (Louisiana Obese Subjects Study), a pragmatic clinical trial of intensive medical therapy for severe obesity conducted in six Louisiana primary care clinics as part of their routine practice. Ryan also developed an interest in obesity education and, in particular, in training primary care physicians to incorporate obesity management into their medical practices. Since 1998 she has served as Co PI for the CORE program (Centers of Obesity Research and Education), which brings continuing education in obesity management to health care professionals. She is an editorial board member for Obesity Management and Obesity Reviews. Dr. Ryan’s scholarly activities include authorship of 104 original publications and 27 chapters and reviews, primarily in the field of obesity. Dr. Ryan has served NAASO (North American Association for the Study of Obesity) on the Education Committee from 2000-2003 and the annual NAASO meeting Program Committee from 2003-2006, assuming chair duties in 2006. She has chaired the Hospitality Committee for the 2007 meeting. Dr. Ryan has served to interface academic and industrial components in addressing the obesity epidemic, serving as an advisor to drug, device, and food companies. She is a member of the Louisiana Task Force on Obesity and testifies regularly on obesity-related issues before the state legislature. Ryan is also an active mentor; she chairs the Clinical Mentoring Committee at PBRC and is a role model, in particular, for junior women scientists. Dr. Lovejoy earned a Ph.D. in BioPsychology from Emory University and subsequently did postdoctoral training in Endocrinology and Metabolism at Emory University School of Medicine, where she specialized in obesity research. In 1991, Dr. Lovejoy joined the faculty of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center at Louisiana State University. While at Pennington, she was awarded the Manship Endowed Professorship in Diabetes Research, and she founded and directed the Women’s Nutrition Research Program. She has received grants from the National Institutes of Health, the American Diabetes Association, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and NASA to fund her clinical research program in obesity, diabetes and women’s health. In 2003, Dr. Lovejoy became Dean of the School of Nutrition and Exercise Science at Bastyr University in Seattle, a university offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in natural medicine. In 2008, she joined Free & Clear, Inc., a privately held company providing behavioral coaching for smoking cessation and weight loss, as Executive Director of Weight and Nutrition Programs. Dr. Lovejoy has published over 50 scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals, over 15 chapters and review articles, and is a frequent speaker on obesity and nutrition at national and international conferences. She has been a member of the Obesity Society since 1989, serving on the membership and finance committees, and as Secretary/Treasurer from 1998-2002. In 2002, she was elected as the Regional Vice President for North America to the International Association for the Study of Obesity (IASO), a position she will hold until 2010. Morgan Downey is Executive Vice President of The Obesity Society assuming this position in September, 2006. Formerly, Mr. Downey was the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the American Obesity Association (AOA), a position he held for nine years. Mr. Downey has represented the AOA before Congress, the Food and Drug Administration, the Federal Trade Commission, the Social Security Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. His accomplishments include Medicare’s recognition of obesity as a disease, changing the Internal Revenue Service policy to allow individuals to deduct obesity treatments under the medical deduction, a four-fold expansion of NIH research funding on obesity, improvement in the standards for determining disability for persons with morbid obesity and expanding the role of the federal government in obesity education, prevention and treatment. He also served as the director of the Washington office of the American Society for Bariatric Surgery. He has been a member of the Medicare Coverage Advisory Committee of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, is a member of the Board of Directors of the Surgical Review Corporation and is a member of the National Commission on Quality Assurance Obesity Measurement Advisory Panel. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Fairfield University in 1968 and received the J.D. degree from Georgetown University Law Center in 1971. From 1977 to 1988, he was director of governmental and legal affairs for the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. From 1989 to 1999, he was in private practice representing health care clients, especially in the neurological and mental disorders field and was executive director of the National Coalition for Research in Neurological Disorders and the National Foundation for Brain Research whose mission was to promote the Congressionally-mandated “Decade of the Brain.”
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