Scientific Advisory Board

James O. Hill, Ph.D., is Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at the University of Colorado Denver in Denver, Colorado. Dr. Hill also serves as the Director of the Center for Human Nutrition, a nutrition center funded by the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Hill has published more than 200 scientific articles and book chapters on obesity. His research investigates how diet and physical activity influence body weight and how high fat diet and inactivity may contribute to the current global epidemic of obesity. Dr. Hill is a cofounder of the National Weight Control Registry, a registry of individuals who have been successful in maintenance of a reduced body weight. He is the recipient of a prestigious MERIT award from NIH and a former president of The North American Association for the Study of Obesity (NAASO – now called The Obesity Society). Dr. Hill is a member of the editorial boards of Obesity Research, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, The International Journal of Obesity and Editor-in-Chief of Obesity Management. Dr. Hill is co-founder of America on the Move, a national weight gain prevention initiative. He also established The Colorado Weigh, a behavioral weight management program that is offered to the public and he wrote the Step Diet Book (2004). To review research, please click here.

Jarol Boan, M.D., M.P.H., is an Associate Professor of Medicine at the Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Boan had been affiliated with the Duke University Diet & Fitness Center and she is board certified as a Physician Nutrition Specialist with the American Board of Nutrition. Dr. Boan received the American Society of Clinical Nutrition salary award for Physician Nutrition Specialists. Dr. Boan is an expert on the assessment of co-morbidities in the overweight, determination of medical risk, and evaluation of psychological status that can compromise successful outcomes. She is a popular and highly regarded speaker for many Continuing Medical Education courses on obesity treatment. Her research interests are behavioral determinants of successful weight loss, evidence-based obesity treatment, and obesity health policy research. She focuses on techniques of lifestyle change and behavior modification and is a strong advocate for appropriate treatment of people with obesity. To review research, please click here.

Denise E. Wilfley, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychiatry, Pediatrics, Medicine, and Psychology at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, where she also serves as the Director of the Weight Management and Eating Disorder Program at Washington University School of Medicine. She has held faculty positions at Yale University and San Diego State University as well as her current appointment with Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Wilfley is funded by the NIH in a programmatic line of research examining the causes, prevention, and treatment of eating disorders and obesity among children, adolescents, and adults. She is actively involved in several multi-center psychological treatment trials for patients with eating disorders and obesity as well as individuals at risk for the development of eating disorders. Dr. Wilfley has published over 100 original peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and reviews, and she has received numerous awards for her work, including an NIMH FIRST Independent Research Award and a Midcareer Investigator Award in Patient Oriented Research. Dr. Wilfley serves on the editorial boards of Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, the International Journal of Eating Disorders, the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, the Journal of Cognitive Therapy, Body Image, Current Nutrition Reviews, and Obesity Research. She is the Membership Selection Chair and on the board of directors of the Eating Disorders Research Society and a Fellow of both the Academy for Eating Disorders and the North American Association for the Study of Obesity. To review research, please click here.

Georgia Kostas, M.P.H., R.D., L.D., is the founder and former director of the nutrition program at Cooper Clinic. She is the author of The Cooper Clinic Solution to the Diet Revolution (a revised edition of The Balancing Act Nutrition and Weight Guide) and The Guilt-Free Comfort Food Cookbook. She is a contributing author to many other books, including several by Dr. Kenneth Cooper Her specialties include preventive and cardiovascular nutrition, weight control, wellness, and sports nutrition. Ms. Kostas received the "Sports and Cardiovascular Nutritionists National Achievement Award" from the American Dietetic Association (ADA) in 1990 and is the ADA’s liaison to the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports. In 2007, Ms. Kostas received the ADA’s Medallion Award, the highest award given by the ADA to those who make the greatest contributions to advancing the nutrition profession. Ms. Kostas currently provides nutrition consulting, counseling and presentations as the owner of Georgia Kostas Nutrition Associates, Inc. To review research, please click here.

Dennis Styne, M.D., is a professor of pediatric medicine at UC Davis. He is a pediatrician and pediatric endocrinologist interested most specifically in disorders of the endocrine system in childhood, but more widely in issues of maternal and child health. Much of Dr. Styne's basic research relates directly to the study of pathophysiologic therapy in endocrine disease. He has had NIH funded basic studies and published both original research papers and clinical chapters on endocrine diseases. To review research, please click here.

Wolfgang Siegfried, M.D., is Clinical Director of the Insula Rehabilitation Center for Morbidly Obese Adolescents in Berchtesgaden, Germany. He has been responsible for the “Morbid Obesity” part of Germany’s guidelines for pediatric obesity treatment since 2000. Dr. Siegfried has served as a board member of the German Obesity Association for Children and Adolescents since 1996. He is also a founding member of the first German Obesity Foundation where he also serves on the board. Dr. Siegfried is a board certified internist and pulmono­logist with a special interest in morbid obesity and sleep apnea syndrome. He co-authored a film on Obesity Prevention for public schools in Germany , which focuses on discrimination of obese adolescents, as an aggravating factor. Dr. Siegfried is a contributing author to several German books on obesity and internal medicine and to the first Brazilian textbook on obesity. To review research, please click here.

Susan Bartlett, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She has published research on depression, arthritis, and weight control in such journals as ­­Pediatrics, Annals of Internal Medicine, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, and Journal of the American Medical Association. Dr. Bartlett’s research has been awarded citations by the American College of Rheumatology, the American Thoracic Society, and the Society of Behavioral Medicine. To review research, please click here.

Dr. Elissa Jelalian, M.D., is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and a staff psychologist at the Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center and the Weight Control and Diabetes Research Center. Her research program focuses on development and implementation of weight control interventions for children and adolescents. She is currently completing a randomized controlled trial evaluating the efficacy of a novel peer intervention in enhancing standard cognitive behavioral weight control treatment for adolescents. Previous funding includes a trial that served as a pilot for the current investigation. Dr. Jelalian has been a co-investigator on studies funded through NIH and the American Dietetic Association to develop interventions targeting weight gain prevention in young school age children, and has also been involved with state-wide efforts to develop policy to promote healthier school nutrition and physical activity environments. Dr. Jelalian currently serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Pediatric Psychology and the Journal of Family Psychology. To review research, please click here.