ObesityWeek Interactive will highlight latest research, COVID-19 connections
This year’s newly named ObesityWeek Interactive will highlight an all-virtual format, offering attendees the latest clinical trials, basic science and public policy research, along with a special focus on the impact of COVID-19.
The 38th annual ObesityWeek, convened by The Obesity Society (TOS), will take place Monday through Friday online at www.obesityweek.org. For the first time this year, on-demand materials and other elements of the interactive conference will remain available online through Dec. 31.
“Aside from the virtual move, this is also an opportunity for us to reengage as a society anew,” Matthew Hayes, PhD, an associate professor of nutritional neuroscience, vice chair of basic and translational neuroscience and director of the molecular and neural basis of psychiatric disease section at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, and a co-chair of the TOS Program Planning Committee, told Healio. “Historically, there are a number of competing conferences that happen at the same time. The Obesity Society was able to stay in front of the pandemic and put together a very nice virtual meeting, rather than cancel.”
This year’s meeting will present approximately 570 abstracts in addition to scientific presentations, keynote lectures and networking events. The meeting offers nurses, dietitians, mental health professionals, physicians and researchers the opportunity to connect and share their specialized expertise and concentrations.
This year’s agenda also includes nearly 40 abstracts focused specifically on COVID-19 and obesity.
“In spite of the challenges of the pandemic and COVID-19 in general, what we have done is been very proactive from early summer on how we would transition this to a virtual meeting, which, aside from presenting cutting-edge science, should also reinject the synergy that happens when people from a wide variety of areas come together,” Jaime Almandoz, MD, MBA, medical director of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center’s Weight Wellness Program, assistant professor in the department of internal medicine, and co-chair of the TOS Program Planning Committee, told Healio. “Our virtual platform helps to recreate some of those interactions. That way, we can do what we do best, which is network and tackle obesity as a disease.”
Organizers noted several highlights for this year’s meeting:
This year’s meeting will open with a newly organized presidential plenary session, with a diverse group of 10-minute talks on emerging issues in obesity science, policy and care. Speakers include Sadaf Farooqi, MBChB (Hons), PhD, FRCP, FMedSci, DSc (genetics of obesity resistance), Carel Le Roux, MD, PhD (treating obesity as a disease), Daniel J. Drucker, MD (challenges of obesity drug development), Ania Jastreboff, MD, PhD (obesity and viral infections), and more.
This year will feature nine key lectures, on topics ranging from individualized pharmacotherapy for obesity, to the role of adipose tissue in metabolic health, to the latest updates for polycystic ovary syndrome. On Monday, Danielle E. Jake-Schoffman, PhD, and Sherry Pagoto, PhD, will lead the first key lecture discussion on leveraging social media for health behavior change at 2:30 p.m.
Abstracts focused on obesity and COVID-19 will highlight topics such as the effects of the pandemic lockdown on lifestyle behaviors in children with obesity, the effect of obesity and metabolic disease on the severity of COVID-19 infection, and a multicenter study on the association of BMI with outcomes in critically ill patients with COVID-19.
“A few clinical trials have recently wrapped up with new pharmacotherapies that are coming along in the approval process for obesity treatment, in the U.S. and in Europe, that will be presented for the first time,” Hayes said. “We also have a lot of basic science discoveries that are gaining a lot of attention. We tried to balance having the world leaders in the research field present their findings alongside having the next generation of leaders.”
The conference will feature two channels with real-time, concurrent programming, along with a chat board for a live Q&A after each presentation. This year’s meeting also offers the opportunity for virtual roundtables and breakout sessions, Hayes said.
“This is helpful to discuss these findings that are happening now, but are not ready for full publication,” Hayes said. “This is how you spawn new ideas — through collaboration and conversation.”
The Healio and Endocrine Today staff will provide coverage from ObesityWeek, including reports on the sessions and exclusive interviews. For more information on the ObesityWeek agenda and registration, visit www.obesityweek.org.
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