Judith S. Stern, Sc.D., R.D., is Vice-President and Co-Founder of the American Obesity Association.
Dr. Stern is Program Co-Director of a nutrition training grant and Director of a Clinical Nutrition Unit Sub-Core Laboratory funded by National Institutes of Health. She has been a member of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases' Obesity Task Force Advisory Committee (1995-2002).
She has focused her
research on the many aspects of obesity, including relationships to fat cell size, insulin
levels, diet composition, food intake and aging. She also has studied behavioral aspects
of weight maintenance, such as the importance of family support in weight loss and the
success of dieters who develop their own weight loss programs.
Dr. Stern has published over 200 research papers in professional journals and over 150 articles in popular magazines. She is an Editorial Advisor for Prevention and Weight Watchers magazines, and is on the scientific advisory board of Weight Watchers International.
Dr. Stern received her bachelor's degree in Foods and Nutrition with honors from Cornell University and her Master of Science and Doctor of Science degrees in Nutrition from the Harvard University School of Public Health. In 1969, she became a Research Associate at The Rockefeller University in the Department of Human Behavior and Metabolism and was subsequently promoted to Assistant Professor. She joined the University of California at Davis in 1975 as an assistant professor.
She is a member of numerous professional organizations, including the American Society for Clinical Nutrition (ASCN), the American Society for Nutrition Sciences (ASNS), the American Dietetic Association, the American Council on Science and Health, the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior, and the North American Association for the Study of Obesity (NAAS0). She served as President of NAASO (1992-93) and the American Society of Clinical Nutrition (1996-97).
She chaired a committee on setting criteria for evaluation of obesity treatment programs for Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences (Weighing The Options, NAS Press, 1995).
Dr. Stern has received numerous awards. In October, 1995, she was elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine. In Spring 1995, UC Davis recognized her public service with an Award for Distinguished Public Service. In Spring 1996, the California Dietetic Association gave her an award for excellence in research.
