Dear Colleagues:

I hope that Spring has sprung where you are, or will soon.

Annual Meeting
I'm pleased to report that the planning for the Annual Scientific Meeting in Phoenix is going extremely well. I encourage you to review the superb program that the Program Committee has organized and confirmed. It is impressive indeed.

Our abstract deadline is just about a month away (April 22nd). The abstracts drive the program, along with our distinguished invited speakers. So please urge your colleagues and students to submit their best work.

Our website has a new name!
As many of you may have noticed, www.naaso.org is now www.obesity.org . The name change is an important step in streamlining our image and making communications a little less complex. The old URL (www.naaso.org) redirects users to the new URL (www.obesity.org) so that our online presence is not affected. Staff email addresses have also been changed from @naaso.org to @obesity.org, though both addresses will continue for the immediate future to ensure no lapse in operational functionality.

Welcome to new staff!
As the Obesity Society enters its 26th year, our national office needs to be responsive to the ever-changing and complex landscape of obesity research, education, treatment, prevention and advocacy. Under Morgan Downey's leadership, I am pleased to announce two additions to our national staff.

Irina Zabello has been hired as our new Director of Finance and Administration, starting Monday, March 10. This is a new position for the Obesity Society and Irina will be leading efforts to streamline the Society's internal operations and provide a greater level of service to our members. Before joining the Obesity Society she worked for the Association for Enterprise Opportunity as a Managing Director for HR and Operations managing HR, Finance, and the company's operations. She is certified in Basic Accounting by the USDA and holds her Master's in Biology. Irina resides with her husband and two sons in Burke, VA.

Jane Pratt recently joined as Director of Communications. In this position, Jane will oversee communication and marketing efforts, including the website and public affairs. She most recently worked at Clarabridge, Inc., a data mining and business intelligence firm in Reston, VA. Prior to this, Jane was Director of Product and Programming at Time Warner Cable, handling marketing, communications and product and programming responsibilities. She served at the American Red Cross for nine years, developing the website and handling editorial, print, and communications responsibilities. Jane has a BA in French Language and Literature from Liverpool University and has spent time teaching in France. She lives in Herndon, VA with her husband and daughter.

We are delighted to have Irina and Jane as part of our team, and I hope you get the chance to interact with each of them soon.

Gary Foster
President, The Obesity Society

Abstract submission for The Obesity Society's 2008 Annual Scientific Meeting - October 3-7, 2008, in Phoenix, AZ - is now open. The Society uses an online system for scientific abstract creation, submission, review, and publication. This system is fully integrated with the online Live Learning Center and streamlines the processes by which investigators create and submit their abstracts. All accepted abstracts will be published online as well as in print.

For 2008, the submission fee is $50 per abstract. Visit the login page for The Obesity Society's Abstract Submission site at: www.softconference.com/naaso/2008abstr acts.asp. If you established an Abstract Submission Account in this system for a previous Obesity Society Annual Scientific Meeting and are using the same email address, you will not have to establish a new account in 2008. Simply use the "Register/Password Reminder" section to receive an email reminding you of your password. This will save you time and will allow you to quickly begin creating your new abstracts.

It is important to download the Instructions for Authors, General Guidelines for Submission, and Guidelines for Avoiding Pejorative Language and Images files that appear on the main page of the Abstract Submission Site. For 2008, there are new abstract submission categories and a new review/verification step prior to paying for and submitting your abstract.

The deadline for final submission of all abstracts is 11:59 PM (23:59), Eastern Time, on Tuesday, April 22, 2008. THERE WILL NOT BE A LATE SUBMISSION PERIOD.

The Society has several open positions and nominations will be accepted up until May 2, 2008. Open positions include President-Elect, Vice-President, Secretary/Treasurer and two positions on Council, as well as two positions on the Nominating Committee.

If you or your colleagues are interested in these offices, please email or fax your nomination by May 2nd, 2008 to the attention of Rhesia Pittman at: rpittman@obesity.org, 301-563-6595, or send by mail to: 8630 Fenton Street, Suite 814, Silver Spring, MD 20910.

Dear Colleagues;

As a fellow health services researcher with an interest in improving the quality of health care in obesity; we would like to invite you to express your support for a Health Services Research section of The Obesity Society. The Obesity Society Annual Meeting provides a wealth of critical information on the assessment, treatment, and management of obesity; however, we feel the Society and the annual meeting could be enhanced by integrating some health services research seminars, workshops, forums, etc. Therefore, we are proposing this new section that will build upon the clinical research being conducted in obesity and start a movement toward applying the results of effectiveness research to health plan, provider, and patient opportunities to improve care. We believe this section will provide opportunities to share information on innovative and successful initiatives that address the roles of the health care system in meeting the needs of the obese population; as well as provide a forum to explore research collaborations.

In order to formally request this section be approved by The Obesity Society, we need to secure statements of interest from at least 25 members. Thus, if you are interested in supporting this section, and joining it, should it get approved, we are asking that you contact Sarah Sampsel via email to procure the necessary form to make your statement by Friday, April 25th. (email:sampsel@ncqa.org)

We sincerely hope you will consider this invitation and have an interest in signing on as a charter member of the proposed Health Services Research Section of The Obesity Society. Should you have any questions about this invitation or have any suggestions for section objectives, please contact any of us listed below. We also encourage you to forward this invitation to others that may be interested.

Sarah Sampsel: sampsel@ncqa.org; 505-995- 9794
David Arterburn: arterburn.d@ghc.org; 206-287-4610
Trina Histon: trina.histon@kp.org; 510-271-2667, 8- 423- 2667

The Obesity Society provided comments to the National Committee on Quality Assurance (NCQA) on two of its 2009 Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) measures related to obesity.

In response to the Body Mass Index (BMI) Assessment (for adults) measure, TOS Executive Vice President Morgan Downey said, "The Society strongly supports the proposed measure. Obesity is perhaps the most serious chronic disease, which is largely untreated by the medical community. It is all too clear that many physicians and patients avoid discussions about body weight. Little can be accomplished if the conversation never begins." Downey also comments that though the measure is modest, it is an important first step towards encouraging open and meaningful discussions between doctor and patient.

Responding to the Body Mass Index (BMI) Percentile Assessment and Counseling for Nutrition and Physical Activity (for children/adolescents) measure, Downey added, "The Society strongly supports the proposed measure for assessing Body Mass Index (BMI) in members of plans aged 2-17 and providing nutrition and physical activity counseling. Obesity is perhaps the fastest growing chronic disease among children and adolescents. It has profound adverse health and developmental effects. For these reasons, it is critical that assessing BMI and counseling should begin as early as possible in expectation of avoiding later and more complicated problems."

For more information about these and other 2009 proposed HEDIS measures, please visit www.ncqa.org.

On March 3, 2008, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued proposed guidance for the developers of drugs to treat diabetes. The comment period is 60 days, ending May 2, 2008.

One part of the proposed guidance specifically addresses the effect of weight loss on diabetes. The proposal states, "In recent years, the FDA has recommended to sponsors of weight-loss products seeking an indication for the treatment of type 2 diabetes that they should demonstrate that the product's effect on glycemic control is independent of weight loss. The FDA has reconsidered the necessity of this recommendation. The FDA's current thinking is that a sponsor can gain approval for the treatment of type 2 diabetes for a drug or biologic, whose principal mechanism of action appears to be weight loss, by showing a clinically meaningful and statistically significant improvement in glycemia."

The state of Massachusetts is poised to adopt a bill that would protect its residents from workplace weight discrimination. Proposed House Bill 1844 prohibits employers from discriminating against people based on either height or weight. If passed, the state will become only the second state in the country - after Michigan - to enact such a law.

For more information about this legislation, please visit http://www.mass.gov/legis/bills/house/ 185/ht01pdf/ht01844.pdf.

MIDWEST REGION
Melissa Nelson, PhD
University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota School of Public Health is home to a wide array of obesity-related epidemiologic research programs that offer students many opportunities for doctoral-level training. Beginning in fall 2008, the PhD program offerings will be modified to reflect the more rigorous methodological and research skills students will need to be leaders in this field. The Epidemiology PhD program now offers formal tracks in social/behavioral epidemiology (SBE) and clinical/biological epidemiology (CBE) for students interested in research and teaching careers in the health sciences. For more information, please go to http://www.sph.umn.edu/education/epiphd/hom e.html

WESTERN REGION
Judith S. Stern, PhD
University of California at Davis

California
Elsa Ramirez-Brisson (Food FUNdamentals) is doing research on the food habits of six to seven year olds in the first grade. She is using Atlas-ti for the qualitative analysis and is wondering if anyone else is working this age group, theme and/or using computer- assisted qualitative analysis software. Elsa can be reached at: (831)-753-7071 or (831) 449-4082, elsa@foodfundamentals.net.

Colorado
The University of Colorado Denver and the Center for Human Nutrition hosted a three- day conference entitled, "Recent Advances and Controversies in the Measurement of Energy Metabolism" (RACMEM), in February. The conference was co-organized by Paul MacLean and Edward Melanson. The meeting was attended by over 180 scientists from around the world. There were informal discussions regarding problems and troubleshooting whole room indirect calorimeters. Although most of the attendees work with human room calorimeters, there were several individuals who work with animal systems. It was suggested that we develop an online forum where individuals could log in and connect with each other. This forum is for builders, operators, investigators and everyone else closely involved with room calorimetry. Individuals interested in joining the forum should send an email to Edward Melanson (ed.melanson@uchsc.edu).