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Kuczmarski To Direct NIDDK Obesity Program

Dr. Robert J. Kuczmarski recently joined the NIDDK Division of Digestive Diseases and Nutrition as director of the division's Obesity Prevention and Treatment Program. He will coordinate a program of clinical research on the biomedical, behavioral, societal, environmental, pharmacological and surgical approaches to the prevention and treatment of obesity.

Dr. Robert J. Kuczmarski

Prior to joining NIDDK, Kuczmarski was a nutritionist and health statistician for the National Center for Health Statistics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 1985 to 2001. In this position, he had primary responsibility for the component of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III that assessed growth, overweight/obesity and body composition in humans. While at NCHS, Kuczmarski also coordinated efforts to revise the NCHS/CDC pediatric growth charts.

Kuczmarski has contributed to the development of reports related to nutrition and body composition in infants, children, adolescents and adults. He has authored or coauthored more than 50 refereed journal articles, numerous abstracts and book chapters and is a frequent speaker on the use and interpretation of body composition measurements, the prevalence and demographics of overweight and weight gain in the United States, and the new pediatric growth charts. He is a member of several professional and scientific organizations including the American Society for Nutritional Sciences, the American Society for Clinical Nutrition and the American Dietetic Association. He has served as a reviewer for many scientific journals.

Kuczmarski received his undergraduate degree in biology from Hiram College (Ohio) and his M.S. in public health and Ph.D. in nutrition from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill School of Public Health.

Guadagno Joins CSR

Dr. Mary Ann Guadagno has moved to the Center for Scientific Review to become the new scientific review administrator for the epidemiology and disease control 3 study section. She comes from the National Institute on Aging, where she coordinated grant reviews for its behavior and social science of aging review committee. Guadagno earlier served as a survey statistician at the National Center for Health Statistics and analyzed consumer expenditure survey data for the Department of Agriculture. Before joining the federal government, she was director of research for Nationwide Life Insurance Co. and an assistant professor in family social science at the University of Minnesota in St. Paul. Guadagno received a Ph.D. in economics from Ohio State University, where she developed her interests in questionnaire and survey research design, memory and social economic status, and respondent error in national health surveys.

Jones Named to IT Post

Dr. John F. "Jack" Jones, Jr. recently joined the Center for Information Technology as chief IT architect for NIH. Initially he will focus on enterprise systems critical to the NIH mission. His goal is to optimize the usefulness of current IT systems and services to support that mission. Jones, who served as chief IT architect for Sandia National Laboratory and most recently as senior advisor for cybersecurity to the secretary, Department of Energy, looks forward to working closely with the institutes and centers.

Perrin is New CSR Reviewer

Dr. Peter Perrin has joined the Center for Scientific Review as a scientific review administrator for one of its new fellowship study sections. His section (F-10) evaluates fellowship applications related to basic and clinical aspects of respiratory, cardiovascular, digestive and renal systems. Perrin received his Ph.D. in parasitology from the University of Pennsylvania, studying the molecular basis of granuloma formation in response to Schistosoma manson infection. He continued his research there as a postdoctoral fellow before conducting research for the Naval Medical Research Institute. He also became an assistant professor of medicine, microbiology and immunology at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.