Steven R. Smith is Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer of AdventHealth Research Institute, guiding the research vision for AdventHealth. Dr. Smith serves as the Associate Center Director of the AdventHealth–Moffit Cancer Center Partnership. He is also a past President of TOS (The Obesity Society).

Dr. Smith’s research is focused on obesity, diabetes, and the metabolic origins of cardiovascular disease. He is specifically focused on how individuals differ in their ability to adapt to diets high in fat and understanding how obesity leads to type 2 diabetes. Using the translational medicine approach, Dr. Smith discovered that many people with obesity have an inability to burn fat and a new hormonal control system to increase fat and energy metabolism. Most importantly, the discovery that the inability to burn fat is programmed into muscle cells provides a novel way to identify and test new treatments for obesity and diabetes. In the clinic, Dr. Smith has a special interest in the identification and development of drugs for the treatment of obesity and diabetes, as well as using personalized medicine to match new therapies to individuals.

• John Speakman, Ph.D, FTOS - 2020
• Dympa Gallagher, Ed.D. – 2019
• Michael Rosenbaum, M.D. – 2018
• Christos S. Mantzoros, M.D. – 2017
• Roger D. Cone, Ph.D – 2016
• Andrew S. Greenberg, M.D. – 2015
• Michael Goran, Ph.D. – 2014

• Stephen O'Rahilly, M.D. – 2013
• Thomas A. Wadden, Ph.D. – 2012
• Samuel Klein, M.D. – 2011
• Michael D. Jensen, M.D. – 2010
• David B. Allison, Ph.D. – 2009
• Walter J. Pories, M.D. – 2008

TOPS representative Don Whiting presented the TOPS New Investigator Research Award to Dr. Laurie Twells, an Associate Professor at Memorial University of Newfoundland, during the Obesity Canada Summit in Ottawa in April 2019.

Dr. Twells began conducting research on obesity in 2002 while working with the Newfoundland and Labrador Centre for Applied Health Research as a Research Associate. In 2002, newly published data published by Statistics Canada demonstrated the alarming increase in the prevalence of obesity and the concerning regional variations across Canada. In response, Dr. Twells was asked to organize a provincial forum on obesity and to invite experts in Canada to speak on: the temporal trends of obesity, the health burden associated with obesity, the potential causes and contributors to the problem and proposed solutions.  Almost 20 years ago, concerns that obesity would impact individual’s health, the health system and society were just emerging. This work experience and exposure to the complexities of obesity as a health issue, led Dr. Twells to do doctoral work in this area, completing her PhD in 2008.

Dr. Twells started a tenure track position at Memorial University in 2008 and over the last ten years has conducted research in a number of obesity-related areas. These include: the epidemiology of childhood and adult obesity, the prevention of childhood obesity, the impact of obesity on coronary heart disease, and bariatric surgery as a treatment for complex obesity in adults. Currently Dr. Twells is conducting studies on maternal asthma and childhood obesity, the impact of exercise on fertility in individuals affected by obesity and identifying criteria in order to prioritize patients for bariatric surgery using a discrete choice experiment. Since the start of her academic position, Dr. Twells has published 55 papers, of which the majority are on obesity-related topics, and given over 60 presentations.

• Mary A. Forhan, Ph.D. – 2017
• Jennifer L. Kuk, Ph.D. – 2015

• Dr. Valerie Taylor, M.D., Ph.D. – 2013