Diversity
The overall goal of the Section is to represent the interests of individuals of diverse backgrounds (including but not limited to: race, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation and gender identity) at all levels of The Obesity Society - from Council to representation at the annual meeting.
Goals
- To increase the visibility of Diversity Section activities through the Society's communication tools; including but not limited to: the website, eblasts, and member newsletters.
- To develop a comprehensive Section program for the annual meeting
- To foster a mentoring program within the Society
News
Join the Diversity Section
All section members must be a member of The Obesity Society.
If you are not a member of The Obesity Society, join today. Be certain to select the Diversity Section when completing your profile.
If you are already a member and would like to join the Diversity Section please login to your member profile and select the Diversity Section. Once you have updated your profile, you will receive all communications pertaining to the section.
Please contact Maya Cunningham, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , Education Manager if you have any questions.
Leaders
Nana Gletsu-Miller, PhD (Chair 2012-2013)
Emory University
Atlanta, GA
Dr. Gletsu-Miller is Assistant Professor of Surgery, amd Assistant Professor of School of Public Health, Global Health Trainees. Her work is focused on human and animal studies in obesity. Although it is well recognized that an excess of adipose tissue plays a causal role in the development of several diseases, the mechanisms that link obesity to comorbidities such as insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes are not well understood. She hase been involved in this field since her graduate studies and feels that the increased attention given to obesity prevention and treatment is well warranted given the current, world wide, co-epidemics of obesity and diabetes.
Wanda M. Thompson, PhD (Chair-Elect 2012-2013)
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, NC
Wanda M. Thompson received her PhD in Nursing from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 2010. Her dissertation focused on health disparities and the development of a 12-week church-based physical activity intervention aimed at Black adolescent girls. She is completing a post-doctoral fellowship in interventions to prevent / manage chronic illness at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research interest focuses on increasing physical active of minority girls, especially Black adolescent girls; physical activity measurement and interventions, health disparities, obesity prevention in minority youth. Dr. Thompson is committed to developing and implementing programs aimed at improving health outcomes for young Black women.
Diana Grigsby-Toussaint, PhD, MPH (Secretary/Treasurer, 2012-2013)
University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign
Champaign, IL
Dr. Grigsby-Toussaint is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Kinesiology and Community Health and the Division of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. As a social epidemiologist, her research attempts to elucidate how and why socio-environmental factors influence health. In an effort to explore energy balance behaviors that influence obesity risk among youth and vulnerable populations, recent work has involved: (1) Developing instruments to evaluate marketing and the availability of culturally-specific fruits and vegetables in food stores, (2) Using NASA satellite imagery to explore the influence of access to greenspace on physical activity behaviors of pre-school aged children and (3) Investigating the influence of neighborhood socioeconomic conditions on diabetes and obesity risk among children and adolescents. Dr. Grigsby-Toussaint is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Healthy Eating Research and New Connections Grantee, and is currently co-Investigator on several multi-disciplinary grants including the Illinois Transdisciplinary Obesity Prevention Program (I-TOPP), supported by the USDA, and the Illinois Early Childhood Activity Program (I-CAP) supported by the NIH.
