The Honorable Stanislaw Tillich and Arya M. Sharma

Last November, I blogged about my visit to the University of Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, where I visited my good friend Matthias Blüher, who made a name for himself with his prolific research on adipose tissue biology.

The university of Leipzig is the likely recipient of a major multi-million Euro grant for an obesity research and treatment centre and has kindly invited me to sit on their International Scientific Advisory Committee.

So imagine my delight when yesterday, the University of Alberta signed a partnership agreement with Saxony on scientific collaboration and exchange. At the reception for this event, I personally conveyed my appreciation to the Honorable Stanislaw Tillich, Minister President of the Free State of Saxony, regarding the fact that the University of Leipzig was going to take such a major place in obesity research and management in Germany.

Indeed, given the tremendous expertise here at the University of Alberta in obesity and related disorders, I very much hope that the new agreement will provide a solid framework for faculty and student exchanges as well as extensive collaborative research initiatives with the University of Leipzig.

I very much look forward to the future interactions with my German colleagues on this important area of research and patient care.

AMS
Edmonton, Alberta

Hat Tip to Arnim Joop for the photograph

As 2009 is rapidly coming to a close, here are a selection of what may have been my most memorable posts of 2009:

January: Do High-Glycemic Foods Promote Food Addictions?

February: Weight Loss Miracles

March: Have Diabetes? Find a Surgeon!

April: Going to BAT for Obesity Solutions?

May: Like Father, Like Daughter

June: Does Weight Bias Promote Obesity?

July: Saying “I Do” Promotes Obesity

August: Is Weight-Loss Advice Unethical?

September: Why Weight Loss and Obesity Management Are Not the Same

October: Real Stories From Real People

November: Etiological Assessment of Obesity

December: Does White Hat Bias Confound Obesity Research?

Obviously, this is just a selection, admittedly a personally biased one.

Appreciate any comments on what you liked best or enjoyed the most.

AMS
Edmonton, Alberta

This weekend, I attended the joint meeting of the German Societies for Obesity and Diabetes. Apart from delivering a talk at a SCOPE course, I also participated in a session focussing on research networks - my task was to present to introduce the audience to the Canadian Obesity Network.

Since 2008, the German Ministry of Education and Research has provided funding for a German Competence Network for Obesity (Kompetenznetzwerk Adipostas), which will likely recieve up to € 50 million in funding over the next 12 years.

An estimated 16 million Germans are currently obese and annual obesity healthcare costs for obesity may exceed € 13 billion.

The Network consists of 8 research teams and almost 40 different research projects that cover everything from basic research, prevention, etiology, epidemiology, sociology and treatments.

Not only should this significant investment help increase the breadth, depth and visibility of German obesity research but also help move research findings into practice.

I was most impressed to hear about some of the ongoing projects that include cutting edge work in psychosocial determinants of obesity, adipose tissue biology, and diagnostic imaging.

The audience was most impressed by the work done by the Canadian Obesity Network in bringing together a wide range of stakeholders and we do hope to strengthen the ties between the German and Canadian networks in the coming months and years.

AMS
Berlin, Germany

WPT James

So on the last day of the 27th Annual Scientific Meeting of The Obesity Society, I would like to briefly talk about an event that took place on Monday night: a Meet the Canadians Reception, hosted by the Canadian Obesity Network held at the Canadian Embassy in Washington DC.

The reception, attended by around 150 Canadian obesity researchers and non-Canadians wanting to learn more about obesity research in Canada, was certainly an event that helped draw attention to the Canadian presence at this meeting.

As Guy Saint-Jacques, the Deputy Head of Mission, said in his welcoming words: obesity is an important issue that affects millions of people both North and South of the border and can only be addressed through broad collaborations between researchers, decision makers and other stakeholders.

Phil Sherman, representing the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) emphasized the continued strong support for obesity research in Canada, building on the tremendous success of capacity building in this field that was accomplished over the past 7 years thanks to the strategic decision of one CIHR institute (INMD), under the leadership of Diane Finegood to have made obesity its single strategic priority.

Karen Patte Wigh, on behalf of the Canadian Obesity Network Student and New Professionals, emphasized the many activities conducted by the network that go directly towards supporting students and trainees working in diverse fields relevant to obesity prevention and management.

Philip James, President of the International Association for the Study of Obesity (picture) highlighted the work done by the Canadian Obesity Network in the four short years of its existence to bring together obesity researchers, clinicians, decision makers and stakeholders from across the country in a manner that could very much serve as a model for the creation of similar networks in other countries.

As Scientific Director of the Network, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Embassy staff for allowing us access to the architecturally spectacular Canadian Embassy, to the staff of the Obesity Network who worked hard to mak this reception possible, to the Obesity Society who helped us to schedule and publicize the event and to everyone who came out to “meet” the Canadians.

I have no doubt that the “Meet the Canadians” reception at the Annual Obesity Society meetings, a tradition that is now in its fourth year, will continue to be an important opportunity for North American researchers to meet and network in the years to come.

AMS
Washington, DC

Abi '79 (at least some of us, not sure I am even in this picture)

This weekend, I was over in Butzbach, a little town just north of Frankfurt, Germany, for my 30-year highschool reunion.

Around 50 of the former class of ‘79 showed up and we had great fun (I haven’t seen any of these folks for at least 10 years, some not once since graduation).

For anyone, who is older (i.e. my age) and has been at a 30-year reunion, this may not come as a surprise, but I was very impressed by how some people had changed so little in their appearance compared to others, who were hardly recognizable.

At least by my standards, 30 years is a pretty long time and it was very interesting to see how many of my former classmates appeared to be very much in their “prime”.

Given that we all graduated around age 20, most of us are rapidly approaching or have just passed age 50. Remember, we graduated before there were computers (the Commodore 64 had just been introduced), let alone the internet or cable TV. Video players and CD players were still a long way off (DVDs were not even a concept), no mobile phones, not even wireless phones at home.

We walked or rode our bikes to school (not a good choice for me, as it was all the way uphill for 1.5 km from my home, so I rather walked). Organized sports was around, but we still had plenty of free time to loiter around the neighbourhood, which was perfectly fine as long as we made it home in time for supper.

Obviously weight gain 30 years later is of interest. Remarkably, the majority seem to have matured quiet nicely. Those, who were heavy set and chunky then, were clearly larger now - but there was no shortage of folks who had pretty much managed to maintain their weights at quite reasonable levels, some appeared even fitter and healthier than they looked 30 years ago.

If this crowd (and the fun we had, with our old class band playing up to get some of us hopping around the dance floor) is any measure, I would say that at least for us, who left highschool in the late 70’s, 50 is probably the new 40 - i.e. of course using as reference the old 40, which I still feel I haven’t actually reached.

Perhaps maintaining that delusion is what is keeping us young - let’s not give it up.

Looking forward to seeing everyone again in five years from now - the beer, the Jaeger Schnitzels and the Appelwoi, will likely still taste the same as 30 years ago.

AMS
Toronto, Ontario