Dike Drummond, MD

Burnout among healthcare providers is a significant issue, with research indicating that over half of physicians and one-third of nurses experience symptoms. Provider burnout can be associated with lower levels of patient satisfaction and higher levels of clinical errors and provider turnover. In this session, Dr. Dike Drummond, a nationally recognized coach and speaker on provider burnout, will discuss how to recognize, prevent and treat burnout in your practice.

• Fill a gaping hole in your medical education around burnout
• Bust three burnout myths to build an effective prevention strategy
• Learn six simple burnout prevention tools to lower your stress this week

Virtually visit the exhibitors and explore the latest technologies, products, and services available to enhance and improve your practice.

Details coming soon!

Anshu Gupta, MD

Polycystic ovarian syndrome is a common obesity-associated endocrinopathy in adolescent girls. In this session, we will discuss challenges associated with making the diagnosis of PCOS in adolescent girls based on current criteria and review common pitfalls in testing. Additionally, participants will develop an individualized treatment plan that specifically addresses the concerns of an adolescent girl diagnosed with PCOS.

• Discuss challenges associated with current criteria for the diagnosis of PCOS in adolescent girls.
• Recognize common pitfalls in the diagnostic laboratory testing for PCOS in adolescent girls.
• Develop an individualized treatment plan to address the concerns of an adolescent girl with PCOS.

Krista Varady, PhD

Fasting regimens have gained considerable popularity during the past decade in light of their beneficial effects on body weight and chronic disease risk indicators. This cutting-edge lecture will review the current findings relating to the effects of alternate day fasting (ADF) and time restricted feeding (TRF) on body weight and obesity related co-morbidities, such as heart disease and diabetes. The safety of intermittent fasting will also be reviewed. Attendees will learn how to implement various forms of intermittent fasting in clinical practice.

• Discuss recent findings relating to the effects of ADF and TRF on body weight, body composition, and metabolic disease risk factors
• Examine the safety of ADF and TRF in patients with obesity
• Describe how to implement intermittent fasting in clinical practice

Ambika Ashraf, MD, FAAP

With the epidemic of childhood obesity, pediatric practitioners are required to provide appropriate management of dyslipidemia that includes testing, assessing risk, and providing treatment. Multiple metabolic comorbities such as insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and hypertension complicate dyslipidemia prevalent in children and adolescents with obesity. This talk will discuss the management approach to the spectrum of dyslipidemia seen in children with obesity.

• Discuss an overview of dyslipidemia in children with obesity
• Assess elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels
• Review the management strategies for elevated triglycerides
• Evaluate mixed dyslipidemia in children and adolescents

Credits: 1 CME/CE
Speaker: Sonali Malhotra, MD

Gain a deeper understanding of the melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) pathway in the hypothalamus and how rare genetic variants can play a role in obesity and hyperphagia. Independent commercial support for this session is provided by Rhythm Pharmaceuticals.

Adarsh Gupta, DO, MS, FACOFP

Muscle energy substrate source vary by activity intensity. In the session, participants will identify the effect different levels of activity on muscle tissue metabolism. Utilizing this understanding, participants will develop safe and effective activity recommendations for patients with obesity.

• Review muscle physiology identified with different activity levels
• Recognize the benefits of physical activity in obesity treatment
• Identify the impact of activity intensity on metabolism and weight
• Provide appropriate exercise recommendations in patients with obesity

Vibha Singhal, MD

The prevalence of pediatric obesity, especially severe obesity continues to rise particularly among minority groups. The treatment of pediatric obesity is crucial as it have severe metabolic and psychosocial consequences. The current common approach of treatment of pediatric obesity with only lifestyle and behavioral intervention has only modest benefits. Knowledge and utilization of the benefits of anti-obesity medications in children will help improve outcomes of pediatric obesity.

• Understand the rationale for the use of pharmacotherapy in pediatric obesity
• Discuss the available pediatric data of the commonly used weight loss medications in adults
• Discuss the challenges in the use of these medications in children

Sonali Paul, MD, MS

This lecture will discuss the evaluation and management of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). The session will include a review of associated comorbidities with special attention to the role of insulin resistance. The evaluation will include differential diagnoses for fatty liver, addressing their metabolic comorbidities, and risk stratifying their liver disease. Treatment strategies focused on the liver will, include the role of lifestyle, weight loss, medications, and utility of bariatric surgery.

• Identify the key role insulin resistance has on the development of NAFLD
• Evaluate patients with NAFLD with practical tools that will allow to risk stratify their liver disease and know when to refer to a specialist
• Treat patients with NAFLD with an emphasis on modifying their metabolic risk factors that will have an impact on liver disease
• Identify medications that can be used in the treatment of NAFLD

Shana E. McCormack, MD, MTR

Hypothalamic obesity is a frequent complication of brain tumors affecting the hypothalamus and pituitary. Survivors of childhood brain tumors who develop hypothalamic obesity pose unique challenges for practitioners. The goal of this session is to review current evidence for the diagnosis, evaluation, and management of hypothalamic obesity and highlight opportunities for future research.

• Explain candidate mechanism(s) underlying hypothalamic obesity
• Formulate an approach to evaluate children and adolescents with hypothalamic obesity
• Review evidence in support of various treatment modalities
• Identify opportunities for future clinical research

Virtually visit the exhibitors and explore the latest technologies, products, and services available to enhance and improve your practice. Meet with exhibitors, try samples, and discover new tools to use when treating patients with obesity.

Jennifer Ligibel, MD

Obesity has been identified as a risk factor for at least 13 different cancers. In addition, the management of obesity is cancer survivors poses special mental and physical challenges. This session will explore the relationship between obesity and the risk of both cancer development and cancer recurrence. Participants better appreciate the complexities of managing weight in cancer survivors and apply specific nutritional and physical activity recommendation in this population.

• Discuss the relationship between obesity and cancer risk
• Discuss the relationship between obesity and cancer recurrence
• Identify the benefits of nutritional and activity interventions in cancer survivors
• Develop specific strategies for managing obesity in cancer survivors

Melanie K. Bean, PhD

This session will provide an overview of motivational interviewing and its application to pediatric obesity. Dr. Bean will emphasize both the spirit of motivational interviewing as well as practical skills-based content that providers can apply to their interactions with pediatric patients with obesity.

• Identify the spirit of motivational interviewing, and how this empirically supported treatment differs from the traditional medical paradigm
• Verbalize the core skills used in motivational interviewing
• Identify areas in clinical practice where motivational can be effective to enhance patient outcomes and improve provider satisfaction

Details coming soon!

Melanie Bean, PhD
Anshu Gupta, MD
Shana E. McCormack, MD, MTR

Louis Aronne, MD, FACP

By 2030, nearly 1 in 2 adults will have obesity and the prevalence of adult obesity and severe obesity will continue to increase nationwide. As a result, there is an urgent need for practical, comprehensive interventions with broad reach. Lifestyle interventions remain the cornerstone of weight management; however, successful interventions require frequent patient follow‐up. Many studies have demonstrated the efficacy of remote delivery to complement in-person care. The traditional model of healthcare cannot curb the tide of the obesity epidemic. The only way to bring expert obesity care to the masses of patients who need it is to scale and disseminate knowledge among the front-line provider workforce — physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, dietitians, and exercise specialists. Technology can help to expand the medical management of obesity.

This session will discuss cutting-edge treatment strategies using technology and software to scale obesity treatment and review research findings demonstrating the efficacy of these approaches. We will describe the many facets of obesity education and treatment that can be enhanced by technology and provide practical advice on how to incorporate technology and software into several types of new and existing medical practices.

• Describe why technology and software are necessary to treat obesity at scale
• Recognize how technology can be used to improve weight loss and weight-related health outcomes
• Understand options for incorporating these advances into different types of practices

Harold Bays, MD, FOMA, FTOS, FACC, FACE, FASPC, FNLA

Managing obesity in patients with psychiatric disease presents among the greatest challenges for primary care providers and specialists. This session will explore common physiologic pathways share by obesity and psychiatric disease. Participants will better recognize the affect psychiatric conditions and their treatments have on obesity as well as that role weight loss can play in improvement of these conditions.

• Understand the relationship between psychiatric disease and obesity
• Explain the effects of psychiatric medication on body weight
• Identify the impact of weight loss on psychiatric disease
• Utilize the 2020 Obesity Algorithm as a resource for understanding the complex relationship between obesity and psychiatric disease

Virtually visit the exhibitors and explore the latest technologies, products, and services available to enhance and improve your practice. Meet with exhibitors, try samples, and discover new tools to use when treating patients with obesity.

Elizabeth Holmes, DrPH, RD
Scott Kahan, MD, MPH

The Health at Every Size (HAES) approach is based on the idea that people of all sizes deserve respect and good health and that size does not determine health. The HAES principle advances social justice, promotes an inclusive and respectful community, and supports people of all sizes in finding compassionate ways to take care of themselves.

Is obesity a disease or a normal state where acceptance is the primary goal? Recognizing the common goal of a better life for patients with obesity, this session will compare and contrast the HAES and obesity medicine approaches to obesity.

• Define obesity from the HAES perspective
• Identify the role and consequences of the stigma and bias directed toward persons affected by obesity
• Understand the HAES approach to improving the lives of persons affected by obesity
• Explain obesity as a multifactorial disease with numerous adverse outcomes that often result in chronic debilitating disease, limited mobility, loss of autonomy, and many other complications
• Describe how obesity is driven by genetic, epigenetic, neurohormonal, metabolic, and environmental factors that are beyond the control of the individual affected by obesity
• Recognize that the goal of medical obesity treatment is to prevent and treat the consequences of adiposity and improving the lives of those affected by obesity

Chloe Zera, MD, MPH

Many children and their families suffering from obesity need more than intensive lifestyle therapy to control the disease of obesity, improve their health, and prevent the sequelae of obesity. This presentation will review treatment strategies to build on intensive lifestyle therapy, including pharmacotherapy, device therapy, and metabolic-bariatric surgical therapy. These treatment therapies require interdisciplinary and chronic disease approaches, which necessitate increased clinical resources of weight management and sustainable economic models.

• Understand the impact of obesity on short- and long-term pregnancy outcomes
• Put relative vs absolute risks for both pregnant women and fetuses in context
• Develop strategies to help patients with obesity develop a reproductive life plan
• Implement an approach to multidisciplinary care for patients with obesity and infertility

Nicole Garber, MD, FAPA, Dipl. ABPN, Dipl. ABOM

This presentation will discuss therapeutic approaches to treating patients with obesity and concomitant eating disorders, including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), and acceptance commitment therapy (ACT). Patients with obesity and an eating disorder have worse outcomes with both medical weight loss interventions and bariatric surgery. Behavior interventions will lead to better outcomes for these patients. This presentation will also explore recent research showing that CBT, DBT, and ACT may be helpful for the treatment of obesity in patients without a co-occurring eating disorder.

• Recognize clinical factors that would suggest a referral for CBT, DBT, or ACT
• Discuss evidence-based benefits of CBT, DBT, and ACT for the treatment of obesity
• Employ brief interventions from CBT, DBT, and ACT that may support a patient while they await formal therapy

Courtney Younglove, MD, FACOG, Dipl. ABOM

The menopausal transition is a brief period of time for most women, but one that can be physically and emotionally challenging. In addition to aging, women in midlife are exposed to several unique and potentially interrelated influences that promote weight gain. These include estrogen deprivation, mood disorders and sleep disturbances, among others. Women with obesity typically have more intense symptoms than women without excess weight. Unfortunately, many of the medications used to treat these symptoms are weight-positive, which may worsen the metabolic consequences of the menopausal transition. Although healthy eating and exercise have been shown to dramatically improve the common symptoms of menopause and reverse central adiposity, they are rarely offered as the first-line or even adjunctive treatment for patients receiving pharmacologic treatment.

• Recognize the physiologic changes that occur during the menopausal transition and how these changes impact weight, body composition & visceral adiposity
• Distinguish weight-positive, weight-neutral and weight-negative treatments for menopausal symptoms
• Effectively counsel patients about lifestyle changes to lessen menopausal symptoms

Credits: 0.75 CME/CE
Speaker: Scott Kahan, MD, MPH

Gain a deeper understanding of the intersection of human evolution and modern society and how these factors drive the obesity epidemic. Independent commercial support for this session is provided by Vivus.

Dave Saxon, MD, MS

Subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) is a common problem that is poorly understood. Given the vital role that the thyroid plays in metabolic activity, identification and appropriate treatment of SCH is important in the treatment of the patient with obesity. This session will discuss the evaluation and treatment of SCH with particular attention to the patient with obesity.

• Discuss the clinical criteria for subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH)
• Recognize the significance of SCH in the patient with obesity
• Utilize appropriate treatment options for the patient with SCH

Details coming soon!

Virtually visit the exhibitors and explore the latest technologies, products, and services available to enhance and improve your practice. Meet with exhibitors, try samples, and discover new tools to use when treating patients with obesity.

Verlyn Warrington, MD, MS, FOMA
Vivienne Rose, MD

The major determinants of health occur outside the context of a medical visit. Providers must understand potential barriers to access to care and compliance, in order to form effective partnerships with the patient and leverage available community resources to keep patients engaged in treatment. This session will review the determinants of obesity in urban and rural socio-economically disadvantaged communities. The discussion will provide a framework to address obesity in the context of the patient’s psychosocial environment and leverage available resources to develop treatment plans for patients.

• Identify factors that contribute to obesity in socio-economically disadvantaged populations
• Discuss strategies for establishing effective working relationships and practical weight loss protocols for socio-economically disadvantaged patients
• Learn how to use limited resources to promote and support weight loss
• Address obesity in the context of the local community

Details coming soon!

Harold Bays, MD, FOMA, FTOS, FACC, FACE, FASPC, FNLA

This presentation will review anti-obesity pharmaceutical agents currently under development. The presenter will discuss investigational drugs currently in clinical trials, as well as their therapeutic targets and mechanisms of action. Future potential targets and novel pharmaceutical interventions for obesity treatment will be addressed.

• Visualize the impact of future pharmaceutical interventions for the treatment of obesity
• List anti-obesity pharmaceutical agents currently under investigation as well as their therapeutic targets, mechanisms of action, expected benefits, and risks
• Discuss potential therapeutic targets for future drug development
• Understand the FDA approval process for anti-obesity medications

Rachel Moore, MD, FACS, Dipl. ABOM

Options for bariatric procedures have increased in recent year. Bariatric surgery remains an effective, yet underutilized treatment for obesity. Participants in this session will recognize the metabolic and health benefits of common bariatric surgical procedures as well as identify the role of newer bariatric interventions. Building a better synergy between the bariatric surgeon and the obesity medicine specialist will result in enhance care of the patient with obesity.

• Identify current and emerging bariatric procedures
• Discuss patient selection for bariatric surgery with special attention to adiposity related diseases
• Describe the impact of bariatric surgery on physiology and health outcomes
• Discuss the optimal role of the obesity medicine specialist in the care of the bariatric surgery patient

Break

Frank Greenway, MD

Obesity has become a worldwide epidemic and a major cause of preventable death. Despite the prevalence, morbidity and mortality associated with obesity, there are very few safe and effective pharmacologic options for the treatment of obesity. This presentation will describe two recently introduced novel agents that may help combat the rapidly growing scourge of obesity. Gelesis 100 (Plenity®) is a super-absorbent hydrogel that is technically a device, since it is not absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract and acts by mechanical means, but is taken in a capsule form like medications. Gelesis-100 has been approved by the FDA for the treatment of overweight and obesity down to a BMI of 25 kg/m2 without any obesity-related co-morbidities with a safety profile similar to the placebo.

The second agent is a dietary supplement consisting of a combination of moringa, curcumin, and curry, marketed as Slimvance®. Two clinical studies (8- and 16-weeks duration) funded by the manufacturer demonstrated weight loss > 5 % more than placebo when projected to the 6 month plateau and improvement in lipid profiles as compared to placebo. Although this formulation is not FDA approved, it carries the ASER Science Data and GMP seal of approval.

• Identify two novel therapeutic options for treating obesity
• Describe why Gelesis 100® is marketed as a device rather than a medication
• Articulate the indications, mechanisms of actions, patient selection, precautions, contraindications, safety, and efficacy of Gelesis 100
• Understand the differences between nutraceutical formulations versus drugs and devices with FDA approval
• Describe the efficacy, safety, and potential role for the formulation of moringa, curcumin, and curry in the treatment of obesity

Allen Browne, MD, FAAP, FACS, Dipl. ABOM

Many children and their families suffering from obesity need more than intensive lifestyle therapy to control the disease of obesity, improve their health, and prevent the sequelae of obesity. This presentation will review treatment strategies to build on intensive lifestyle therapy, including pharmacotherapy, device therapy, and metabolic-bariatric surgical therapy. These treatment therapies require interdisciplinary and chronic disease approaches, which necessitate increased clinical resources of weight management and sustainable economic models.

• Describe advanced tools of pediatric weight management that can be added to intensive lifestyle therapy
• Develop interdisciplinary teams to utilize advanced tools of pediatric weight management
• Collaborate with healthcare administrators, payors, and policy makers to develop sustainable economic models to deliver advanced tools of weight management

Fatima Cody Stanford, MD, MPH, MPA, FAAP, FACP, FAHA, FTOS

Obesity has reached global epidemic levels, severely impacting the lives of both children and adults. Obesity and its complications are among the leading causes of preventable and premature death. Despite the devastating effects of obesity, there are only four FDA approved pharmaceutical agents for long term obesity treatment. Cost, lack of adequate insurance coverage, inconsistent drug response rates, co-existing medical conditions, side effects, drug interactions, and contra-indications limit the usage of the FDA approved drugs. Fortunately, there are non-FDA approved medications, and combinations of medications that have been shown to be effective in many individuals with obesity. This presentation will review pharmacological options that may be a safe and effective for long term obesity treatment.

• List FDA approved anti-obesity medications for long term use, the MOA’s, efficacy, side effects, precautionary warnings, contraindications, and factors that may limit usage
• Review medications for obesity medication that not FDA approved for obesity treatment, including the medical evidence to support their usage in clinical practice
• Discuss how to improve obesity treatment outcomes by utilizing off-label pharmacotherapy
• Understand the overall risks and benefits of utilizing non-FDA approved medications for obesity treatment

Erica A. Amianda, MHA, PA-C
Thomas S. Gavigan, MD,MSc

The prevalence of obesity in men and women over the age of 75 has increased significantly in the last two decades, and is projected to reach 45% by 2030. A growing elderly population with obesity will cause significant socioeconomic and healthcare burden. This session will review the indications, safety profile, risks and benefits of utilizing bariatric surgery for treating patients with obesity who are over the age of 65.

• Identify when it is appropriate to refer a patient over the age of 65 for bariatric surgery
• Understand the risks and benefits of bariatric surgery in the geriatric population
• Recognize the clinical pathways for treating geriatric patients with obesity
• Review the predicted outcomes for bariatric patients

Break

Angela Fitch, MD, FACP, FOMA

This presentation will prepare the audience to select the most appropriate pharmaceutical intervention for individual patients based upon information presented in clinical case studies.

• Recognize the pharmaceutical options currently available for obesity treatment
• Implement the most appropriate pharmaceutical intervention based upon a brief patient case presentation
• Understand that anti-obesity medication choices should individualized based on multiple factors obtained from a detailed medical history, physical, and other pertinent clinical information