Speaker Bios

Louis J. Aronne, M.D., is Clinical Professor of Medicine at Weill-Cornell Medical College and has an adjunct appointment at Columbia University Medical College. He is Director of the Comprehensive Weight Control Program, a state-of-the-art, multidisciplinary obesity research and treatment Center in New York City and is President-Elect of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity. Dr. Aronne is an American College of Physicians fellow and has authored more than 30 papers and book chapters on obesity. In addition, he edited the National Institutes of Health Practical Guide to the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults. Dr. Aronne’s television and radio appearances include The Today Show, Dateline NBC, 20/20, 48 Hours and most other national news programs. In 2001 and 2002, Dr. Aronne appeared on and developed the CBS Early Show’s Weight Off series. He put ABC News staff and viewers on a diet on ABC’s Good Morning America in another long-term series. He is widely relied upon and quoted as an expert in the field of weight research in the news media, including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Good Housekeeping, Redbook, Allure, Cosmopolitan and Men’s Health. He was a founding host of the TV Food Network in 1993 with his nightly show Getting Healthy. His book, Weigh Less, Live Longer, is published by John Wiley and Sons. This guide to healthy living is now in its second printing. Dr. Aronne graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Trinity College and received his M.D. from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Howard Eisenson, M.D., is Program Director of the Duke Diet and Fitness Center and chief of the Obesity Treatment Division in the Department of Community and Family Medicine at Duke University School of Medicine. His research interests include obesity prevention and treatment, health promotion, disease prevention, lifestyle change, medical ethics and doctor-patient communication. Dr. Eisenson joined the faculty at the Duke Family Medicine Center in 1982, where he practiced general family medicine, seeing a broad range of patients with an emphasis on adolescents, geriatric care and psychosocial issues in medical care. In the mid-1980s he was appointed Director of the Duke University Student Health Program, a post he held for seven years. Dr. Eisenson then left the Duke Family Medicine Center to join a family practice in the community. During his years in community practice, he maintained his Duke affiliation by teaching and coordinating lectures on ethics and values in medical practice. He returned to Duke in April 1999 as Medical Director of the Duke Diet & Fitness Center. In August 1999, Dr. Eisenson was appointed Program Director of the Duke Diet & Fitness Center. Dr. Eisenson graduated Summa cum laude with a B.S. degree from Union College, and he earned an M.D. from Duke University School of Medicine.

Eric Finkelstein, Ph.D., is a Health Economist in the Health Economics and Financing Program at RTI International. He also teaches the undergraduate health economics course at Duke University. Before joining RTI, Dr. Finkelstein served as a research scientist and as a fellow with the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research at the University of Washington Department of Family Medicine. His research focuses on the economic causes and consequences of health behaviors with a primary emphasis on behaviors relating to obesity. Dr. Finkelstein has published several peer-reviewed papers in this area. One paper, “National Medical Expenditures Attributable to Overweight and Obesity,” published in Health Affairs, garnered national media attention, including a front-page story in USA Today and coverage in The Economist, Time magazine and the Washington Post. This paper is now routinely cited as a driving motivation to reduce obesity rates. A follow-up paper, published in Obesity Research, quantifies costs of obesity at the state level and also received substantial media attention. Dr. Finkelstein currently leads several projects concerning the causes and consequences of obesity, and he evaluates several obesity prevention programs for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other public and private sector agencies. Dr. Finkelstein received a B.A. in mathematics and economics from the University of Michigan, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in economics and an M.H.A. from the University of Washington, Seattle.

Brian Huber, Ph.D., is Vice President of Biology, Metabolic and Viral Disease Drug Discovery at GlaxoSmithKline. He serves as a professorial lecturer in the department of pharmacology at George Washington University and as Adjunct Professor at Duke University Medical Center, where he teaches molecular oncology. His research focuses on metabolic diseases (diabetes, obesity and aging), cancer, virology (HIV, Hepatitis C, HPV and Herpes) and musculoskeletal diseases. Other research interests include molecular mechanisms in drug design and action in oncology and the application of molecular genetics and biotechnology in drug discovery and development. He serves on the editorial boards of several medical journals, including Gene Therapy and Cancer Molecular Biology, and he serves as a reviewer for multiple medical journals and federal agencies. Dr. Huber received a B.S. in general sciences and biology and an M.S. in biochemistry from Villanova University. He received a Ph.D. in molecular pharmacology with a minor in biochemistry from George Washington University Medical Center.

Walter J. Pories, Jr., M.D., is Professor of Surgery and Biochemistry and Adjunct Professor of Exercise and Sports Medicine at the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University. In addition, he serves as a Clinical Professor of Surgery for the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Pories joined the ECU medical faculty in 1977 and served as the founding chairman of the Department of Surgery until 1996. Well known for his clinical and research findings using gastric bypass surgery to treat diabetes mellitus, he was the first to demonstrate that the surgery cures the disease. The procedure has been dubbed the Greenville Gastric Bypass in recognition of his work. Dr. Pories’ contributions to science began early in his career with the accidental discovery that zinc was an essential element in animal nutrition. Today, his findings about the important role zinc plays in human health are reflected in every mineral and vitamin preparation in infant formulas, in liquid nutritional supplements for the elderly and in prenatal vitamins formulated to prevent birth defects. Dr. Pories served as Vice President of the N.C. Medical Board from 1997 to 2003, and he currently serves on the National Institute of Health's National Task Force on Prevention and Treatment of Obesity and the N.C. Physicians Advisory Group. In 1994, he founded the Eastern Carolina Health Care Organization, which developed the Pitt Community Care Plan, a pilot program that provides health care to Medicaid recipients in eastern North Carolina. In addition, he is editor-in-chief of Current Surgery and serves on the editorial boards of several medical journals, including Obesity Surgery, Journal of Cancer Education and Obesity Research. Dr. Pories has received numerous prestigious teaching awards, including the O. Max Gardner award — The University of North Carolina’s highest faculty honor — in 2001. This award recognized his research and findings on the nutritional needs of children and the elderly, as well as his discoveries concerning morbid obesity and its relevance to adult-onset diabetes. Dr. Pories received a B.A. from Wesleyan University in Connecticut and an M.D. with honor from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry.

Sherée Thaxton M.A., R.D., L.D.N., is a registered dietitian with 16 years experience interpreting complex nutrition and health information for the public. Currently, she serves as the Healthy Weight Initiative Coordinator for the Physical Activity and Nutrition branch of the North Carolina Division of Public Health. Before joining the N.C. Division of Public Health, Ms. Thaxton served the Southeast United Dairy Industry Association, Inc. as a nutrition communicator and public relations program coordinator. She has educated patients and managed medical nutrition therapy programs at The Ohio State University Hospitals and Duke University Medical Center. Ms. Thaxton has provided personal training and nutrition counseling services to clients at North Ridge Country Club and Raleigh Community Hospital’s Cardiac Rehabilitation Center in Raleigh, and she provided medical nutrition therapy and community education services at Venice Hospital, in Venice, Fla. Ms. Thaxton is an active member of the American Dietetic Association, the North Carolina Dietetic Association and the Raleigh District Dietetic Association. She develops and conducts nutrition education programs for educators, health professionals and consumer leaders. As a nutrition communicator, she has conducted hundreds of TV, radio and newspaper interviews throughout central and eastern North Carolina. Ms. Thaxton received a B.S. in dietetics from the University of Kentucky and an M.A. in mass communication from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Dianne Ward, Ed.D., is Professor and Associate Chair of the Department of Nutrition in the School of Public Health and the School of Medicine at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her research focuses on the promotion of physical activity and physical fitness in children and adolescents, including the prevention of childhood obesity. Prior to joining Carolina’s School of Public Health, Dr. Ward was the interim dean at the University of South Carolina School of Public Health, where she was associate dean for four years. Holding academic appointments at both the School of Public Health and the School of Medicine, Dr. Ward was a full professor in the Department of Exercise Science and an adjunct professor in the Department of Pediatrics. She earned a Doctorate of Education and a Master of Science in Physical Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and has worked for nearly 30 years in research and demonstration programs aimed at youth health in school-based and community-based programs. Dr. Ward is principal investigator of a major initiative that focuses on developing community-based strategies to increase children’s physical activity and to reduce pediatric obesity. Get Kids in Action is a $4 million, multi-year partnership funded by the Gatorade Company. She also is principal investigator for two projects that focus on promoting children’s active travel to school. Increasing Non-Motorized Travel to School is a three-year study funded by the National Institutes of Health [NIH], and the National Evaluation of Walk to School Project is a study funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] to assess current trends in child transportation to school. Dr. Ward also is an investigator on the $34 million, multi-center Trial of Activity in Adolescent Girls [TAAG]. Previously, she was head of the intervention team for two other NIH-funded studies: Promotion of Physical Activity in High School Girls [LEAP Program] and Active Winners. She recently completed an obesity prevention study called Girls Rule! that focused on young African-American girls and their mothers.

Eric C. Westman, M.D., M.H.S., is Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine and the Department of Medicine at Duke University. He is Director of the Duke Smoking Research Lab and is a physician and Research Director at the Duke Diet and Fitness Center. His research interests include pharmacologic treatments for smoking cessation and dietary treatments for weight loss. His research funding is from the American Cancer Society, the National Institutes of Drug Abuse and the Robert C. Atkins Foundation. Dr. Westman received a B.A. in history from Stanford University, an M.D. from the University of Wisconsin/Madison, and an M.S. in biometry during a General Medicine Fellowship at Duke University and the Durham VA Medical Center.

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