Professor and Director, Nutrition Obesity Research Center
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Dr. James Hill is one of the world’s foremost experts in obesity and weight management. He is Professor of Nutrition Sciences and Director of the Nutrition Obesity Research Center (NORC) at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Hill has published more than 650 scientific articles and book chapters. Many of these focus on the importance of healthy eating and physical activity in weight management and in preventing and managing chronic diseases. He has been continuously funded from NIH since 1981 and in 1998 received a prestigious MERIT Award from NIH. He is the recipient of several ASN awards, including the Centrum Center Science Award, the McCollum Award, and the David Kritchevsky Career Achievement Award in Nutrition. He has received the TOPS award and the George Bray Founder’s Award from The Obesity Society. He was the 2012 Atwater Lecturer for the US Department of Agriculture. Dr. Hill was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2014. Dr. Hill is a cofounder of the National Weight Control Registry, a registry of individuals who have been successful in maintenance of a reduced body weight. He recently launched the International Weight Control Registry to further investigate factors that contribute to successful weight loss management. He has a passion for translating research to address public health issues. He is co-founder of America on the Move, a national weight gain prevention initiative that aims to inspire Americans to make small changes to prevent weight gain. He is the author of the Step Diet Book, published in June 2004 and the State of Slim published in August 2013.