Dear Colleagues:

Welcome to the May issue of The Obesity Society newsletter. many exciting things are happening at The Obesity Society on multiple fronts. Most recently, we completed our Council Retreat, held in Bethesda, MD, May 20 and 21, and you'll be hearing more about the council decisions shortly. We accomplished a great deal in just two days, including the adoption of our 5-year Strategic Plan. So, look to hear more news about this very soon!

I also wanted to update you on preparations for this year's Annual Scientific Meeting and to share news about how well it's going.

Record Year for Abstracts!
Exciting news! A big thank-you to all those who submitted abstracts by the deadline. I'm very pleased to report that this year, we received 998 abstract submissions--our biggest year yet, and over 30% more than our previous record.

Registration Also Breaks Records!
Early bird registration has also been exceptionally successful this year. Registration is significantly up over last year! This demonstrates not only the importance, relevance and timeliness of the work of our TOS members. If you haven't already done so, I encourage you to sign up now and share in what will be a terrific Annual Scientific Meeting in Phoenix.

Meeting Program
You can see all the details of the meeting from the Advance Program, which is currently in the mail and on its way to you. But, if you can't wait, you can get a sneak peek of the Advance Program posted on the Society's website.

That's all for now. I look forward to seeing you in Phoenix, if not before.

Gary Foster,
President, The Obesity Society

The Obesity Society has joined with the American Dietetic Association, Shaping America's Health, and GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare, LP in filing a petition, April 17, 2008, to the Food and Drug Administration about the unsubstantiated weight loss claims made by manufacturers of natural weight-loss supplements.

Details of the Petition and the Letter to the Commisioner can be found on the Society's website.

• Advance Program
• Registration Information
• Registration Form
• R egistration and Housing Website
• Hotel Information

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) invites applications for cooperative agreements (U01) to conduct two-phase clinical research studies to develop, refine, and test innovative behavioral and/or environmental approaches for weight control in young adults at high risk for weight gain. Weight control interventions can address weight loss, prevention of weight gain, or prevention of excessive weight gain during pregnancy. For the purpose of this funding opportunity, young adults are defined as 18- 35 years of age.

Key Dates

Release/Posted Date: April 8, 2008
Letters of Intent Receipt Date(s): September 10, 2008
Application Due Date(s): October 10, 2008
Peer Review Date(s): February-March 2009
Council Review Date(s): May 2009
Earliest Anticipated Start Date(s): June 2009
Additional Information To Be Available Date (Activation Date): Not Applicable
Expiration Date: October 11, 2008

This funding opportunity is described in more detail at: RFA-HL-08-007: Targeted Approaches to Weight Control for Young Adults (U01)

The Council of the Obesity Society has issued a resolution, which "concludes that it is the official position of The Obesity Society that obesity should be declared a disease. The Obesity Soicety will henceforth refer to obesity as a disease and encourages others to do so." The resolution and a white paper appear in the June 2008 issue of Obesity.

News from the West Judith Stern (jsstern@ucdavis.e du)

CALIFORNIA

Marilyn Ader (University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine) has been asked to become a standing member of the National Institute of Health study on integrative physiology of obesity and diabetes (IPOD) section for a term of five years. IPOD reviews applications in respect to integrative physiology or whole organ cross talk in the setting of diabetes or obesity.

MRC Greenwood has been appointed Director of the Foods for Health Institute at the University of California Davis.

WASHINGTON

Jennifer Lovejoy (Bastyr University and University of Washington School of Public Health) has accepted a new position as Executive Director of Weight and Nutrition Services at Free and Clear, Inc. in Seattle. Free and Clear specializes in delivering telephone and internet-based cognitive-behavioral counseling for lifestyle behaviors, such as smoking cessation and weight loss, to employers, health plans, and state governments. She still maintains her academic affiliations with Bastyr University and University of Washington School of Public Health.

Adam Drewnowski (University of Washington) has been invited to the University of Oxford to participate in their Astor Lecture Series, which invites distinguished academics from the United States to lecture at the University for one week. His lectures will be on nutrition, economics and obesity.

COLORADO

Richard Gay Israel (Colorado State University) announces that the Human Performance Clinical Research Laboratory within the Department of Health and Exercise Science has received designation as a "Program of Research and Scholarly Excellence" (PRSE) at Colorado State University. The PRSE at CSU were initiated in 1991 to recognize those areas within the University that have achieved great distinction and set a standard for excellence. Programs are selected after an extensive nomination and review process that takes place every four years.

OREGON

Bruce Wolfe (Oregon Health and Science University) is one of the six principal investigators for the Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery (LABS). LABS is a National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded consortium that conducts research for clinical, epidemiological, and behavioral research in bariatric surgery. Recently, they have been advised that funding for the consortium will be continued for an additional five years when the present funding expires, (7/01/09 - 6/30/14).

Don't forget to let the National Office know when your information changes so that we can keep the membership records up to date. And also, let us have your email changes so that we can keep you on the mailing list for the newsletter and other important information.