‘Biggest Loser’ adviser, uninsured expert to keynote ISU Health Conference Oct. 22-23

Weight loss and nutrition expert, Michael Dansinger, M.D., will be one of this year’s keynote speakers at the 21st annual Idaho Conference on Health Care, scheduled Wednesday, Oct. 22 through Friday, Oct. 24 at Idaho State University.

Dansinger will give the keynote address titled, “Beating Obesity: Mission Impossible,” on Wednesday, Oct. 22, at 7 p.m., in ISU’s Pond Student Union Building Ballroom. He will be joined by former “Biggest Loser” program contestant and local Pocatello resident Sarah Call.

On Thursday, Oct. 23, a second keynote address “How ‘the Uninsured’ Became an American Caste” will be presented by Susan Starr Sered, Ph.D., at 7 p.m. in the PSUB Salmon River Suite. That keynote address will be followed by a panel discussion on “The Uninsured.”

Both keynote addresses are free and open to the public.

Known for his role as weight loss and nutrition advisor for NBC’s prime time hit series “The Biggest Loser,” Dansinger is an internationally recognized authority on dietary and lifestyle counseling for weight loss and prevention of obesity-related medical problems and has carried out extensive research of weight loss, diabetes, metabolism and obesity-related illness and disease.

Dansinger holds multiple academic positions; he is currently an assistant professor and director of a “Diabetes Reversal Program” at Tufts – New England Medical Center in Boston as well as a scientist with the USDA Nutrition Research Center and a Clinical Nutrition and Obesity Editor for WebMD.

Dansinger worked as principal investigator on the “Tufts Popular Diet Trial” where he studied the effects of the Atkins, Zone, Weight Watchers and Ornish diets for weight loss and heart disease prevention. In 2005, Dansinger’s work received extensive media attention when results of the study were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

He’s been interviewed by numerous reputable media organizations, including CBS News, Time Magazine, USA Today, NPR and CNN. Additionally, he lectures nationwide to medical and non-medical audiences, while continuously devoting time to his clinical practice, where he works to match patients with personalized eating strategies for weight management and obesity-related disease prevention.

Sered, who will give the Thursday keynote address, is co-author of ‘Uninsured in America: Life and Death in the Land of Opportunity’ and co-founded and directs the Master of Arts in Women’s Health at Suffolk University, where she serves on the faculty of the Department of Sociology. Sered’s program is the first in the United States dedicated specifically to training advocates, educators and policy analysts in the field of women’s health.

This year’s conference will include a variety of topics ranging from the effects of methamphetamine use on children to weight loss, nutrition, brain fitness for healthy aging and pain management. For a full conference schedule or to register, visit www.isu.edu/kchp/hlthconf or call 282-3155.

Keynote addresses are free and open to the public, but registration fees are required for all other conference events. Continuing education units are available for professionals.

The conference is sponsored by the Kasiska Foundation and co-sponsored by the Idaho Public Health Association, Idaho Psychological Association, the Idaho Dairy Council,

Bingham Memorial Hospital and the National Association of Social Workers Idaho Chapter.

For more information or a conference schedule visit the conference Web site at www.isu.edu/kchp/hlthconf or contact Victoria Bañales at 282-3155.