Catherine Ferguson serves as Vice President of Federal Advocacy for the American Diabetes Association (ADA). With over twenty years experience in policy and advocacy at the state and federal levels, Catherine has worked to advance solutions to improve prevention, care, treatment for various infectious and chronic diseases. Prior to joining ADA, Catherine led governance for a rural health care system Montana. Previously, she served as staff of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee and was involved in passage of seminal in legislation in Congress including the Affordable Care Act.

Tony is the Chief Executive Officer of The Obesity Society and is responsible for overseeing implementation of the goals and mission of the society. He works closely with the elected leadership of TOS to set both strategic and tactical objectives and to coordinates resources to achieve the desired outcomes. In addition, Tony serves as a primary point of contact between TOS and other professional organizations with an interest in obesity.

Tony received his Bachelor of Science degree in Biology in 1981 and a Master of Arts degree in Anthropology in 1987 from Texas A&M University and his Doctor of Philosophy in Biological Anthropology in 1992 from the University of Kansas. Prior to taking on the role of TOS CEO in 2017, Tony spent nearly 25 years as a member of the faculty in the department of Genetics at Texas Biomedical Research Institute in San Antonio where his research focused on the genetics of complex chronic diseases with a particular emphasis on obesity, diabetes, and heart disease. His work was conducted in a wide range of ethnic populations including Mexican Americans, Native Americans, Alaskan Natives, as well as a variety of nonhuman primate species, publishing extensively on this work with over 250 articles in peer-reviewed journals to date. Additionally, he served as a member of the NHLBI Expert Panel which produced the 2013 guidelines for the treatment of Obesity and Overweight. He has also served as Editor of Frontiers in Applied Genetic Epidemiology, an Associate Editor for BMC Medical Genetics, and as a member of the editorial boards of Obesity and the International Journal of Nutrigenetics and Nutrigenomics.

Christine is the Senior Center Administrator for the Sumner M. Redstone Global Center for Prevention and Wellness at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University. In her current role, Christine performs research and manages the many outreach, operational and administrative functions of the Redstone Center, in addition to serving as a key advisor to the Center’s Chair, Dr. William Dietz. She has been managing the STOP Obesity Alliance since she began at GW in 2011. Much of her research on obesity treatment and coverage has been published in the journal Obesity.

Christine received her Master’s in Public Affairs from the University of Texas’ LBJ School of Public Affairs, and has spent over 25 years working in Washington DC. She began her career at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where she worked in the Secretary’s office and for the Assistant Secretary for Legislation. In 2001, Christine became the Director of the Governor of Missouri’s Washington office, where she held several leadership positions on key National Governors Association panels and task forces. Before joining GW, she spent time as a consultant researching and writing on health care issues.

cgallagher@obesitycareadvocacynetwork.com

Dr. Tracy Zvenyach is Director of Policy Strategy and Alliances at the Obesity Action Coalition. In this role, she provides leadership in the development and implementation of policy priorities and strategy for OAC and represents OAC in alliances and coalition efforts to advance obesity care. She also serves as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at Georgetown University, where she teaches healthcare policy and advocacy to graduate students. In her previous roles, Dr. Zvenyach led obesity public policy and advocacy efforts in industry and worked in the U.S. Senate for years, on topics ranging from healthcare, women’s policy, workforce, disaster response, and judiciary policy. Dr. Zvenyach’s research and publications focus on public policy to address barriers to obesity care. Dr. Zvenyach received a BS in nursing from the University of Wisconsin and her MS in nursing and PhD in Health Policy from the University of Maryland.