Xavier Pi-Sunyer Award
Kevin Williams, PhD
Associate Professor
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
The Xavier Pi-Sunyer Award recognizes a mid-career investigator who is making an innovative and impactful contribution to obesity research, treatment, or clinical care. The award was established to honor Professor Xavier Pi-Sunyer, MD, FTOS, a founding member of The Obesity Society. His dedicated service to the obesity community includes his work in understanding the physiology of obesity, developing new treatments, and developing the first obesity treatment guidelines.
Thomas A. Wadden Award for Distinguished Mentorship
Carlos Grilo, PhD, FTOS
Professor
Yale University
Created in 2015, the award honors a TOS member for distinguished mentorship of the Society’s early career investigators. The award is named for Professor Thomas A. Wadden, PhD, who mentored many individuals who went on to pursue successful careers in obesity research and clinical care.
TOPS Research Achievement Award
Paolo Piaggi, PhD, FTOS
Scientist
National Institutes of Health – NIDDK
The TOPS Research Achievement Award is for singular achievement or contribution to research in the field of obesity and made possible through an annual grant from the Take Off Pounds Sensibly (TOPS) Foundation.
Jules Hirsch Innovation Award
Michele Patel, PhD
Instructor
Stanford University
The Innovation award recognizes an early-career investigator whose novel work will significantly impact the field of obesity.
Friends of Albert (Mickey) Stunkard
Lifetime Achievement Award
Barbara Rolls, PhD, FTOS
Professor and Guthrie Chair in Nutritional Sciences
The Pennsylvania State University
The Friends of Albert (Mickey) Stunkard Lifetime Achievement Award is designed to recognize an individual who has made a commitment to the field of obesity in terms of scholarship, mentorship, and education.
Atkinson Stern Award for Distinguished Public Service
Lawrence Cheskin, MD, FTOS
Professor
George Mason University
This award was established by a donation from Dr. Thomas A. Wadden to recognize an individual or organization whose work has improved the lives of those affected by obesity, whether through research, public policy, or patient care.
The George L. Blackburn Award for Excellence in Obesity Medicine
Krista A. Varady, PhD
Professor
University of Illinois at Chicago
The award is funded by the George L. Blackburn Foundation for Nutritional Medicine, (GLBFNM ) in honor of George L. Blackburn, MD, PhD, whose long and distinguished career spanned nutrition, and metabolism and obesity, and whose clinical teaching focused on the important role of nutrition in maintaining health and preventing disease. The award recognizes the outstanding contribution of an exceptional mid-career individual in the field who is making significant and innovative contributions to Obesity Medicine in the spirit of the transformational contributions made by Dr. Blackburn during his career.
The George A. Bray Founders Award
Louis Aronne, MD, FTOS
Professor
Weill Center for Metabolic Health
The George A. Bray Founders Award recognizes an individual for significant contributions that advance the scientific or clinical basis for understanding or treating obesity and for extensive involvement with The Obesity Society.
The George A. Bray Doctoral Dissertation Award
Megan Parker, PhD
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
The award recognizes one student for their doctoral dissertation, which is judged on the significance, scope, innovation, and scientific methodology in the field of obesity.
Sarah Corapi, MS
University of Illinois Chicago
Sepideh Sheybani-Deloui, PhD
UT Southwestern Medical Center
Ethan Sims Young Investigator Award
The Ethan Sims Young Investigator Award was established in honor of Ethan Sims, an early pioneer in obesity research, and recognizes excellence in research by young investigators.
Five semifinalists are selected based on their submitted abstracts and are invited to make a presentation during ObesityWeek®. Two recipients are selected based on their oral presentations, one for Basic Science and the other for Clinical Research.
Sarah Corapi
Abstract Title: “Time Restricted Eating for Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Management: A Randomized Controlled Trial”
Sepideh Sheybani-Deloui
Abstract Title: “Gastric Mucosal Response to Caloric Restriction and High-Fat Diet: Protective Role of Depp1”
The Oded Bar-Or Award
Asheley Skinner, PhD
Professor
Duke University
The Oded Bar-Or Award was established in 2007 to honor Oded Bar-Or, a pioneer in children’s health, by the Pediatric Obesity Section of TOS. This award recognizes an individual who has made significant contributions to basic and applied pediatric obesity research that have resulted in major advances in the scientific understanding of etiology, prevention, and treatment of pediatric obesity.
The Clinician of the Year Award
Jaime Almandoz, MD, FTOS
Associate Professor
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
The Clinician of the Year Award was founded by the Clinical Practice Section, formerly known as the Clinical Management of Obesity Section of The Obesity Society. This award signifies excellence in the practice of obesity medicine and distinguishes a physician as having achieved a high level of competency and understanding in obesity care.
The Alison Field Early-Career Award for Excellence in Research in Pediatric Obesity
Cody Neshteruk, PhD
Assistant Professor
Duke University School of Medicine
The Alison Field Early-Career Award for Excellence in Research in Pediatric Obesity is a new award founded in 2024 by the Pediatric Obesity Section of The Obesity Society and recognizes an early-career investigator who has demonstrated a significant contribution in furthering our understanding of the causes, consequences, treatment, or prevention of pediatric obesity.
The Practitioner of the Year Award for Excellence in the Clinical Care
and Management of Obesity
Karlijn Burridge, PA-C, MMS
Director
Healthy4Life
The Practitioner of the Year Award for Excellence in the Clinical Care and Management of Obesity is a new award founded in 2024 by the Clinical Practice Section of The Obesity Society to recognize outstanding service in the evidence-based treatment of obesity by a Nurse Practitioner, Physician Assistant, Clinical Psychologist, or Nutritionist/Dietitian.
The Presidential Medal of Distinction
The Presidential Medal of Distinction was created to honor and recognize the efforts of individuals or organizations who have made an impact on the care of persons with obesity through outstanding and enduring scientific achievements; public service with the aim of improving the health of the public; having made a tenacious and/or bold effort to spotlight obesity-related issues; and advocacy for persons with obesity.
Jeffrey M. Friedman, MD, PhD
Marilyn M. Simpson Professor
Rockefeller University
“In recognition of your significant contributions, including the discovery of leptin, to the field of obesity.”
Dr. Friedman studies the molecular and neural mechanisms that regulate food intake and body weight. Genetic studies in mice led to the identification of leptin, a hormone made by fat tissue that plays a key role in controlling appetite and weight. His current work explores the mechanisms by which leptin regulates energy balance and seeks to identify other key regulators of body weight.
The Friedman lab has identified DNA regulatory sequences and a fat-specific long non-coding RNA that control leptin gene expression. They found that mice with a mutation in this RNA, called LncOb, show increased fat mass with reduced leptin levels. Mice that lack LncOb have lower leptin levels than controls and become more obese on a high fat diet, but show significant weight loss after leptin treatment. These studies suggest that obesity with low leptin levels might respond similarly.
TOS President, Marc-Andre Cornier, MD, FTOS, said “Your work has tremendously advanced our knowledge about understanding normal physiology of body weight regulation and the pathophysiology of the disease obesity.”