Richard Dopp is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry. His primary research interests include the relationships among obesity, physical activity, sleep, and depression in adolescents. Dr. Dopp studied psychology as an undergraduate at the University of Michigan. Following graduation, he taught 5- to 6-year-old children in Baltimore, MD with severe emotional problems. He returned to the University of Michigan for medical school. Dr. Dopp chose to continue his training at the University of Michigan, completing residency in adult psychiatry and a fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry before joining the faculty in the Department of Psychiatry in 2007.
Lindsay Ellsworth is an Assistant Professor in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics. Her research is focused on understanding the mechanisms of early life nutritional programming on body development and infant growth during lactation in order to identify new nutritional strategies for preterm infants. She is also involved in evaluating the compositional differences of mother’s own milk and donor human milk through the study of metabolomics, macronutrients, hormones, and bioactive factors and the impact on infant metabolism. Dr. Ellsworth received her medical degree from Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine and completed her residency in Pediatrics and a fellowship in Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine at the University of Michigan.
Eva Feldman is the James W. Albers Distinguished University Professor of Neurology, Russell N. DeJong Professor of Neurology, and Director of the U-M ALS Center of Excellence. She oversees a group of 30 scientists and clinicians. Dr. Feldman’s research focuses on understanding and finding new treatments for a wide variety of neurological diseases. Dr. Feldman completed both her medical degree and PhD in Neuroscience at the University of Michigan. She completed a residency in neurology at Johns Hopkins University and a neuromuscular fellowship at the University of Michigan.
“I am excited to have this opportunity to collaborate with other pediatric obesity researchers at the University of Michigan. I have no doubt that these collaborations will lead to future research projects that will have an important impact on child health.”
Bethany Gaffka is a Professor in the Division of Pediatric Psychology within the Department of Pediatrics in the U-M Medical School. Dr. Gaffka earned her bachelor’s degree from Bates College and her doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of Maine. She completed her internship in Pediatric Psychology at the University of Florida, and then completed a specialized fellowship in Pediatric Obesity Intervention and Research at the University of Florida in 2007. Dr. Gaffka currently serves as the Director of the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital Pediatric Weight Management Clinic. Her clinical interests include the behavioral treatment of pediatric obesity, assessment and treatment of psychological comorbidities influencing pediatric obesity, and behavioral health interventions for youth with chronic illness. Dr. Gaffka is a member of The Obesity Society, American Heart Association, American Psychological Association, and Society of Pediatric Psychology.
Brigid Gregg is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics and holds a dual appointment as Assistant Professor of Nutritional Sciences in the U-M School of Public Health. Her work involves understanding how early life nutrient stressors can program offspring risk for obesity, diabetes and metabolic syndrome using both animal models and a human mother-infant cohort to understand the molecular events that set the stage for lifelong metabolic health. Her current research focuses on the impact of nutrient stressors during the lactation period on the function of key tissues responsible for a coordinated response to glucose: the pancreatic islets, adipose tissue, and the liver. Dr. Gregg earned her BS in Animal Physiology and Neuroscience from the University of California, San Diego and her MD at Case Western Reserve University.
Joyce Lee is a physician, researcher, and design thinker. She is one of the few individuals in the country with formal training in Pediatric Endocrinology and Health Services Research, and she holds a Master’s in Public Health from the Department of Health Management and Policy at the University of Michigan. Dr. Lee is the Robert P. Kelch, MD Research Professor of Pediatrics and Associate Chair for Health Metrics and Learning Health Systems within the Department of Pediatrics and holds a joint appointment in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the U-M School of Public Health. She conducts clinical and health services research in the areas of pediatric obesity and diabetes. She can be found on twitter (@joyclee) and at her website, doctorasdesigner.com.
“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to collaborate with individuals in diverse disciplines to address the problem of childhood obesity. Addressing childhood obesity successfully will require collaborations at the edges of different disciplines and I’m very enthusiastic about learning from my colleagues and expanding my own thinking.”
Julie Lumeng is the Thomas P. Borders Family Research Professor of Child Behavior and Development in the Department of Pediatrics and holds a dual appointment as Professor of Nutritional Sciences in the U-M School of Public Health. She also serves as the Associate Vice President for Research-Clinical and Human Subjects Research for the University of Michigan and is the Executive Director of the Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research (MICHR). Dr. Lumeng is a developmental and behavioral pediatrician whose research focuses on the prevention of childhood obesity, particularly in low-income groups. She focuses in particular on the potential biological pathways underlying links between psychosocial stress, eating behavior, and obesity in young, high-risk children. Her work also investigates maternal feeding beliefs and practices and how these may relate to childhood obesity risk. She also directs a community based obesity prevention trial based in Head Start settings, as well as examining links between Head Start program characteristics and obesity risk. Dr. Lumeng completed her MD (1997) and training in Pediatrics at the University of Michigan, and a fellowship in Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics at Boston University.
Kelly Orringer is an Assistant Professor in General Pediatrics at Michigan Medicine. Dr. Orringer’s clinical interests span the range of preventive care and illness management in primary care, and her research interests include quality improvement in primary care, variations in care, weight management, and migrant/immigrant/refugee health. Dr. Orringer earned her medical degree at Harvard Medical School, and completed training in Pediatrics as well as a fellowship in General Academic Pediatrics at the University of Michigan.
Dr. Padmanabhan’s research focus is translational and centers on understanding the fetal original of pubertal and adult reproductive and metabolic disorders and the impact of native steroids and estrogenic environmental pollutants, such as bisphenol-A, in programming such defects. Utilizing integrative approaches ranging from cell and molecular biology, as well as in vitro systems to whole animal physiology, the emphasis is to understand the fundamental processes controlling reproductive cyclicity in the female, the mechanisms by which environmental and hormonal influences in early fetal life program reproductive dysfunction and metabolic dysfunction.
Megan Pesch is an Assistant Professor in Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics in the U-M Medical School who studies child and mother risk factors for childhood obesity including rate of infant growth, child eating behaviors, and mother feeding behaviors. Dr. Pesch also examines sociocultural influences on children’s eating behaviors. Dr. Pesch completed her MD, Masters in Clinical Research, Pediatrics training, and sub-specialty fellowship training in Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics, all at the University of Michigan.
Durga Singer is the Valerie Castle Opipari, MD Professor of Pediatrics in Pediatric Endocrinology and an Associate Professor of Molecular and Integrative Physiology. The focus of her research has been to understand the the long-term and lifelong impacts of obesity on the immune system. Her work couples mechanistic animal studies with observational investigations of myeloid inflammation in obese children to advance understanding of the relationship between obesity, sex, inflammation, and disease. Dr. Singer completed her undergraduate degree in Biophysics and Philosophy along with a master’s degree in Biophysics from Johns Hopkins University and completed her MD, training in Pediatrics, and a fellowship in Pediatric Endocrinology all at the University of Michigan.
Susan Woolford is an Associate Professor with the Susan B. Meister Child Health Evaluation and Research (CHEAR) Center in the Division of General Pediatrics at the U-M Medical School and an Associate Professor of Health Behavior and Health Education in the U-M School of Public Health. Her research interests focus on behavioral interventions in the clinical setting for the treatment of childhood obesity with an emphasis on the use of communications technology to enhance patient engagement and adherence to treatment recommendations. Dr. Woolford earned her medical degree at Michigan State University where she also completed her residency and chief residency. She earned an MPH and completed her Pediatric Health Services Research Fellowship at the University of Michigan.