of Alabama at Birmingham in the Department of Nutrition Sciences. Dr. Ard has served on several expert panels and guideline development committees, including the National Academies Committee on Consequences of Sodium Reduction in Populations, American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology/The Obesity Society (TOS) Guideline Panel on the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults, and American Psychological Association Obesity Guideline Development Panel. He is also on the editorial board for American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and International Journal of Obesity. Dr. Ard is a National Academy of Medicine member. He received an M.D. and completed internal medicine residency training at Duke University Medical Center.

David E. Arterburn, M.D., M.P.H., FACP, FTOS, FASMBS, is a general internist and a health services researcher at the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute and an affiliate professor with the University of Washington’s Department of Medicine in Seattle. He has more than 20 years of experience leading and collaborating on obesity research involving large integrated health care systems, such as the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Health Care Systems Research Network, and Kaiser Permanente. His research has focused on investigating the long-term health and economic outcomes of bariatric surgery and obesity pharmacotherapy, the impact of neighborhood environments on obesity, and implementation and evaluation of shared decision-making tools and processes. Dr. Arterburn was the founding chair of the Health Services Research Section of TOS, and he chaired the Adult Obesity Measurement Advisory Panel for the National Committee on Quality Assurance that developed the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set obesity performance measures for U.S. health plans. He is a graduate of the University of Kentucky’s College of Medicine, completed his residency and chief residency in internal medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, and holds an M.P.H. from the University of Washington.

Sarah E. Barlow, M.D., M.P.H. is a professor of pediatrics at University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical School and director of the Children’s Health Integrated Programs in Childhood Obesity. A pediatric gastroenterologist by training, she has focused her academic and clinical work in the field of childhood obesity. She established a pediatric weight management program at St. Louis University and was the medical director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Childhood Obesity. She was a coinvestigator on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-sponsored Texas Childhood Obesity Research Demonstration project. She has been the coauthor on three widely cited papers guiding pediatric obesity care: the 1998 recommendations, 2007 recommendations, and 2023 AAP Clinical Practice Guideline for the Evaluation and Treatment of Children and Adolescents

with Obesity. She is on the executive council of the AAP Section on Obesity. Dr. Barlow received her medical degree from UT Southwestern. She completed her pediatric residency at Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, and underwent fellowship training in pediatric gastroenterology and nutrition at Tufts School of Medicine, Floating Hospital for Children in Boston, Massachusetts. She also earned an M.P.H. at Harvard School of Public Health in 1996.

Daniel (Dan) Bessesen, M.D., is professor of medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Diabetes at the University of Colorado and the Anschutz Foundation Endowed Chair in Health and Wellness. He has been on the faculty of the University of Colorado since 1991 and served as the head of the section of Endocrinology at Denver Health 1999–2019. He is the director of the Obesity Medicine Fellowship training program at the University of Colorado. Dr. Bessesen is the associate director of the NIH-funded Nutrition Obesity Research Center and oversees the pilot and feasibility program. He is also the director of the Anschutz Health and Wellness Center on the campus of the University of Colorado, School of Medicine and past president of TOS. Dr. Bessesen has published more than 120 scientific articles and book chapters and is the coauthor of four books, including Primary Care Evaluation and Management of Obesity, published in 2021. His NIH-funded research focuses on body weight regulation and the pathophysiology of obesity. He also has been funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to research obesity treatment in primary care and examine patterns of prescribing anti-obesity medications (AOMs) within large health care organizations. He is a coinvestigator on the NIH-sponsored Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity study. Dr. Bessesen received his medical degree and completed his residency in internal medicine and fellowship in endocrinology at the University of Colorado in Denver.

Jeanne Blankenship, M.S., R.D.N., is a registered dietitian nutritionist and the vice president of Policy Initiatives and Advocacy for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Her advocacy work focuses on professional issues for dietitians and nutrition professionals and includes coverage and reimbursement for medical nutrition therapy (MNT), nutrition informatics, and workforce demands. As a nationally recognized expert in obesity, Ms. Blankenship has emphasized the need for comprehensive obesity treatment in her advocacy efforts. She also oversees state government relations, including consumer protection and licensure initiatives, grass roots advocacy, and regulatory affairs. She manages the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’s Political Action, Legislative, and Public Policy Committees and Consumer Protection and Licensure Subcommittee. Before working in policy and advocacy, she held positions at the University of California—Davis Medical Center as a senior clinical dietitian and at the U.S. Department of

Agriculture Western Nutrition Research Center as the principal dietitian. Her experience also includes positions in long-term care, the Women, Infants, and Children Program, and private practice. Ms. Blankenship received a B.S. in clinical dietetics from Arizona State University and an M.S. in nutrition sciences at Oklahoma State University.

Christina R. Chow, Ph.D., is the head of research at Emerald Lake Safety, LLC. She leads a team of researchers using clinical studies and physiologically based pharmacokinetic modeling to understand the mechanisms behind pharmaceutical adverse effects and has overseen several clinical studies investigating the effects of obesity on drug pharmacokinetics. The results of this work have been published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at conferences, such as ObesityWeek and the American College of Clinical Pharmacology Annual Meeting, and as a webinar that is eligible for continuing education credits. She is a member of TOS, the American College of Clinical Pharmacology, and the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics. Dr. Chow completed her Ph.D. in pharmacology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. She was also a visiting scholar at the University of Tokyo and did a postdoctoral fellowship at the Lurie Cancer Center at Northwestern University.

Colleen Dawkins, M.S.N., A.R.N.P., M.S., R.D.N., FNP-C, CSOWM, is a nurse practitioner in private practice at Big Sky Medical Wellness. She is board certified in family medicine, a registered dietitian nutritionist, and a certified specialist in obesity and weight management. She is the secretary for the Washington Obesity Society, vice chair of the advisory board for the Commission on Dietetic Registration’s Obesity Certificate training program, the Obesity Medicine Association’s algorithm committee, an associate editor for Obesity Pillars journal, a member of an international research collaboration, an item writer for the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Board Certification examination, and a doctoral student at the University of Southern Mississippi. She received an M.S. in nursing from Emory University and an M.S. in human and environmental science from the University of Alabama.

Noelia Duchovny, Ph.D., is a health economist at the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) with more than 20 years of experience conducting research in health policy. One of her areas of expertise is policies related to population health—including obesity, smoking, opioids, hepatitis C, and prevention—and their impact on the federal budget. In addition, she has worked on issues related to long-term care and supports, climate and its effect on health, and spillover effects resulting from expansions of Medicaid. Before joining CBO, she completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Yale’s University School of Public Health with a research focus on

Medicaid and tobacco policies. She received her Ph.D. in economics from the University of Maryland at College Park.

Ihuoma Eneli, M.D., M.S., FAAP (Co-Chair), is a board-certified general pediatrician and head of the Section of Nutrition at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Dr. Eneli’s primary area of expertise is childhood obesity. She was the director of the Center for Healthy Weight and Nutrition at Nationwide Children’s Hospital/Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, a nationally recognized tertiary care pediatric obesity center with activities that include advocacy, prevention, medical weight management, bariatric surgery, and research. She is a coauthor of the 2023 AAP Clinical Practice Guideline on Childhood Obesity. Her research emphasis is on interventions for pediatric obesity, for which she has received funding from several sources, including NIH, PCORI, industry, and foundations. Dr. Eneli is an associate director for the AAP Institute for Healthy Childhood Weight and vice chair of the Roundtable on Obesity Solutions and has also served in leadership and advisory roles for a number of organizations, including the Children’s Hospital Association (CHA). In 2021, she earned the prestigious National Academic Pediatric Association Healthcare Delivery Award, which recognizes an innovative and effective program that embraces principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion within a teaching environment. Dr. Eneli received an M.S. from Michigan State University in epidemiology and an M.D. from University of Nigeria. She completed her pediatric residency at University of Michigan, where she also earned an NIH-K30 institutional clinical research fellowship.

Karen Glanz, Ph.D., M.P.H., is George A. Weiss University Professor and professor in the Perelman School of Medicine and the School of Nursing, at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn). She is program coleader for the Cancer Control Program at the Abramson Cancer Center at UPenn. Her research in community and health care settings focuses on obesity, nutrition, and physical activity, skin cancer prevention, the built environment, reducing health disparities, and dissemination and implementation science. Her research and publications about understanding, measuring, and improving healthy food environments, beginning in the 1980s, have been widely recognized and replicated. She has published over 550 articles and chapters and is lead editor on six editions of the widely used text Health Behavior: Theory, Research and Practice (Jossey-Bass: 1990–2024). She was named as a Clarivate (formerly Institute for Scientific Information) Highly Cited Researcher (among the top 1 percent most cited in her subject field) since 2016 and among the World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds in 2015. Dr. Glanz has been an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine since 2013. Dr. Glanz received her Ph.D. (1979), M.P.H. (1977), and B.A. (1974) from the University of Michigan.

David J. Greenblatt, M.D., is a senior faculty member in the graduate program in pharmacology and drug development and has been on the faculty of Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM) and the staff of Tufts Medical Center since 1979. He served as chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics at TUSM, program director and associate program director of its Clinical/Translational Research Center, and chair of the Institutional Review Board. He is editor in chief of Clinical Pharmacology in Drug Development and also served as coeditor in chief, with Dr. Richard I. Shader, of the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology 1981–2020. He has more than 1,100 publications, going back to 1967, of which 790 are original research reports. He has served as postdoctoral training supervisor or dissertation supervisor for more than 50 trainees, most of whom have gone on to positions as university-based investigators or scientists in industry. Dr. Greenblatt is board certified by the American Board of Clinical Pharmacology (1991), where he is a charter member. A member of the American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics (ASCPT) since 1973, he received its Rawls-Palmer Progress in Medicine Award in 1980. As a member of the American College of Clinical Pharmacology since the early 1970s, he served as president (1996–1998) and received its McKeen-Cattell Award in 1985, Distinguished Service Award in 2001, and Distinguished Investigator Award in 2002. He received the 2005 Research Achievement Award in Clinical Sciences from the American Association of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Distinguished Faculty Award from TUSM in 2015, and 2016 Award in Excellence in Clinical Pharmacology from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America Foundation, through ASCPT. Dr. Greenblatt earned the 2022 Oscar B. Hunter Career Award in Therapeutics from ASCPT, recognizing outstanding career contributions to clinical pharmacology and therapeutics. Dr. Greenblatt is a magna cum laude graduate of Amherst College (1966), where he was senior class president and cocaptain of the varsity football team. He graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1970, then trained in internal medicine at the Montefiore Hospital, New York City (1970–1971) and Harvard Medical Service at Boston City Hospital (1971–1972). After a fellowship in clinical pharmacology at Massachusetts General Hospital, under the mentorship of Dr. Jan Koch-Weser (1972–1974), he stayed on to head its clinical pharmacology unit (1975–1979).

Shawn Gremminger, M.P.P., is president and CEO at the National Alliance of Healthcare Purchaser Coalitions. Known for his wide-ranging policy expertise and government relations experience, he has a successful record of working with coalitions, employers and other health care purchasers, policy makers, and industry stakeholders toward the mission of achieving

high-quality, affordable, equitable health care. He was most recently senior vice president at Reservoir Communications Group, where he led communications and public affairs strategy and execution on a range of relevant issues, including 340B and the drug supply chain, employer-sponsored insurance regulations, and Medicare payment. He has a strong history of health care advocacy and public affairs with employers, plans, hospitals, and consumer organizations. He was director of health policy for the Purchaser Business Group on Health, a member of National Alliance, where he ran efforts to improve quality and affordability for consumers and health care purchasers through federal policy. He has held senior leadership roles at Families USA and America’s Essential Hospitals. He began his career as a lobbyist for the Committee on House Administration. He earned an M.P.H. from George Washington University in Washington and a B.A. from the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, VA.

Laura Higginbotham, M.D., M.P.H., is lead physician, clinical team leader, and cross-discipline team leader of the obesity team in the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Division of Diabetes, Lipid Disorders, and Obesity (within the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research’s Office of New Drugs). She and her team oversee the clinical review and regulation of products intended to treat obesity, including oversight of investigational drugs, clinical development programs, and approval of new drugs. Dr. Higginbotham has contributed to several FDA guidance documents for industry on such topics as developing products for weight management and conducting decentralized clinical trials and frequently participates in scientific and regulatory working groups, workshops, and conferences within and outside FDA. Dr. Higginbotham is board certified in public health and general preventive medicine and knowledgeable in the behavioral, medical, and surgical management of obesity. She received her M.D. from the University of Virginia and M.P.H. in epidemiology from the University of North Carolina. She completed 4 years of general surgery residency (categorical, Emory University), preventive medicine residency (including chief resident, University of North Carolina), and an NIH T32 National Research Service Award research fellowship in drug development and transplantation science (Emory University).

John Jakicic, Ph.D., M.S., FACSM, is a professor at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Considered a leading authority on the benefits of physical activity for weight management, he has more than 230 peer-reviewed publications and has given more than 200 invited presentations. Dr. Jakicic has been an American College of Sports Medicine member for more than 30 years, serving on its board of trustees and multiple committees and as associate editor for Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

He has also served on its board of directors for the Mid-Atlantic and New England Chapters. Dr. Jakicic holds an M.S. in exercise science from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in exercise physiology from the University of Pittsburgh.

Ania M. Jastreboff, M.D., Ph.D., is an associate professor in medicine and pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine. She serves as the director of the Yale Obesity Research Center and the codirector of the Yale Center for Weight Management. Dr. Jastreboff is trained in both adult endocrinology and pediatric endocrinology, an obesity medicine physician-scientist, and an international leader in research and clinical application of AOMs. Her work has included working to develop obesity clinical practice guidelines (CPGs), serving on the board of directors for the American Board of Obesity Medicine, educating the next generation of obesity medicine physicians by teaching at national and international obesity treatment courses, and conducting cutting-edge clinical-translational obesity research. Her research includes large, multicenter clinical outcomes trials using novel AOMs and studies examining the neurobiology underlying obesity and mechanisms of AOMs (supported by NIH/National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases). Recently, she has served as lead author for trials investigating potential novel NuSH therapies for obesity, including tirzepatide, a novel GIP/GLP-1 receptor agonist, and retatrutide, a novel GIP/GLP-1/glucagon receptor agonist. Dr. Jastreboff thoughtfully advocates for compassionate care for patients with obesity and was interviewed by Oprah. She received her medical degree from and completed her residency at University of Maryland School of Medicine and a Ph.D. from Yale University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Holly F. Lofton, M.D., is a clinical associate professor of medicine and surgery at New York University (NYU) Langone Health, where she has served as director of the Medical Weight Management Program since 2012 and designed the popular New You weight loss program to help her patients obtain results while fostering nutrition education and placing emphasis on a healthy lifestyle. She has served on the board of the Obesity Action Coalition and bariatric medicine committee for the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. She is involved in clinical research on pharmacotherapy to treat weight regain after bariatric surgery and landmark clinical drug trials, including SELECT and SURMOUNT-1. In her faculty role, Dr. Lofton continues to educate trainees and other physicians about diagnosing and treating obesity and weight bias. She also educates the general public about the importance of maintaining a healthy weight through lectures, workshops, and media outlets, such as The Today Show and CNN. Dr. Lofton received her M.D. from Medical College of Georgia,

completed her residency in internal medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital/Northwell Health, and completed her fellowship in obesity medicine and nutrition from Geisinger Medical Center.

Joseph (Joe) Nadglowski, Jr., is president and CEO of the Obesity Action Coalition—a nonprofit formed in 2005 dedicated to elevating and empowering those affected by obesity through education, advocacy, and support. A frequent speaker and author, Mr. Nadglowski is especially passionate about access to obesity treatments and tackling weight bias and sharing his own experiences with obesity. He has more than 25 years of experience working in patient advocacy, public policy, and education and is a graduate of the University of Florida.

Anand K. Parekh, M.D., M.P.H., is chief medical advisor at the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC), where he provides clinical and public health expertise across the organization. Since 2015, he has led specific efforts tackling a variety of policy issues, including the COVID-19 pandemic, future of public health, opioid crisis, obesity epidemic and nutrition, health and housing, domestic and global HIV/AIDS, business and public health collaboration, emergency preparedness, social isolation, rural health, and prescription drug costs. Before BPC, he completed a decade of service at HHS; as a deputy assistant secretary for health in the Senior Executive Service 2008–2015, he was instrumental in implementing the Recovery Act’s Prevention and Wellness Fund, the Affordable Care Act’s prevention initiatives, and Department of Health and Human Services’s (HHS’s) Multiple Chronic Conditions Initiative. He received the Surgeon General’s Outstanding Service Award for his efforts. Dr. Parekh is a board-certified internal medicine physician, a fellow of the American College of Physicians, an adjunct professor of health management and policy at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, and an adjunct assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University. He provided volunteer clinical services for many years at the Holy Cross Hospital Health Center, a clinic for the uninsured in Silver Spring, MD. Dr. Parekh serves on the Board of Population Health and Public Health Practice at the National Academies, Dean’s Advisory Board of the University of Michigan School of Public Health, board of directors of the Presidential Scholars Foundation, board of directors of WaterAid America, and Founders Council at the United States of Care. Dr. Parekh has spoken widely and written extensively on a variety of health topics, such as chronic care management, population health, value in health care, and the need for health and human services integration. His book Prevention First: Policymaking for a Healthier America was released in December 2019 and argues that prevention must be our nation’s top health policy priority. He is also a Forbes health care contributor focused on COVID-19. A native of

Michigan, Dr. Parekh received a B.A. in political science, an M.D., and an M.P.H. in health management and policy from the University of Michigan. He was selected as a U.S. Presidential Scholar in 1994.

Robyn Pashby, Ph.D., is a clinical health psychologist who specializes in the psychological aspects of obesity and health. She is the founder and director of Health Psychology Partners, a group health psychology practice located in Washington, DC. She serves on the national board of directors of the Obesity Action Coalition and is a research assistant professor of psychology at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS). She is experienced in evidence-based interventions for eating and weight concerns, including interpersonal psychotherapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. Her clinical specialization is in the psychological treatment of obesity, binge-eating disorder, internalized weight bias, pre- and post-bariatric surgery concerns, and AOM use, and she has presented research and clinical trainings nationally and internationally on these topics. Dr. Pashby earned her Ph.D. in both medical and clinical psychology from USUHS F. Edward Hebert Medical School. She completed her postdoctoral training at the Washington DC. Veterans Hospital and her postdoctoral fellowship in the Eating Behavior Lab at USUHS.

Nicolaas (Nico) P. Pronk, Ph.D., M.A., FACSM, FAWHP (Co-Chair), is president of the HealthPartners Institute and chief science officer at HealthPartners, Inc., and holds an academic appointment as affiliate full professor of health policy and management at the University of Minnesota, School of Public Health in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He continues to serve as a coinvestigator on research studies in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts. Dr. Pronk’s work is focused on connecting scientific evidence of effectiveness with practical applications of programs and practices, policies, and systems that measurably improve population health and well-being. His work applies to the workplace, the health system setting, and the community and involves development of new models to improve health and well-being at the research, practice, and policy levels. He was confirmed by the White House as co-chair of the Secretary of HHS Advisory Committee on National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Objectives for the year 2030 (aka “Healthy People 2030”). Dr. Pronk is a member of the Food and Nutrition Board and Chair for the Roundtable on Obesity Solutions at the National Academies. He serves on various health-related committees and boards, including the board of directors for the Health Enhancement Research Organization, and is the founding and past president of the International Association for Worksite Health Promotion. He is widely published in both the scientific and practice literatures and

an international speaker on population health and well-being. Dr. Pronk received his Ph.D. in exercise physiology at Texas A&M University and completed his postdoctoral studies in behavioral medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Donna Ryan, M.D., is professor emerita at Pennington Biomedical in Baton Rouge, LA, where she had a 25-year career in clinical research in obesity. She was an investigator on the Preventing Overweight Using Novel Dietary Strategies Lost study, Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) trial, Diabetes Prevention Program, DASH, and many other studies of the health benefits of weight loss by diet, lifestyle intervention and medications. She was principal investigator of a series of studies over 25 years funded by the U.S. Department of Defense targeting military nutrition. Her personal research studied improving primary care management of obesity. She has been an active member and former president of TOS (North America) and World Obesity Federation. Dr. Ryan served as cochair of the SELECT Steering Committee and member of the Data Safety Monitoring Boards for setmelanotide and retatrutide. She has more than 300 publications, is a frequent speaker on obesity and diabetes treatments, and remains an active consultant and advisor to companies developing drugs, devices, lifestyle programs, and medical approaches to obesity management. She received her M.D. from Louisiana State University School of Medicine, New Orleans, where she completed her internship at its Charity Hospital and fellowship in medical oncology at its Department of Medicine, Hematology/Medical Oncology Section. She was mentored by George Bray, M.D., when she changed careers to engage in clinical research in obesity.

Alison Sexton Ward, Ph.D., is a research scientist at the University of Southern California Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics. She is an economist with extensive experience on health care policy and pharmaceuticals. Her research has focused on economic valuations of various therapies and drug classes and the economic implications of drug pricing policies. She has spent most of her career working with pharmaceutical manufacturers, government agencies, and nonprofit health organizations on topics ranging from drug pricing policies to the social value of new treatments and long-term survival prediction. Before joining USC, she worked as a senior associate with the Brattle Group, where she designed and led economic analysis in support of litigation on health-related issues. Dr. Sexton Ward holds a Ph.D. in applied economics from the University of Minnesota, an M.S in agricultural and resource economics from the University California, Davis, and a B.S. in managerial economics from the University of California—Davis.

Kristen R. Sullivan, M.S., M.P.H., is director of prevention and survivor-ship with the American Cancer Society (ACS). During her career with ACS, Ms. Sullivan has held positions within both the Patient Support and Corporate Communications departments. In her role, she focuses on reducing cancer risk and improving outcomes for cancer survivors through nutrition and physical activity. This includes working with health systems and other partners to create healthier environments. Before ACS, she served as a health communications fellow in the Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity at CDC. Ms. Sullivan earned a B.A. in molecular biology from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and M.A.s in nutrition and public health from Tufts University in Boston.

Michele Tedder, M.S.N., RN, is a senior program manager at the Black Women’s Health Imperative, the only national nonprofit focused on the health and wellness of Black women and girls. She is the lead on its evaluation of its virtual diabetes prevention program using its culturally tailored curriculum approved by CDC in 2020, app, and high-touch coaching model of delivery, and she led the creation of its family-centered Diabetes Self-Management Support Program curriculum recently pilot tested at three sites. Having struggled with her weight since childhood, she knows what it is like to experience the negative impacts of living with a chronic disease, such as obesity. Through her lived experience, she uses her influence to advocate for comprehensive and equitable obesity care. She is a sought-after speaker, panelist, and subject-matter expert discussing issues and policies that impact access to obesity care. She has served as a subject-matter expert on obesity for American Diabetes Association, American Medical Women’s Association, National Foundation of Women Legislators, National Black Caucus of State Legislators, American College of Gynecologists, and DiaTribe Musings. She received the 2023 HealtheVoices Impact Award sponsored by Johnson and Johnson, given to health advocates to support the advancement of their work. She recently joined the national board of directors of the Obesity Action Coalition, a national nonprofit dedicated to raising awareness and improving access to obesity prevention and treatment. She is also the founder of Village Empowerment Solutions, a consulting business focused on supporting organizations in developing strategies that improve health outcomes for people living with chronic diseases. She holds a B.S.N. from the University of Pittsburgh and an M.A. in nursing education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Jayabharathi (Jaya) Vaidyanathan, Ph.D., is the associate director for therapeutic review in the Division of Cardiometabolic and Endocrine Pharmacology in the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) at FDA. She served as a team leader supporting review for diabetes, lipid disorders, obesity,

and general endocrinology products. She has experience supporting drug review across a wide range of therapeutic areas and has represented CDER on several policy and guidance working groups, including bioavailability and bioequivalence studies submitted in New Drug Applications (NDAs) and investigational new drug applications, general considerations, waiver of in vivo bioavailability and bioequivalence studies for immediate-release solid oral dosage forms based on the Biopharmaceutics Classification System (BCS), and indication-specific guidances, such as developing products for weight management, diabetes, Cushing’s syndrome, acromegaly, and thyroid. She is a member of the CDER-BCS committee and the CDER-Regulatory Science & Review enhancement program committee. Dr. Vaidyanathan received her Ph.D. in pharmaceutical sciences in 2003 from the Medical University of South Carolina.

Denise Wilfley, Ph.D., M.A., is the Scott Rudolph University Professor of psychiatry, medicine, pediatrics, and psychological and brain sciences and the director of the Center for Healthy Weight and Wellness at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Since 1993, she has been awarded more than $30 million from NIH in a programmatic line of research examining the etiology, prevention, and treatment of obesity and eating disorders (EDs) in children and adults. Her research program has made substantial contributions to this field, including the classification, characterization, assessment, and risk factors of eating and weight-related disorders; development of effective treatments for individuals suffering from such disorders; and development of innovative and cost-effective methods for early intervention and prevention. Through her numerous NIH-funded clinical trials, she has demonstrated an extensive and successful track record in directing clinical research programs and mentoring and training the future generation of clinical researchers. Dr. Wilfley has received numerous research awards, including an NIH First Independent Research Support & Transition (FIRST) Independent Research Award and a K24 Mid-Career Investigator award. She is a fellow of TOS and serves as its clinical care councilor, a past chair of the TOS Pediatric Obesity Section, and an active member of the TOS Advocacy Committee. In addition, Dr. Wilfley is a fellow of the Academy for Eating Disorders and past president of the Eating Disorders Research Society, the leading international organization of ED researchers. She was appointed to the American Psychological Association’s Guideline Development Panel for obesity, which convenes experts to develop a clinical treatment guideline for obesity across the lifespan. She also serves as the co-chair of the State of Missouri Children’s Services Commission Subcommittee on Childhood Obesity. She presented five key recommendations for addressing the public health crisis of childhood obesity in Missouri to the commission, which will be disseminated to key legislators, state agency directors, and

industry leaders to enact policy change. In addition, Dr. Wilfley serves on the advisory boards for the AAP Institute for Healthy Childhood Weight and the Minnesota and Alabama Obesity Nutrition Obesity Research Centers. She is devoted to understanding the mechanisms by which treatments work and translating basic behavioral science findings into novel treatment approaches to improve outcomes. She is evaluating novel treatment delivery models, including the effectiveness of online and mobile interventions and support tools, to increase scalability of access to evidence-based care. Dr. Wilfley holds a Ph.D. and M.A. from the University of Missouri and completed her postdoctoral training at Stanford University.