Biographies of the members of the Executive Committee

Arne Astrup, Denmark (President)

Philip James, UK (President-Elect)

Tessa van der Merwe, South Africa (Secretary)

David York, USA (Treasurer)

Yuji Matsuzawa, Japan (Vice President Asia-Oceania)

Vojtech Hainer, Czech Republic (Vice President Europe)

Rafael Gómez-Cuevas, Colombia (Vice President Latin America)

Jennifer Lovejoy, USA (Vice President North America)

Peter T. Katzmarzyk, USA (Chair PATF)

Stephan Rössner, Sweden (Chair EMTF)

President - Professor Arne Vernon Astrup, M.D., Dr.Med.Sci.

Arne Astrup is Head of The Department of Human Nutrition at The Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He was awarded the Chair in Nutrition at the University in 1990. After receiving his medical degree from the University of Copenhagen in 1981 Arne Astrup completed residencies in internal medicine at the Glostrup and Hvidovre Hospitals in Copenhagen. He attained a Doctorate in Medical Science at The University of Copenhagen in 1986.

Arne Astrup’s main areas of interest and research include physiology and pathophysiology of energy and substrate metabolism, with a special emphasis on the etiology and treatment of obesity. The research of Arne Astrup and his group covers an extensive area. Major research collaboration includes participation in the EU multicenter studies: EUROSTARCH, CARMEN, NUGENOB, DIABESITY, DIOGENES, EMOB, and HEALTHGRAIN. Arne Astrup has published over 380 original papers, including papers published in journals such as The Lancet, the British Medical Journal, and The Journal of Clinical Investigation. He has contributed to over 600 other scientific publications, such as textbook chapters, scientific abstracts, reviews, and letters.

He is President of IASO until 2010, and Editor-in-Chief of the IASO journal Obesity Reviews. He is a member of the editorial boards of The International Journal of Obesity and The Journal of the Danish Medical Association.

Honors received include Servier's Award for Outstanding Obesity Research in 1990, the IASO André Mayer Award, 1994, the Danone Chair in Nutrition, 2002, at The University of Antwerp and The Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen Communication Prize 2007. Arne Astrup was made Knight of the Order of Dannebrog in 1999.

President Elect - Prof Philip James MD, DSc, FRCP, FRCGP

Professor James graduated with degrees in physiology and medicine from University College, London, followed by 3 years in paediatric gastroenterology in Jamaica, where he obtained his research based MD, and a year as a Harvard Research Fellow at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, USA. Then as a senior lecturer at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine he wrote the first (1976) government report on obesity. In 1974 he was appointed Assistant Director of the MRC Dunn Nutrition Unit, Cambridge, UK, establishing a major obesity and clinical nutrition group.

From 1982 to 1999 he was Director of the Rowett Research Institute, Aberdeen, UK, one of the world’s largest nutrition research institutes. He wrote the 1983 London Royal College report on obesity, chaired and wrote the first report on Diet and Health of Scotland, the first UK government report on the prevention of obesity, the first SIGN guidelines on obesity management, and led the first clinical trial on orlistat and the STORM study on sibutramine.

He established the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) in 1996 and as chair is currently responsible for the funding and organisation of global initiatives relating to food and health with particular emphasis on the pandemic of obesity. He chaired and wrote the UN Millennium Commission's report on global issues relating to nutrition up to 2020, wrote for Tony Blair the 1997 proposals for the UK Food Standards Agency and those for a new EU Food and Health Authorit. He also wrote the first integrated reports on nutritional aspects of health for WHO Europe and then globally (the WHO 797 report). He is currently chair of the Presidential Council of Global Prevention Alliance tackling the global epidemic of chronic diseases with 5 global medical societies related to WHO.

He developed the lithium technique for tracking salt sources for managing hypertension, the UN's system for calculating individual patient and population energy needs and the WHO Millennium analyses showing excess weight as in the top risk factors for global ill health with major impacts in the developing world. He established and developed for physicians the SCOPE internet and national programmes for obesity management in Europe and currently chairs the SCOUT trial on weight management with sibutramine in high risk cardiovascular patients. He advises governments throughout the world on how to tackle the epidemic of obesity and chronic disease.

Current Positions:

President Elect for the International Association for the Study of Obesity (IASO)

Chairman, International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) of IASO

Hon. Professor of Nutrition, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK

Secretary - Professor Tessa van der Merwe MBChB, FCP(SA), PhD

Prof. van der Merwe has been active in the field of obesity for 20 years and has established South Africa as one of the developing world countries that is at the cutting edge of delivering world class management in the field of obesity. She has taken a research initiative in South Africa, and has published in cited international journals and has given plenary lectures at local and international congresses. The faculty of Health Science of the Witwatersrand of which she was a staff member and during which time she was appointed as Associate Professor of Endocrinology from 1984 - 2005, awarded her the Highest Research Award in 2001. In addition she has received a number of awards for outstanding publications. She has in excess of 55 publications in the field of obesity, metabolism and endocrinology, and has contributed to obesity study modules for the FPD.

In 2006 she wrote a manual on obesity management guidelines for South Africa. Currently she serves on the editorial board of 2 journals. She has handled more than 200 media and television interviews regarding obesity and related disorders. She is also the Honorary Life President of the South African Society for Obesity Metabolism (SASOM).

Currently she is heading up a portfolio to establish Centres of Bariatric Excellence throughout Southern Africa, and acts as a Director for CORE (Centre for Obesity Research and Education) at Unitas Hospital. She holds an honorary Professorship at the University of Pretoria, Department of Endocrinology. She has been the recipient of several research grants. Her research interests include:

Investigating in vivo and in vitro adipose tissue lipolysis and relating these findings to intermediary metabolism
Quantification of body composition and body fat distribution using CT and MRI scanning
The relationship between obesity and Type 2 Diabetes is researched, both in terms of the relative insulinopenic Black genotype / phenotype, as well as the hyperinsulinemic White population
Cellular obesity metabolism & adipocyte culture studies in the field of obesity and endocrinology
The outcome of interventional obesity, diabetic and hypertensive studies
Obesity genetics and pharmacogenetics

Treasurer - Dr. David York

Dr York is the USTAR Director for the Center for Advanced Nutrition at Utah State University in Logan, Utah. He joined USU on August 1st 2006 after spending 16 years at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, a part of Louisiana State University, where he was Associate Executive Director for Basic Research for much of that time. Prior to this he had a faculty position in the University of Southampton Medical School in England.

Dr York has been President of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity (NAASO) and currently is Treasurer and Executive Council member of IASO. His major research interests are in animal models of obesity, central and peripheral mechanisms controlling food intake and macronutrient selection, the biology of enterostatin, the glucocorticoid-dependence of animal obesities and the role of exercise in preventing neurodegeneration.

Vice President Asia-Oceania - Professor Yuji Matsuzawa

Yuji Matsuzawa MD, PhD is currently Director of Sumitomo Hospital and Emeritus Professor of Osaka University. He graduated from Osaka University Medical School in 1966. His research interest include Obesity, Adipocyte biology, Atherosclerosis, Lipids and Lipoproteins.

Professor Matsusawa is the winner of the 2006 IASO Willendorf Award for outstanding clinical contributions to the field of obesity which was presented at the 10th International Congress on Obesity - ICO 2006 - in Sydney, Australia.

Vice President Europe - Professor Vojtech Hainer

Professor Vojtech Hainer graduated from the Faculty of General Medicine at Charles University, Prague in 1967. He progressed through 1st and 2nd grade in internal medicine, before gaining a PhD in 1983 on the topic of "Neurotransmitters and Hormonal Secretions". From 1967 until 2002 he was employed at Charles University in, first in the Department of Physiology, then in Internal Medicine. Since 2002, he has been the Director of the Endocrine Institute in Prague.

Professor Hainer has published over 180 journal papers as well as a number of text books for physicians, medical students and nurses. He has also published a great deal of educational material for obese patients. His research has focussed on obesity management, including very low calorie diets, methods of body composition and body fat assessment and factors affecting the long-term outcome of obesity treatment.

Professor Hainer co-founded the Obesity Section of the Czech Endocrine Society in 1987. In 1993, he co-founded the Czech Society for the Study of Obesity, of which he was president until 2002, and is currently vice-president. His extensive international responsibilities include council membership of the IOTF, and of the IOTF Working Group on Obesity Management from 1996 to 2005. He has been a member of the Editorial Board of the "Diabetes, Metabolism, Endocrinology and Nutrition" since 1998.

In 2003, Professor Hainer also became chairman of the Obesity Foundation and President-Elect of the European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO) and subsequently became President in 2006.

Vice President Latin America - Professor Rafael Gómez-Cuevas

Professor Rafael Gómez-Cuevas finished his studies of Medicine at the Central University of Madrid, he has specialized in the topic of Obesity and its clinical management. He is founder and Honorary President of the Colombian Association of Obesity and Metabolism (ASCOM). He has also been a founding member of the Latin-American Federation of Obesity FLASO, where he was Vice-President and then president (1995-1998). He presided in Bogota, the III Latin-American Congress of Obesity, meeting reference in FLASO's history, as well as the First and Third Pan-American Courses of Obesity. His work in FLASO began with the final redaction of the Bylaws and the regulation, the foundation of the Societies of Obesity of Peru, Ecuador, Cuba and Venezuela, and now his election for unanimity as Vice-president IASO in representation of the FLASO.

He is Member of the Argentinean, Uruguayan, Peruvian, Panamanian, Spanish Associations of Obesity and of the Mexican, Ecuadorian, Bolivian, Spanish Societies of Endocrinology and Nutrition. During the last Latin-American Congress celebrated in Panama in April, 07, Gómez-Cuevas planned and coordinated the first pilot course of the program SCOPE; in addition he was ratified as coordinator of the committee of FLASO's ethics.

He is in Ex President and Honorary Member of the Colombian Society of Endocrinology and Member of the Associations of Internal Medicine, Diabetes. Ateroesclerosis. He is also Honorary President of the” Bolivarian Society of Endocrinology”. In the scientific field Gómez- Cuevas has presented more than 180 works of clinical investigation in National and International Congresses of Obesity as a topic and published the books: ”Obesity: a highway towards the heart attack “, “Obesity á la carte” and “Disorders of the Food Conduct and its small perversions”. He is also member of the publishing committee of several medical international magazines of obesity. Gómez-Cuevas has nominated an Emeritus Teacher and Honorary Chief of Endocrinology’s Department of the University Hospital Samaritana in Bogota. Besides he wrote the following books: “Dice on the skin of bull”, “The wished shore of the love”, “Woman of sand”, “Endocrinological Round in the Prado Museum”, “And they were made friends”. He is Member of the Spanish-American Academy of Letters.

Vice President North America - Dr. Jennifer Lovejoy

Dr. Jennifer Lovejoy’s major research interests are the effects of reproductive hormones on obesity and the role of diet in the prevention of obesity and Type 2 diabetes. Dr. Lovejoy’s early research focused on differences in insulin resistance and other metabolic factors in Caucasian vs. African-American populations, particularly women. She also conducted a series of controlled feeding studies examining the effect of various dietary fatty acids on insulin resistance and risk for obesity.

As Chief of the Women’s Nutrition Research Program at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana, Dr. Lovejoy was funded by NIH to conduct a 7-year longitudinal study of the impact of hormonal changes during the menopause transition on body fat, fat distribution, and health risk factors in women.

More recently, she has studied technological approaches to delivering behavioral weight loss programs, including use of the Internet to deliver a weight loss program in post-partum women and interactive broadband cable television to deliver a weight loss program to patients with Type 2 diabetes.

Chair PATF (Ex-Offico) - Peter Katzmarzyk, Ph.D.

Dr. Katzmarzyk is currently Professor and Associate Executive Director for Population Science at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA. He obtained a PhD in Exercise Science from Michigan State University in 1997, and pursued post-doctoral education at Laval University in 1998. Dr. Katzmarzyk began his career at York University where he was promoted to Associate Professor before moving to Queen's University in 2002 and the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in 2007.

Dr. Katzmarzyk's main research interest is the epidemiology and public health impact of obesity and physical inactivity, and determining the impact of physical activity and physical fitness on obesity and related disorders such as heart disease and type 2 diabetes. He has a strong record of collaborative research on major research projects, including the Québec Family Study, the HERITAGE Family Study, the Canada Fitness Survey, the Bogalusa Heart Study, and the Canadian Heart Health Surveys.

He has published his findings in more than 150 scholarly journals and books, and regularly participates in the scientific meetings of several national and international organizations. He has supported his research with approximately $4 million in funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, and other national funding bodies. Dr. Katzmarzyk serves as an associate editor for Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism and as a reviewer and editorial board member for several other scientific journals.

He is a member of the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology and the Canadian Society for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, and is a Fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), the North American Association for the Study of Obesity (NAASO), and the Human Biology Association. Dr. Katzmarzyk was the recipient of the Young Investigator Award from the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology in 2002 and the New Investigator Award from the American College of Sports Medicine in 2003.

Chair EMTF (Ex-Officio) - Professor Stephan Rössner

Professor Stephan Rössner graduated in medicine from the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm in 1968 and completed his clinical training at the Karolinska Hospital. He created a new Obesity Unit at the Karolinska Hospital in 1982. In 1990 he became Professor of Health Behaviour Research. He is currently the Director of the Obesity Unit at the Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge in Stockholm.

He has been a member of numerous commissions and working parties internationally. He cofounded and chaired the Swedish Society for the Study of Obesity, in which he has served as President 1990-98. He has served on the editorial boards of several scientific journals including the International Journal of Obesity and several textbook editorial committees and as an expert in numerous international scientific advisory boards. He was a founding father of IOTF. From 1998 to 2002 he was the President of IASO, having been the Secretary and President-Elect since 1990.

Professor Rössner has written over 530 scientific papers on lipid metabolism, cardiovascular medicine, obesity therapy related matters and health behaviour research. His recent research has focused on the development of long term weight loss maintenance programmes. In addition to his scientific work he has been communicating a health message writing gourmet cooking books, appearing frequently on radio and TV internationally, and as a stand-up comedian and actor at the Stockholm City Theatre in so-called “science theatre”. He has written more than 20 books popularising health messages and more than 1000 articles in the lay press.