Distinguished speaker series
COPT fellows have been fortunate to meet and learn from some of the top researchers in the area of obesity and nutrition through an invited distinguished speakers series. The following individuals came to Penn State to give a talk and meet with the fellows in small groups to discuss training, career options, and work-life issues. Thank you to all who have shared your expertise with us:
February 2016-2017
1) Kerri Boutelle, Ph.D., Professor, Pediatrics and Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, spoke on 8/29/16: “Improving and Disseminating Methods for Obesity Treatment.”
2) Sheryl Hughes, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Children’s Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, spoke on 10/10/16: “Parenting Influences on Children’s Eating Self-Regulation.”
February 2015-2016
1) David Allison, PhD, Distinguished Professor, Quetelet Endowed Professor of Public Health Associate Dean for Science of the School of Public Health Director, Office of Energetics; Director, Nutrition Obesity Research Center University of Alabama at Birmingham, spoke on March 3, 2015: “Myths and Presumptions in Obesity: Why do we believe so many unproven things?”
2) Marlene B. Schwartz, PhD, Director, Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity, Professor, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Yale University, spoke on April 20, 2015: “Using Research to Advance Policy Change: The case of the National School Lunch Program”
3) Sheila Fleischhacker, PhD, Senior Public Health and Science Policy Advisor at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Division of Nutrition Research Coordination (DNRC), spoke on May 27, 2015: “The Role of Nutrition Science in Shaping Law and Policy”
4) Martin Yeomans, PhD, Professor of Experimental Psychology, University of Sussex, spoke on July 15, 2015: “Satiety: The Integration of Cognition, Sensory, and Nutritional signals”
5) Corby Martin, PhD, Associate Professor of Ingestive Behavior, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University, spoke on November 30: “Remote Interventions for Health Improvement and the Effect of Exercise on Energy Balance”
February 2014-2015
1) Simone French, PhD, Professor, Division of Epidemiology & Community Health, School of Public Health Director, University of Minnesota Obesity Prevention Center University of Minnesota, spoke on 5/28/14 on “Linking Primary Care, Communities and Families to Prevent Obesity in Low-Income Preschoolers: The NET-works Study?”
2) Leonard H. Epstein, PhD, Department of Pediatrics, SUNY Distinguished Professor and Chief, Behavioral Medicine, University of Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, spoke on 9/8/14 on “Reinforcement Pathology and Obesity”
3) Kathleen Rasmussen, PhD, Professor of Nutrition in the Division of Nutritional Sciences International Professor of Nutritional Sciences Cornell University spoke on 9/22/14 on “Gestational Weight Gain Guidelines: New Directions, New Controversies, and Recent Results”
4) Jennifer Temple, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Nutrition and Exercise Sciences and Department of Community Health and Health Behavior, SUNY University at Buffalo, spoke on 11/11/14 on “A Professional’s Life in Academia”
5) Dianne Stanton Ward, EdD, Professor, Department of Nutrition, Director, Intervention and Policy Division Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill spoke on 12/8/14 on “Fewer chicken nuggets and more active play time: Dissemination and implementation of the NAP SACC Program to create healthy environments in child care”
6) Katie Lacy, PhD, Lecturer in Nutritional Sciences, School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Australia, spoke on 12/10/14 on “Childhood Obesity in Australia”
7) Elsie Taveras, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Pediatrics Chief, Division of General Pediatrics, Director, Pediatric Population Health Management, Massachusetts General Hospital, spoke on 1/12/15 on “Childhood Obesity Disparities: The Importance of Prevention in Early Life”
8) David Thivel, PhD, Assistant Professor, Laboratory of Metabolic Adaptations to Exercise under Physio-Pathological Conditions (AME2P), Université Clermont, Clermont-Ferrand, France, spoke on 1/27/15 on “Nutritional Adaptations to Exercise in Children and Adolescents: Implications for Pediatric Obesity?”
February 2013-2014
1) Steven Heymsfield, MD, Executive Director, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, spoke on 2/14/13 on “How Does Human Energy Metabolism Relate to Body Size?
2) Kirsten Davison, PhD, Donald and Sue Pritzker Associate Professor of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, spoke on 4/2/2013 on “Balancing Science and Social Justice in Family-Centered Childhood Obesity Prevention”
3) Julie Mennella, PhD, Director Emeritus, Monell Science Apprenticeship Program (MSAP), Monell Chemical Senses Center, spoke on 9/23/2013 on “The Flavor World of Childhood”
4) Jessica Haines, PhD, MHSc, Assistant Professor in the Dept. Family Relations & Applied Nutrition at the University of Guelph spoke on 10/17/2013 on “Healthy Habits, Healthy Homes: Improving Household Routines”
5) Ellyn Satter, MS, RDN, LCSW, BCD, Ellyn Satter Institute, spoke on 10/25/14 on “Early Child Feeding and the Division of Feeding Responsibility”
6) Madeleine Sigman-Grant, PhD, MCH, Area Nutrition Specialist and Professor, Cooperative Extension, University of Nevada-Reno, spoke on 11/5/2013 on “Mealtimes in Child Care: A potential avenue for obesity prevention in young children”
February 2012-2013
1) William H. Dietz, MD, PhD, Director, Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity, CDC, spoke on 5/4/12 on “Progress and Challenges in Effecting Social Change around Obesity”
2) Sharon M. Donovan, PhD, RD, Melissa M. Noel Endowed Chair, Nutrition and Health, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign spoke on 9/17/12 on “Non-invasive Approaches to Study Host-Microbe Interactions in the Developing Human Intestine”
3) Jennifer Orlet Fisher, PhD, RD, Associate Professor of Public Health Center for Obesity Research and Education, Temple University spoke on 10/18/12 on “Obesogenic Environments and Appetite in Young Children: Does Self-regulation Work?”
February 2011-2012
1) Jim O. Hill, PhD, Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at the University of Colorado, Executive Director, Anschutz Health and Wellness Center; Director, Colorado, Nutrition Obesity Research Center (NORC); Director, Center for Human Nutrition, spoke on 2/7/2012 on “What Will It Really Take to Reverse the Obesity Epidemic?”
2) Barry E. Levin, MD, Interim Chair, Department of Neurology and Neurosciences at and Professor at Rutgers spoke on 10/24/11 on “Obesity and the Brain: Development, Environmental and Genetic Factors that Affect Energy Homesostatis”