Recent Publications
Bail, J. R., Wilson, J., Tipre, M., Duck, A., Hall, K., Akinyele, O., Bowman, T., Hardy, C., Garner, M., Demark-Wahnefried, W., & Baskin, M. (2023). Harvest for health in survivors of chronic disease: A demonstration project in the Alabama Black Belt and Mississippi Delta Region. Translational behavioral medicine, ibad062. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1093/tbm/ibad062
Martins, C., Roekenes, J. A., Rehfeld, J. F., Hunter, G. R., Gower, B. A. (2023). Metabolic adaptation is associated with a greater increase in appetite following weight loss: a longitudinal study, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajcnut.2023.10.010.
Dike, C. R., Fittro, S., Oster, R. A., Morrow, C. D., Brandow, A., Demark-Wahnefried, W., Lebensburger, J. (2023). Gastrointestinal symptoms, diagnostic evaluations, and abdominal pathology in children with sickle cell disease. Pediatric blood & cancer, e30699. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1002/pbc.30699
Recent Awards
Lizzy Davis: Weight-focused vs. weight-neutral adaptive biobehavioral strategies for improving metabolic health in Black adults with Stage 1 Obesity: A pilot Sequential Multiple Assignment Randomized Trial.
Role: Co-investigator (PI: Drew Sayer), NIH P50
“Daughters, Mothers and Others Against Cancer”
New grants: 585363
Demark-Wahnefried | 01/01/2019–12/31/2021 | American Institute of Cancer Research
This grant will permit Dr. Demark-Wahnefried to conduct a randomized controlled clinical trial (RCT) of a diet-and exercise-based weight-loss intervention among 56 dyads (each comprising an overweight or obese cancer survivor of an obesity-related cancer and an overweight or obese “buddy” of their choosing) with the goal of reducing obesity and improving physical activity, diet quality, health-related quality of life (QoL), physical functioning and performance, and reducing select circulating biomarkers (tumor necrosis factor alpha [TNFa], insulin, and insulin-like growth factor-1 [IGF-1]).
Recent Publications
Hankosky ER, Lebrec J, Lee CJ, Dimitriadis GK, Jouravskaya I, Stefanski A, Garvey WT. Tirzepatide and the 10-year predicted risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes in adults with obesity and prediabetes: A post hoc analysis from the three-year SURMOUNT-1 trial. Diabetes Obes Metab. 2025 Sep 29. doi: 10.1111/dom.70143. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 41017451.
Mensah DO, Everett AB, Fouts AE, Hoelscher GL, Martin SL, Bahorski JS, Mensah PH, Callahan ML, Garvey WT, Chandler-Laney PC. Central Adiposity, Rather Than In Utero Exposure to Maternal Obesity or Gestational Diabetes, Predicts Metabolic Syndrome Risk in Children Aged 4–10 Years. Accepted for Pediatric Obesity.
Vecchié D, Faber VG, Jumbo-Lucioni P, Anholt RRH, Mackay TFC, De Luca M. Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors and Metabolic Aging: A Drosophila Perspective. Biomolecules 2025, 15, 1378. doi.org/10.3390/biom15101378
Cedillo YE, Sammy MJ, Taylor MG, Hanick CJ, Peterson CM, Gower BA. Mitochondrial DNA DAMPs, Inflammation, and Insulin Sensitivity After Dietary Interventions in Adults with Type 2 Diabetes. Nutrients. 2025 Oct 16;17(20):3248. doi: 10.3390/nu17203248. PMID: 41156500; PMCID: PMC12567110.
Dobak S, Pearson K, McGuire R, Ellis A. Medical nutrition therapy for ALS: Dietitians’ approaches to diagnosing malnutrition, facilitating feeding tube discussions, and mitigating refeeding syndrome risk. Nutrition in Clinical Practice. 2025; 1–9. Epub ahead of print. doi.org/10.1002/ncp.70069
Rosenbaum M, Allison KC, Laughlin MR, Whyte K, Jakicic JM, Mayer LES, Ashby-Thompson M, Hayes MR, Speakman J, Leibel RL, Das SK, Gallagher D, Roberts SB; POWERS Consortium. The Physiology Of the WEight Reduced State (POWERS) study: assessing energy balance. Int J Obes (Lond). 2025 Nov 17. doi: 10.1038/s41366-025-01935-x. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 41249847.
Yaddanapudi S, Singh H, McCarthy JP, Newcomer BR, Hunter GR. Size of Biceps Femoris Long Head Muscle Is Related to Running Economy in Male Recreational Runners. Sports. 13(493):1–10, 2025.
Belle SH, Gallagher D, Roberts SB, Laughlin MR, Das SK, Whyte KJ, King WC, Saks R, Yanovski SZ, Fielding RA, Mayer LES, Hayes MR, Rosenbaum M, Allison KC, Lowe M, Leibel R, Jakicic JM; POWERS consortium. The Physiology Of the WEight Reduced State (POWERS) study: overview and study design. Int J Obes (Lond). 2025 Dec 12. doi: 10.1038/s41366-025-01932-0. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 41388149.
Davies MJ, Broholm C, Garvey WT. Cagrilintide-Semaglutide in Adults with Overweight or Obesity. Reply. N Engl J Med. 2025 Nov 20;393(20):2067–2068. doi: 10.1056/NEJMc2513141. PMID: 41259769.
Garvey WT, Osorto Contreras CK, Davies MJ. Cagrilintide-Semaglutide in Adults with Overweight or Obesity. Reply. N Engl J Med. 2025 Nov 20;393(20):2067. doi: 10.1056/NEJMc2513141. PMID: 41259768.
Lundanes J, Naustvoll TG, Tangvik RJ, Martins C, Nymo S. Hedonic hunger and eating behavior after low carbohydrate versus low-fat diets in females with lipedema and obesity. Frontiers in Nutrition, Accepted.
Tanaka S, Williams S, Zhang L, Yi N, Garvey WT, Cherrington AL, Howell CR. Persistent poverty, glycemic control and adverse COVID-19 outcomes: a retrospective study using real-world data. BMC Public Health. 2025 Dec 7. doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-25774-7. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 41354797.
Verma S, Böttcher M, Brown P, Dicker D, Rubino D, Sbraccia P, Sharma AM, Smedegaard L, Sørrig R, Garvey WT. CagriSema Reduces Blood Pressure in Adults With Overweight or Obesity: REDEFINE 1. Hypertension. 2025 Dec 2. doi: 10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.125.26055. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 41328546.
Wharton S, Duque do Vale R, Garvey WT; OASIS 4 Study Group. Oral Semaglutide in Adults with Overweight or Obesity. Reply. N Engl J Med. 2025 Dec 11;393(23):2383. doi: 10.1056/NEJMc2515109. PMID: 41370813.
Recent Recognition
Barbara Gower was appointed University Professor in Nutrition Sciences by the Board of Trustees.
Amy Goss received the 2025 SHP Excellence in Scholarship Award and was honored as an inaugural Excellence in Nutrition Fellow of the American Society for Nutrition (ASN).
Eric Plaisance was elected incoming Chair of the American Society for Nutrition’s Research Interest Section, Energy and Macronutrient Metabolism.
Recent Grants Awarded
The Pre-Doctoral Training in Obesity-Related Research (T32HL105349) was renewed for five additional years beginning August 1, 2025. PI: Barbara Gower
Douglas Moellering is co-investigator on Telehealth-based Navigation to Promote Mental Health Care among Young Adult Cancer Patients. NIH/DHHS (R01). 04/01/2026–03/31/2031. PI: Hsiao-Lan Wang
Catia Martins received a 2025 SHP Research Pilot award and a 2025 UAB Faculty Development Grant Program award.