Editorial Board
The resources for Obesity Online have been developed under the guidance of an Editorial Board of members of NAASO, The Obesity Society, who are clinicians and researchers from medical institutions and who are subject experts in obesity. This panel identifies areas of importance that are most critical to the clinician managing patients with obesity and related disorders. The panel also ensures that material posted on Obesity Online address issues from the most current research findings and state-of-the-art clinical approaches.
In keeping with the NAASO CME policies regarding full disclosure, Editorial Board members and contributors have disclosed any financial interest or other relationship with any commercial concern(s) related directly or indirectly to their presentation(s) or reviews. The purpose of such disclosure is to permit participants to objectively evaluate the information presented on this site. Information and opinions represent the viewpoints of the presenters and Editorial Board members of Obesity Online. Conclusions drawn by the participants should be derived from careful consideration of all available scientific information.
Editorial Director
Samuel Klein, MD, MS
Editors
Christie M. Ballantyne, MD
Steven Haffner, MD
F. Xavier Pi-Sunyer, MD, MPH
Contributors
Louis J. Aronne, MD
Kelly Brownell, PhD
Gary Foster, PhD
Ronald M. Krauss, MD
Robert Kushner, MD
Judy F. Loper, PhD, RD
Patrick M. O'Neil, PhD
Rebecca M. Puhl, PhD
Harvey J. Sugerman, MD
EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
Samuel Klein, MD, MS, is the William H. Danforth Professor of Medicine and Nutritional Science, Director of the Center for Human Nutrition, Chief of the Division of Geriatrics and Nutritional Science, Medical Director of the Weight Management
Program, and Associate Program Director of the General Clinical Research Center at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. He is active in numerous national associations and committees. He is a Past-President of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity and is the current President of the American Society for Clinical Nutrition. He serves as an Associate Editor of Gastroenterology and on the Editorial Board of the American Journal of Physiology - Endocrinology and Metabolism. His research activities involve the use of stable isotope tracers to study the regulation of substrate metabolism in humans in vivo; his laboratory is particularly interested in the pathophysiology of lipid metabolism in obesity. Dr. Klein received his medical degree from Temple University Medical School in Philadelphia and his MS degree in Nutritional Biochemistry and Metabolism from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He completed residency training in internal medicine and a clinical nutrition fellowship at University Hospital in Boston, a National Institutes of Health Nutrition and Metabolism Research Fellowship at Harvard Medical School, and a gastroenterology fellowship at The Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York. He is board certified in internal medicine, gastroenterology, and nutrition.
Dr. Klein receives research support from the National Institutes of Health and Transneuronix. He is a member of the speakers bureau for Merck Research Laboratories, and serves on the Council on Obesity and Diabetes Education sponsored by Roche Laboratories, and the Enteromedics Medical Advisory Board.
EDITORS
Christie M. Ballantyne, MD, is Professor of Medicine and Associate Chief and Clinical Director, Section of Atherosclerosis, Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas; Director, Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention, Methodist DeBakey Heart Center; and Co-Director, Lipid Metabolism and Atherosclerosis Clinic, The Methodist Hospital. Dr. Ballantyne is also Director of the Maria and Alando J. Ballantyne, MD, Atherosclerosis Laboratory, Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention. After earning his medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine, Dr. Ballantyne pursued his residency training in internal medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School in Dallas, Texas. He then completed a fellowship in clinical cardiology at Baylor College of Medicine. This was followed by an American Heart Association/Bugher Foundation Fellowship at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Institute for Molecular Genetics at Baylor. Dr. Ballantyne's research interests include the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis, with an emphasis on monocyte activation and adhesion.
Dr. Ballantyne is engaged in research activities for AstraZeneca, diaDexus, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Reliant, and Schering-Plough. He is a consultant for AstraZeneca, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Reliant, and Schering-Plough and is a member of the speakers bureaus for AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Kos, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Reliant, and Schering-Plough. He has received honoraria from AstraZeneca, Bristol Myers-Squibb, Kos, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, Reliant, and Schering-Plough.
Steven Haffner, MD, is Professor of Internal Medicine in the Department of Medicine, Division of Clinical Epidemiology, at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. After earning his medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, New York, Dr. Haffner pursued his internship training at the University of Southern California Medical Center in Los Angeles, California. He then completed residency training at the USC Medical Center and at Boston City Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts. Dr. Haffner subsequently pursued a fellowship in endocrinology and metabolism at the University of Washington in Seattle. He is a member of the American Diabetes Association, the College of Physicians, the American Heart Association, the Endocrine Society, the American College of Epidemiology and the North American Association for the Study of Obesity. His research interests are in insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes and his recent work relates to microalbuminuria, insulin resistance, cardiovascular disease, insulin sensitivity and insulin secretion. He has authored or co-authored more than 300 scientific publications in his field, including book chapters and review articles.
Dr. Haffner is a consultant for Sanofi-Synthelabo. He is a member of the speakers bureaus for Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, and AstraZeneca.
F. Xavier Pi-Sunyer, MD, MPH, is the Director of the Obesity Research Center and Chief of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Nutrition at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital, and Professor of Medicine at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York. He is also a Senior Attending Physician at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital and the New York Presbyterian Hospital and a Visiting Physician at Rockefeller University Hospital. In addition, he is Professor of Applied Physiology at Columbia Teachers College and on the faculty of the Institute of Human Nutrition at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Pi-Sunyer is a member of the International Obesity Task Force of the World Health Organization and a member of the New York State Health Research Council. He has held numerous prestigious positions, including President of the American Diabetes Association, American Society of Clinical Nutrition, and the North American Association for the Study of Obesity; member of the NIDDK Task Force for the Prevention and Treatment of Obesity, three Expert Panels of the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences, and numerous NIH study sections and review groups; Chairman of the National Heart Blood and Lung Institute Task Force that produced the NIH Clinical Guidelines on the Identification Evaluation and Treatment of Obesity. He is currently an Associate Editor of the International Journal of Obesity and is a past Editor-in Chief of Obesity Research. Dr. Pi-Sunyer earned his MD degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and his MPH from Harvard University. His research interests are in the hormonal control of carbohydrate metabolism, diabetes mellitus, obesity, and food intake regulation. He has authored over 450 publications and two books in these areas.
Dr. Pi-Sunyer receives research support from Merck, Novartis, Johnson & Johnson and Sanofi-Synthelabo. He is a consultant for Johnson & Johnson, Sanofi-Synthelabo, Amylin, Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, and Roche.
CONTRIBUTORS
Louis J. Aronne, MD is a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine, Cornell University, Adjunct Associate Professor at Columbia University and has been Director of the Comprehensive Weight Control Program, an affiliate of New York Presbyterian Hospital since 1986. He worked in the Laboratory of Human Behavior and Metabolism at Rockefeller University from 1988-1998 studying autonomic control of weight in humans during weight loss and weight gain. He is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, trained at Albert Einstein School of Medicine in Bronx, NY, and was a Kaiser Foundation Fellow in General Internal Medicine at Cornell University. He has published 20 papers, co-authored 9 book chapters and was Chairman of the Development Committee for the Practical Guide to the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults. His clinical and research interests have been in the areas of body weight regulation and the counter-regulatory response to weight loss; the development of rational combined therapies for obesity; drug-induced weight gain; and primary care evaluation and management of the obese patient. He is currently the President of NAASO, the Obesity Society.
Dr. Aronne has received financial support for research from Transneuronix, Sanofi-Synthelabo, and Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceuticals.
Dr. Kelly Brownell, PhD, is Professor in the Department of Psychology at Yale University, where he also serves as Professor of Epidemiology and Public Health and as Director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. In 2006 Time magazine listed Kelly Brownell among "The World's 100 Most Influential People" in its special Time 100 issue featuring those "…whose power, talent or moral example is transforming the world."
Dr. Brownell was elected to membership in the Institute of Medicine in 2006 and served as President of several national organizations, including the Society of Behavioral Medicine, Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy, and the Division of Health Psychology of the American Psychological Association. He has received numerous awards and honors for his work, including the James McKeen Cattell Award from the New York Academy of Sciences, the award for Outstanding Contribution to Health Psychology from the American Psychological Association, and the Distinguished Alumni Award from Purdue University. He has served in a number of leadership roles at Yale including Master of Silliman College and Chair of the Department of Psychology from 2003-2006.
Dr. Brownell has advised members of congress, governors, world health and nutrition organizations, and media leaders on issues of nutrition, obesity, and public policy. He was cited as a "moral entrepreneur" with special influence on public discourse in a history of the obesity field and was cited by Time magazine as a leading "warrior" in the area of nutrition and public policy.
Gary D. Foster, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Clinical Director of the Weight and Eating Disorders Program at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia. He is also a member of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity. Dr. Foster's research interests include the behavioral and metabolic aspects of obesity, the effect of weight loss on sleep apnea, the safety of low- and high-carbohydrate diets, and the prevention of obesity in school settings. In addition he also studies a variety of treatment approaches including behavior therapy, pharmacotherapy, and surgery. He has authored or coauthored more than 90 publications and two books on the etiology and treatment of obesity and has been a frequent presenter at national and international meetings. Dr. Foster received his B.A. from Duquesne University, his Master's degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and his PhD in Clinical Psychology from Temple University. He has over 15 years of clinical experience treating overweight patients in individual and group settings.
Dr. Foster is a consultant for Abbott Laboratories, Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, and Roche.
Ronald M. Krauss, MD, is a senior scientist and director of Atherosclerosis Research at Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute, a guest senior scientist in the Genome Sciences Division at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and an adjunct professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of California at Berkeley. He received his A.B. and M.D. from Harvard University with honors and served his internship and residency on the Harvard Medical Service of Boston City Hospital. He then joined the Molecular Disease Branch of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, first as a clinical associate and then as a senior investigator in the Molecular Disease Branch.
Dr. Krauss' research involves studies of genetic, dietary, and pharmacologic effects on plasma lipoproteins and coronary artery disease risk. He has published more than 300 research articles and reviews and is currently the principal investigator of two large research programs: "Institute for Genetics and Nutrition" and "Pharmacogenetics and Risk of Cardiovascular Disease."
Dr. Krauss is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the American Federation for Clinical Research, and the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. He has been a member of the editorial boards of several journals, including the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vascular Pharmacology, and Preventive Cardiology, and has been an associate editor of the Journal of Lipid Research. Dr. Krauss served as a senior advisor to the National Cholesterol Education Program and was a member of the Macronutrient Panel of the Dietary Reference Intake Committee of the Institute of Medicine at the National Academy of Sciences. He was chair of the American Heart Association (AHA) Nutrition Committee and of the Research Committee of the AHA Western States Affiliate and is currently a member of the AHA National Board of Directors as well as the National Spokespersons Panel. He is also founder and immediate past Chair of the AHA Council on Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Metabolism. Dr. Krauss has received the AHA Scientific Councils Distinguished Achievement Award and the Special Recognition Award from the AHA Council on Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology.
Dr. Krauss does not have any relevant financial interests to disclose.
Robert Kushner, MD is a Professor of Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Medical Director in Residence, Diet.com, President, American Board of Nutrition Physician Specialists, Medical Director, Northwestern Memorial Hospital Wellness Institute, author, American Medical Association's Obesity Treatment Guide for Physicians, and author, Dr. Kushner's Personality Type Diet. He has studied in-depth the life patterns approach to weight loss for more than 20 years and has published more than 100 scientific articles on obesity and nutrition. Dr. Kushner received his medical degree from the University of Illinois Medical School in Chicago. He completed his internal medicine training at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago and received a fellowship and master's degree in clinical nutrition from the University of Chicago. He is board certified in internal medicine and nutrition.
Dr. Kushner does not have any relevant financial interests to disclose.
Judy F. Loper, PhD, RD is the Executive Director of the Central Ohio Nutrition Center, Inc., Columbus, Ohio. The center specializes in the treatment of obesity and its comorbidities. Dr. Loper has been studying the use of the very low calorie diets (VLCD) for over 25 years and has authored several scientific papers on this subject. Her research includes the use of the very low calorie diet in combination with the pharmacological treatment of obesity. In addition, she has been the investigator on projects involving obesity, diabetes, and hypertension. She is a contributing author, The Management of Eating Disorders and Obesity as well as for numerous journal publications and textbooks. She is also a community preceptor for Medical Dietetics, School of Allied Medicine, The Ohio State University. She earned a BS degree from Miami University (OH), and MS degree from Case Western Reserve University, and a PhD from The Ohio State University. She is a licensed, registered dietitian.
Dr. Loper does not have any relevant financial interests to disclose.
Patrick M. O'Neil, PhD, is a Professor of Psychiatry and Behavior Sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, where he is also the Director of the Weight Management Center, (a long-standing multidisciplinary weight management center offering services to people of all degrees of overweight and obesity). Dr. O'Neil's involvement with obesity began in 1977 and has taken form in numerous clinical, teaching, research (he was and continues to be a principal investigator for a number of externally funded clinical trials on weight loss agents), and public education roles. He is the author of more than 100 professional publications, chapters, and presentations, primarily concerning the psychological, behavioral, and other clinical aspects of obesity and its management. Dr. O'Neil wrote Weighing the Choices, a weekly column on weight control that appeared in the Sunday Post and Courier (Charleston, SC) from 1987 to 1996. He is active in the North American Association for the Study of Obesity (NAASO), serving on the Education and Publications Committees and as Editor of the NAASO Website. He was a member of the NIH/NAASO Ad Hoc Committee for the Development of the Practical Guide for the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Obesity in Adults, and is currently a member of the Steering Committee of the South Carolina Nutrition Research Consortium. Dr. O'Neil received his BS degree in Economics from Louisiana State University and his MS and PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Georgia.
Dr. O'Neil receives research support from Sanofi-Synthelabo, Orexigen Therapeutics, and Merck. He is a member of the speakers bureau for Hill-Rom.
Dr. Rebecca M. Puhl, PhD, is Coordinator of Community and Stigma Initiatives at the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University where she is also an Associate Research Scientist. Dr. Puhl is responsible for identifying coordinating research and policy efforts aimed at reducing weight bias.
Dr. Puhl received her B.A. from Queen's University in Ontario, and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Yale University. Her clinical training at the Yale Center for Eating & Weight Disorders emphasized treating patients with anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, and obesity. She completed her clinical internship in Clinical Health Psychology at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System before gaining additional postdoctoral experience at the Johns Hopkins Weight Management Center.
Dr. Puhl's current projects include developing stigma reduction media tools for youth to test and disseminate in schools, and she is also working on research examining weight bias in health care settings and the impact of weight stigma on health care services for obese patients.
Harvey J. Sugerman, MD, retired in 2003 after 25 years as a faculty member at the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine (VCU) and the VCU Health System. At the time of his retirement, he was vice chair of the Department of Surgery and the David M. Hume professor of surgery in the VCU School of Medicine, and chief of the Division of General/Trauma Surgery.
Dr. Sugerman earned his Bachelor of Science degree from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore in 1959, and his Master of Science and medical degrees from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia in 1963 and 1966, respectively. His internship in medicine was completed at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia from 1966-1967, and he completed a surgical residency there from 1967-1972. From 1969-1971, he gained additional training through a clinical shock and trauma fellowship with the United States Public Health Service. Dr. Sugerman joined the faculty at the VCU School of Medicine in 1978.
Dr. Sugerman has written more than 210 articles, 59 book chapters in medical textbooks and 20 books. A partial list of his areas of clinical interest includes surgery for inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis, Crohn's Disease), surgery for obesity, laparoscopic GI surgery, pancreatic surgery, trauma surgery, and critical care. His most recent research focused on the effect of intra-abdominal pressure on other systems in the body and its relation to hypertension.
Dr. Sugerman has received research support from Ethicon Endo-Surgery and Tyco Healthcare. He is a member of the speakers bureaus at Ethicon Endo-Surgery and Tyco Healthcare.
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