Harvard Treating Obesity 2026

Education to Optimize Your Care of Adult, Adolescent, and Pediatric Patients with Obesity

Treating Obesity 2026: The Blackburn Course in Obesity Medicine is an online course, using live streaming, electronic Q&A, and other remote learning technologies.

This course delivers practical strategies to optimize the management of obesity and its many complications, and provides the most up-to-date approaches to obesity prevention and treatment.

Highlights of the 2026 program include:

• Update on using the newer GLP-1 based therapies
• Comprehensive evaluation of the patient with obesity
• Precision medicine and dietary approaches to obesity and metabolic disorders
• Medical, endoscopic, and surgical options for the treatment of obesity
• Effective counseling and motivation techniques
• Medical and surgical treatment of children and adolescents with obesity
• Emerging strategies and therapies for genetic obesity
• A guide to virtual care, group visits, private and academic practice models
• Enhancing communication about obesity with patients, referring providers, payers, and the public
• Addressing obesity bias, stigma, and disparities in care

Presented by experts in medicine, surgery, pediatrics, nutrition, endocrinology, gastroenterology, and psychology from the country’s leading obesity treatment centers, this course covers critical topics in the prevention and treatment of obesity and related disorders. It gives clinicians the knowledge to:

• Identify, evaluate and manage patients with high-risk obesity
• Provide lifestyle-based therapies for obesity, including nutritional, physical activity, and behavioral approaches
• Apply effective counseling and behavioral modification techniques
• Apply current pharmacological approaches to the treatment of obesity
• Assess patients for their need and appropriateness for bariatric surgery and determine surgical options

Obesity Medicine Board Review

One day prior to the start of Treating Obesity 2026, on June 7, 2026, you can attend the comprehensive one-day review course to help you prepare for the American Board of Obesity Medicine (ABOM) certification examination. This board review is led by diplomates of the ABOM, and reviews all the major basic, diagnostic, and treatment concepts required for the exam, including:

• Pathophysiology of obesity
• Obesity comorbidities
• Pediatric patient management
• Genetic and syndromic obesity
• Nutrition and exercise assessment and intervention
• Intensive lifestyle and behavioral therapy
• Anti-obesity pharmacotherapy
• Bariatric surgery

📅 Sunday, June 7, 2026

Obesity Medicine Board Review – Full-Day Precourse

Time: 9:00 AM – 7:20 PM

A comprehensive one-day review course designed to help physicians prepare for the American Board of Obesity Medicine (ABOM) certification examination.

Welcome & Introduction

• Welcome and Introduction – Course Directors

2026 Blackburn Lecture

• State of Obesity in 2026 – Dr. Robert Kushner
• Roundtable Discussion with Dr. Robert Kushner & Dr. Steven Heymsfield

Approach to Treatment

• Clinical Approach to the Patient with Obesity – Dr. Ethan Lazarus
• Standards of Care for Obesity Treatment – Dr. Kimberly Gudzune
• Body Composition – Dr. Grant Tinsley
• Obesity and Mental Health: Shared Complexity, Mechanisms and Responsibilities – Dr. Robin Pashby
• Panel Discussion: Approach to Treatment

Pharmacotherapy

• Obesity Pharmacotherapy – Dr. Leslie Golden
• Combination Treatment for Obesity Management – Dr. Sreevidya Bodepudi
• Pharmacodynamics and Medication Dosing in the Patient with Obesity – Dr. Christina Chow
• A Patient’s Perspective – Dr. Angela Fitch
• Panel Discussion: Pharmacotherapy

Self-Paced Study Sessions

• Staging, Assessment and Treatment of Obesity – Dr. Daniel Bessesen
• Patient-Centric Treatment of Obesity – Dr. Sean Wharton
• Complex Genetic Obesity Syndromes – Dr. Sadaf Farooqi
• Patient Case Presentations Highlighting Delivery of Care (Parts 1–3)
• Beyond BMI: Obesity Staging and Treatment Guidelines – Dr. Timothy Garvey

Exercise & Dietary Considerations

• Key Exercise Recommendations for Weight Loss and Maintenance – Dr. John Jakicic
• Updated Dietary Guidelines for Americans – Dr. Christopher Gardner
• Time-Restricted Eating – Dr. Krista Varady
• Dietary Strategies for Weight Loss – Dr. Chika Anekwe
• Culinary Medicine Programs – Dr. Michelle Hauser
• Panel Discussion: Dietary Considerations

Individualization of Care

• The New Fundamentals of Obesity Care – Dr. Carolynn Francavilla-Brown
• Genetics and the Future of Obesity Treatment – Dr. Jesse Richards
• Lipodystrophy – Dr. Lindsay Fourman
• Panel Discussion: Individualization of Care

Precision Care

• Precision Medical Treatment of Obesity – Dr. Andres Acosta
• Precision Lifestyle Treatments for Obesity – Dr. Andrew Chan
• The Future State of Obesity Care – Dr. Deborah Horn
• Patient Case Presentations Highlighting Precision Delivery of Care – Dr. Florence Porterfield
• Panel Discussion: Precision Care

Self-Paced Study Sessions

• Circadian Influences and Lifestyle Interventions – Dr. Frank Scheer
• A Dietitian’s Approach to a Patient with Obesity – Abeer Bader, RD
• Tailoring Obesity Care Based on Genetic Differences – Dr. Ruth Loos
• Research into Tailoring Obesity Care – Dr. Elizabeth Speliotes
• Using Technology to Deliver Personalized Metabolic Care – Dr. Eran Segal

Models of Delivering Care

• Cooperative Integrated and Virtual Care Models – Dr. Florencia Halperin
• Delivering Effective Obesity Care in Private Practice – Dr. Shirly (Shalu) Ramchandani
• Integrating Primary Care and Obesity Medicine in an Academic Medical Center – Dr. Leigh Perreault
• Optimizing Outcomes: Success of a Pharmacist-Driven GLP-1 Program – Dr. Amanda Powell
• Group Visit Models – Dr. Jacob Mirsky
• Panel Discussion: Models of Delivering Care

Pediatrics

• Assessment of the Pediatric Patient with Obesity – Dr. Marisa Censani
• Anti-Obesity Medications in Pediatric Patients – Dr. Vibha Singhal
• Bariatric Endoscopy and Surgery in Pediatric Patients – Dr. Cornelia Griggs
• Panel Discussion: Pediatric Obesity

Endoscopic & Surgical Approaches

• Endoscopic Sleeve Gastroplasty (ESG), POSE & TORe – Dr. Barham Abu Dayyeh
• Gastric Balloons and Duodenal Resurfacing – Dr. Amandeep Singh
• Update on Bariatric Surgery – Dr. Richard Peterson
• Nonsurgical Management After Bariatric Surgery – Dr. Angela Fitch
• Panel Discussion: Surgical Approaches

Self-Paced Study Sessions

• Providing Virtual Obesity Care
• Optimizing Obesity Care in Private Practice
• Advancing Obesity Care in Academic Medicine
• Multi-Disciplinary Weight Center Case Studies
• Implementation Science in Cardiometabolic Health

Disparities & Stigma in Obesity Care

• Addressing Healthcare Disparities in Obesity Treatment – Dr. Jamy Ard
• Equal Access to Care: A North Carolina Story – Dr. Sarah Ro
• Stigma and Bias in Treating Obesity – Joe Nadglowski
• Panel Discussion

Considerations in the Patient with Obesity

• The Unbearable Lightness of Weight and Age – Dr. Beverly Tchang
• Metabolic Disease and Mental Health – Dr. Christopher Palmer
• Obesity Prior to Procedures & GLP-1 Considerations – Dr. Rodney Voisine
• Panel Discussion

Diseases in the Patient with Obesity

• Obesity and Cardiovascular Disease – Dr. Harold Bays
• Sleep Health and Sleep Apnea – Dr. Jeremy McConnell
• Obesity and Cancer – Dr. Justin Brown
• MASLD/MASH Updates and Treatment Landscape in 2026 – Dr. Nadege Gunn
• Obesity and Diabetes – Dr. Paul Copeland
• Panel Discussion

Self-Paced Study Sessions

• Caring for All Patients – Dr. Adjoa Anyane-Yeboa
• Equity in Obesity Care – Dr. Wesley Dutton
• Diagnosis and Staging of MAFLD/MASH – Dr. Kathleen Corey