Gary Foster, Ph.D., director of the Center for Obesity Research and Education and professor of medicine and public health at Temple University’s College of Health Professions and School of Medicine, was appointed president of the Obesity Society for 2008 at the organization’s annual scientific meeting in New Orleans.
In his new role as president, Foster, an internationally renowned obesity researcher who investigates the behavioral and biological effects of dieting and weight loss, will work to promote the Obesity Society’s mission of preventing and treating obesity through research, education and advocacy.
At the helm of CORE, Foster has brought several ongoing National Institutes of Health studies to Temple that total to more than $4 million per year. He currently chairs the largest school-based obesity prevention trial in the country, which focuses on reducing both obesity and the risk of type-2 diabetes in children by changing the food service and physical education environments in middle schools.
The study is being conducted in 42 schools at seven sites across the United States and targets schools where at least half the students are minorities and at least half qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.
“Obesity is the most pressing public health problem of our time, and the Obesity Society is ideally poised to make a difference in understanding, preventing and treating obesity and advocating for those who suffer from it,” Foster said.
The Obesity Society is the leading scientific society dedicated to the study of obesity. Since 1982, the Obesity Society has been committed to encouraging research on the causes, treatment and prevention of obesity as well as to keeping the scientific community and public informed of new advances in the field. The Obesity Society’s 2,000 members are basic and clinical researchers as well as healthcare professionals involved in preventing and treating obesity.
