2009 Council Elections

Clinical Care Candidates

Martin Binks, PhD
Division of Medical Psychology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC

Frank Greenway, MD
Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Baton Rouge, LA

Background and Experience:
Dr. Martin Binks is Assistant Professor, Division of Medical Psychology, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Duke University Medical Center. He is also Clinical Director and CEO of Binks Behavioral Health PLLC. His professional activities include patient care, research and the development of evidence-based obesity treatment programs for healthcare and corporate wellness environments. Dr Binks is also a consultant to the Army National Guard.

Dr. Binks received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Fairleigh Dickenson University, trained at the Bronx VA Medical Center and completed pre and postdoctoral training at the Medical University of South Carolina. He is the former Director of Behavioral Health, Research, and Strategic Alliances at the Duke Diet & Fitness Center.

Dr. Binks has authored multiple research publications and the book The Duke Diet. His research interests include technology-based healthcare delivery and obesity treatment and related outcomes. He serves as a reviewer on several scientific journals and is a regular contributor to several websites and media outlets.

Service to The Obesity Society:
Dr Binks is active in service to The Obesity Society including Clinical, Development, and Finance Committees, Childhood Obesity Task Force, and he is Chair of the Audit Committee. He has also served as abstract reviewer, session chair and presenter for multiple annual scientific meetings.

Vision for The Obesity Society:
Like so many members of The Obesity Society (TOS) I was introduced to the leaders of the organization by a mentor during my early training and was frankly in awe of the achievements of this core group of scientists. I was impressed by their dedication to ensuring that obesity was treated as a serious medical condition and that top quality obesity research had a home all of its own. Fast forward a little over 10 years and I now work on behalf of the Obesity Society with many of these top professionals, still frequently in awe of their knowledge and achievement. We are all dedicated to helping accomplish the Obesity Society's mission to become the premier organization not only for basic science of obesity, but for all who wish to develop expertise in the evidence-based fight against this burgeoning epidemic. Several years ago, in my first leadership assignment with TOS, I was fortunate to become involved with the Clinical Committee as we developed the clinical/professional track. I along with my peers was heartened to see how this track was so wholeheartedly supported by so many of the 'hard-core' science advocates who saw that by embracing our clinically focused colleagues, by tailoring parts of our meeting to these front-line providers, we not only strengthened our society but we were assisting in launching a full-scale assault on the lack of easy access to evidence-based knowledge in the healthcare arena. Through the society's attention to the translational aspects of obesity research, we are reaching an ever widening circle of clinicians and educators with safe, effective, evidence-based information. In addition to my involvement in the clinical and scientific aspects of the society I have been fortunate to have been able to work as part of the effort to strengthen the society's core financial mission and to serve as Chair of the Audit committee and as a member of the finance committee. This role is particularly rewarding, for no matter how strong the intellectual side of a society is, the mission can never be fulfilled without strong and persistent attention to fiscal responsibility.
In seeking nomination to council in the clinical care position, I hope to continue to work to strengthen the scientist-practitioner model at TOS and to work within the leadership team to help realize the strategic plan that has been so clearly outlined in recent years. I would aspire to provide leadership in continuing to build strong inter-relationships between our clinical and scientific missions and to build on the core financial stability of the organization by seeking new and innovative sources of revenue including expanding the membership base and by increasing the society's relevance to the broadest range of practitioners. Finally, I feel we must never lose site of the primary mission of the society and continue to work to uphold our long-standing tradition of strong science so the next generation of trainees might continue to be in awe of the scientific and clinical excellence of the obesity society and its membership.

Frank Greenway, PhD

Background and Experience:
I am Professor and director of outpatient clinical research at Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana which is a research campus of Louisiana State University. I did my undergraduate work at Stanford University and obtained my medical degree from UCLA. After internship and residency in internal medicine at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, I had an endocrinology and metabolism fellowship at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, finally becoming Chief Resident in Endocrinology and Metabolism. I worked under George Bray in the General Clinical Research Center on a variety of obesity research projects. My research interest has continued to be the treatment of obesity. I had a practice of internal medicine, endocrinology and metabolism in Marina del Rey, California for 20 years before coming to the Pennington Center where I have been directing the outpatient research clinic for 15 years. During my years in practice, I performed clinical trials in the office environment, taught part-time at Harbor-UCLA and directed the research training of some endocrinology fellows. I became a clinical professor of medicine at UCLA before moving to Louisiana.

Service to The Obesity Society:
I have been a fellow in TOS since its inception in 1982, and have served as head of the clinical committee in addition to regularly participating in the TOS annual scientific sessions. I have published more than 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts and more than 30 book chapters. I have been part of the DPP, the Look Ahead trial, and other NIH funded studies in addition to receiving grants from foundations and industry. I not only have experience treating patients, but have experience and ongoing interactions with the diverse elements of the obesity treatment community. I participated in obesity surgical research during my fellowship, did the medical support for the Harbor-UCLA surgical obesity program while in practice, was part of the NIH consensus panel on obesity surgery, the Endocrine Society committee to develop guidelines for the medical treatment of the obesity surgical patient and am now participating in obesity surgical research in Louisiana. I have been an advisor to Jenny Craig for over 20 years and through this association have developed an appreciation of commercial weight loss. I have been involved in pharmaceutical clinical trials to develop new obesity medications, and have acted in an advisory capacity for pharmaceutical companies including Orexigen which has candidate obesity medications in phase III clinical trials. I received the Steelman-Seim award for teaching from the American Society of Bariatric Physicians and have collaborated in publications with their membership. I have a particular interest in the creation of novel foods, nutriceuticals and have acted as a consultant to General Nutrition Corporation.

Vision for The Obesity Society:
I believe that the Obesity Society should be a welcoming environment for all those interested in clinical research including all the diverse groups that deal in obesity therapeutics. Through my interactions and experiences with commercial weight loss, surgical weight loss, the physicians who treat obesity medically, the pharmaceutical industry, the food industry and the dietary herbal supplement industry, I think I am very well qualified for position of clinical counselor to the Obesity Society.

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