Who We Are

Obesity International Trading Ltd is managed by an experienced Board of Directors who are some of the most influential scientists and clinicians in the field of obesity and its related disorders.  Our staff have extensive experience of congress management and have a clear understanding of the specific requirements of International Medical Associations.

Board of Directors

Chairman

Dr. David York

Dr. David York is the USTAR Director for the Center for Advanced Nutrition at Utah State University in Logan, Utah.  He joined USU on August 1st 2006 after spending 16 years at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, a part of Louisiana State University, where he was Associate Executive Director for Basic Research for much of that time. Prior to this he had a faculty position in the University of Southampton Medical School in England. Dr York has been President of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity  (NAASO) and currently is Treasurer and Executive Council member of the International Association for the Study of Obesity (IASO). His major research interests are in animal models of obesity, central and peripheral mechanisms controlling food intake and macronutrient selection, the biology of enterostatin, the glucocorticoid-dependence of animal obesities and the role of exercise in preventing neurodegeneration.

Board Members

Professor Arne Astrup

Professor Arne Vernon Astrup, M.D., Dr.Med.Sci., Degree in Medicine, 1981 and Doctorate in Medical Science, 1986, Faculty of Medicine, University of Copenhagen. Head of The Department of Human Nutrition at The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University in Frederiksberg, Denmark and Chair in Nutrition, 1990. Honours received include the André Mayer Award 1994 and the Danone Chair in Nutrition at The University of Antwerp 2002. Arne Astrup was made Knight of the Order of Dannebrog, Denmark in 1999.

Professor Philip James

Philip James, the President of IASO, established the first obesity research group at the MRC Dunn Clinical Nutrition Centre, Cambridge, UK, in the early 1970s. He wrote the first UK government report on obesity in 1976 and the Royal College of Physicians report in 1983.

In 1996 he established the International Obesity TaskForce (IOTF), which provided the first global analysis on the obesity epidemic for the WHO expert consultation on obesity in 1997, and was the basis of the WHO’s first report on the prevention and management of obesity. He also developed the proposition that Asians are more sensitive to the health impact of weight gain convening an IOTF symposium which informed subsequent WHO expert recommendations.

In 2005 he established the Global Prevention Alliance for combating chronic disease and has undertaken the development of strategic Alliance national groups to support the implementation of the WHO Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health.

Professor Ian Macdonald

Ian Macdonald is Professor of Metabolic Physiology, Co-Director of the Institute of Clinical Research and Director of Research in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Nottingham.  He is also Editor of the International Journal of Obesity and Chair of the Finance Committee of IASO.

Professor Yuji Matsuzawa

Yuji Matsuzawa MD, PhD is currently Director of Sumitomo Hospital and Emeritus Professor of Osaka University. He graduated from Osaka University Medical School in 1966. His research interest include Obesity, Adipocyte biology, Atherosclerosis, Lipids and Lipoproteins.

Professor Matsusawa is the winner of the 2006 IASO Willendorf Award for outstanding clinical contributions to the field of obesity.

Staff

Caroline Small - Executive Director

Una Murray - Director of Finance

Marco Presutto - Conference Manager

Estelle Challe - Conference Manager

Louisa Richards - Project Co-ordinator