Obesity/Nutrition Expert Named New TOS President

SILVER SPRING, Md., Jan. 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Dan Bessesen, MD, FTOS, a nutrition and obesity expert who has conducted research into nutrient metabolism and the regulation of body weight for the National Institutes of Health is the new president of The Obesity Society (TOS), the organization announced today.

"I am enthusiastic about and deeply grateful for the opportunity to serve The Obesity Society (TOS) over the coming year. TOS has been my academic home since I joined as a junior faculty member in 1995," said Bessesen after accepting his new role from outgoing TOS President Catherine Kotz, PhD, FTOS, professor and director of graduate studies at the University of Minnesota's Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology. Kotz is also associate director of research at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center in Minneapolis.

Bessesen is professor of medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. He is also the director of the Anschutz Health and Wellness Center on the Anschutz Medical Campus of the University of Colorado and the Anschutz Foundation Endowed Chair in Health and Wellness. Bessesen is also the Fellowship Program Director for the University of Colorado Obesity Medicine Fellowship Program. He practices endocrinology at the Denver Health Medical Center. 

The key areas of focus for Bessesen are to facilitate the transition of the TOS Annual Meeting back to an in-person format with virtual enhancements. In addition, he will work towards facilitating relationships between TOS and other sister societies, and continue efforts to help the Society's flagship journal Obesity adapt to the evolving environment of journals focusing on the problem of obesity.

Bessesen will continue Kotz's efforts to incorporate diversity, equity and inclusion strategies into TOS and to support this in the field of obesity. He will begin a new initiative to begin to identify and address barriers to the delivery of evidence-based treatments to people living with obesity. To accomplish this goal, he will convene a task force to address this issue, explore the role that clinical practice guidelines or position papers might play in advancing this initiative, work with the TOS Education Committee on new clinical education activities and strive to foster greater collaboration with the Obesity Action Coalition.

"I hope to take advantage of the insights and wisdom of the members of TOS working through the committees and sections to make sure our Society is providing services to our members that are of value to them and help them achieve their own professional goals," he said.  

Before being elected as president, Bessesen served as a vice president of TOS. Jamy Ard, MD, FTOS is the new vice president. Ard is professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Prevention in the Division of Public Health Sciences, co-director of the Weight Management Center and medical director of medical weight management at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, NC.

Five new members were elected to the Society's Council.

Molly Bray, PhD, FTOS and Jaime Almandoz, MD, FTOS are the new Council members At-Large. Bray is professor in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Texas, Austin, and Almandoz is associate professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at UTSouthwestern Medical Clinic in Dallas. Sean Wharton, MD, PharmD, was elected as the Council member At-Large Canada. Wharton is the medical director at the Wharton Medical Clinic in Burlington, Ontario. Jeffrey Zigman, MD, PhD, FTOS, was elected as Council member Basic/Experimental/Pre-clinical. Zigman is professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at UTSouthwestern Medical Clinic in Dallas. Fatima Cody Stanford, MD, FTOS, is the new Council member for Advocacy/Public Affairs/Regulatory. She is an obesity medicine physician scientist, educator and policymaker from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston. The new council members will serve until 2024.

Jessica Alvarez, PhD, RD, assistant professor in the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Lipids of the Department of Medicine at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga.; Marci Gluck, PhD, FAED, director of Behavioral Sciences at the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Digestive and Diabetes and Kidney Diseases Obesity and Diabetes Clinical Section, Phoenix Epidemiology and Clinical Research Branch; Kristina Henderson Lewis, MD, MPH, associate professor of public health sciences at Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, NC; and Marc-Andre Cornier, MD, FTOS, professor of medicine and associate division head at the University of Colorado in the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes, associate director of the Anschutz Health and Wellness Center, medical director of the Lipoprotein Apheresis Program and director of the Lipid Disorders Clinic were all elected to the Society's Nominating Committee.

The officers and nominating committee members started their new roles following the Society's annual Business Meeting held in November 2021.  

The Obesity Society (TOS) is the leading organization of scientists and health professionals devoted to understanding and reversing the epidemic of obesity and its adverse health, economic and societal effects. Combining the perspective of researchers, clinicians, policymakers and patients, TOS promotes innovative research, education and evidence-based clinical care to improve the health and well-being of all people with obesity. For more information, visit www.obesity.org.

CONTACT: 

Chanel Carrington
(formerly known as Kristin D. Collins)
Director of Communications and Media Relations
The Obesity Society                                       
240.485.1950 (o) or 301.708.8418 (c)
[email protected]

SOURCE The Obesity Society