EMTFbiographies

Biographies of the members of the EMTF

Stephan Rössner (chair)

Arne Astrup

Walmir Coutinho

Professor Stephan Rössner (Chair)

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 the International Association for the Study of Obesity (IASO), having been the Secretary and President-elect since 1990. 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.

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 The International Association for the Study of Obesity (IASO) 2006-2010, 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.

Dr. Walmir Coutinho

Dr Ramen Gyanendra Goel, B.Sc., M.B.B.S., M.S., F.I.C.S.

Dr Ramen Goel, the pioneer bariatric surgeon in India, is an Honorary Professor of Surgery at Grant Medical College & JJ Group of Hospitals. His clinical attachment is at Bombay Hospital & the Wockhardt Group of Hospitals. An avid teacher, his interest extends to clinical research in obesity management, has conducted obesity training programs for physicians & delivered public awareness lectures all over the country. He has contributed a number of articles on obesity surgery. His current research subjects include ‘Impact of bariatric surgery on diabetes & metabolic syndrome’, ‘Impact of Marketing on Food Choices of Adolescents’ etc.

He is the President of All India Association for Advancing Research in Obesity & is the Chair-person of the next Asia-Oceania Congress on Obesity scheduled for February 2009. A strong proponent of portion control over unlimited choices, he is passionate about the effective management of the obese.

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(1994), the first(1995) UK government report on the prevention of obesity, the first (1996) 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 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 Authority(2000). He also wrote the first integrated reports on nutritional aspects of health for WHO Europe(1986) and then globally (the WHO 797 report)in 1990 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:

Chairman, International Obesity Task Force (IOTF)

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

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

Marie Kunesova, MD, PhD

Marie Kunesova is president of the Czech Society for the Study of Obesity. She is head of the Obesity Management Centre in the Institute of Endocrinology and associated Prof. of the Internal Medicine in the 1st Medical Faculty of the Charles University in Prague.

She studied Medical Faculty of the Charles University in Prague, her PhD was on the topics Obesity – influence of genetic and familiar factors, she received her habilitation on the topics Effect of genetic and environmental factors on weight loss and fatty acid composition after weight reduction in obesity.

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.

Professor Tess van der Merwe is currently the honorary secretary for IASO (International Association for the Study of Obesity). 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

Arya M. Sharma, MD, PhD, FRCPC

Arya M. Sharma is Professor of Medicine and Chair of Obesity Research and Management at the University of Alberta. He is also the Medical Director of the Capital Health Regional Weight Wise Program and the Scientific Director of the federally-funded Canadian Obesity Network. Past appointments include Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Cardiovascular Obesity Research and Management and Professor of Medicine at the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine at McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada and Director of The Centre for Cardiovascular Obesity Research and Management at the Hamilton General Hospital. Until 2002, he was Professor of Medicine, Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, at the Franz-Volhard-Klinik–Charité in Berlin, Germany. His research focuses on the environmental and biological causes of obesity and an evidence-based approach to managing obese patients. He is also working on the development of novel interventions for treating obese patients and people with a propensity for obesity. Scientific associations of which he is a member include the Canadian, American and International Societies of Hypertension and is a fellow of the Council for High Blood Pressure Research of the American Heart Association. Dr. Sharma is on the editorial boards of several journals and has authored or coauthored more than 230 scientific articles. He has also lectured widely on the etiology and management of hypertension, obesity, and related cardiovascular disorders. Dr. Sharma graduated from the Free University Berlin, Germany and holds postdoctoral degrees in internal medicine and nephrology.

www.drsharma.ca

Dr. Hermann Toplak

After graduating with a M.D. from the University of Graz in 1984, Dr. Hermann Toplak went into military training with aeromedicine before becoming a resident in Laboratory Medicine, at the Metabolism Unit of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Graz. He then was a resident in Surgery and Internal Medicine in the General Hospital of Rottenmann, Austria as well as a Resident at the Metabolism Unit of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Berne, Switzerland. Since 1988 he is working in the department of Medicine at the Karl-Franzens-University, Graz, where in 1990 he became the Head of the Metabolism Unit. Since October 1997 he is also a Specialist for Endocrinology and Metabolism and Associate Professor of Medicine. Dr. Toplak is in charge of the entire Medical Curriculum in Internal medicine at the Medical University Graz. He is a member of various national and international associations such as the Austrian Obesity Association, where he was President from 1997-2000 and is the present Treasurer since 2004, and the Austrian Diabetic Association, where he is a Council Member since 2005. Since 2001 he is the Austrian representative in the General Council of IASO and since 2006 he is the Regional Vice President for Middle Europe of EASO. As a member of various organising committees he has played a vital role in the organisation of several national and European congresses. He is one of the Founding Fellows of the Specialist Certification of Obesity Professional Education programme. Dr. Toplak has published numerous papers covering the whole field of obesity and the metabolic syndrome including nutritional aspects and genetic basis of disease and complications and reviews the following journals: European Journal for Clinical Nutrition, European Jounal for Clinical Investigation, Diabetic Medicine, International Journal of Obesity, Diabetologia, Diabetes Obesity and Metabolism, Austrian Nationalbank, Israelic National Fund, various Austrian journals.

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