Yale University School of Medicine New Haven, Conn.

February 13, 2009 -- The Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity at Yale is a research and public policy organization devoted to improving the world's diet, preventing obesity and reducing weight stigma. The Rudd Center serves as a leader in building broad-based consensus to change diet and activity patterns and harnesses science to inform the debate over key policy issues pertaining to food and nutrition. The center serves as a leading research institution and clearinghouse for resources that add to our understanding of the complex forces affecting how we eat, how we stigmatize overweight and obese people, and how the nation's diet can change.

Kelly Brownell Ph.D., is a professor in the department of psychology at Yale University, where he also serves as professor of epidemiology and public health and as director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity. In 2006 Time magazine listed Kelly Brownell among "The World's 100 Most Influential People" in its special Time 100 issue featuring those "whose power, talent or moral example is transforming the world." Brownell was elected to membership in the Institute of Medicine in 2006 and served as president of several national organizations, including the Society of Behavioral Medicine, Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy and the Division of Health Psychology of the American Psychological Association. Brownell has advised members of congress, governors, world health and nutrition organizations and media leaders on issues of nutrition, obesity and public policy. He was cited as a "moral entrepreneur" with special influence on public discourse in a history of the obesity field and was cited by Time magazine as a leading "warrior" in the area of nutrition and public policy.

Melinda Irwin. Ph.D., is an associate professor with the School of Public Health at Yale University. Irwin's primary research interests are in the areas of physical activity, weight control and cancer prevention and prognosis. She is trained in exercise physiology, epidemiology, cancer prevention/control and clinical trials. Specifically, professor Irwin's research involves examining the effect of exercise and weight loss on cancer prognosis and survivorship. She is currently the principal investigator on a randomized controlled trial among breast cancer survivors designed to investigate the exercise effects on breast cancer prognosis. Other ongoing research includes physical activity promotion and obesity prevention studies.

Carolyn Mazure, Ph.D., is a professor of psychiatry and psychology, and associate dean for faculty affairs at Yale School of Medicine. She created and directs Yale's interdisciplinary women's health research program -- Women's Health Research at Yale. Mazure's research focuses on the interplay of stress, depression and addictive disorders. She has a particular interest in gender-specific predictors of illness onset and treatment outcome, and issues of importance to women's health. Her books include "Does Stress Cause Psychiatric Illness?" and "Understanding Depression in Women: Applying Empirical Research to Practice and Policy." She has been a featured expert on ABC's "Prime Time Live" and the BBC documentary "The Science of Stress."