Thomas Wadden


Thomas A. Wadden is an American psychologist who is known for his research on the behavioral, pharmacological, and surgical treatment of obesity. He is Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, where he served as Director of the Center for Weight and Eating Disorders for over two decades. From 2011 to 2021, he held the endowed Albert J. Stunkard Professorship in Psychiatry.
Wadden has published more than 500 peer-reviewed scientific papers and edited seven volumes on obesity and eating disorders. He has contributed to national health policy on obesity management, serving on expert panels for the National Institutes of Health, the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the United States [House of Representatives]. He is a fellow of Obesity Society">Obesity (journal)">Obesity Society. In 2015, The Obesity Society created the Thomas A. Wadden Award for Distinguished Mentorship, recognizing his education of scientists and practitioners in the field of obesity.

Early life and education

Wadden is a native of Washington, D.C. and a graduate of the Landon School in Bethesda, Maryland. He received his bachelor's degree in psychology in 1975 from Brown University and his doctorate in clinical psychology in 1981 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he was honored in 2007 with the Department of Psychology's Distinguished Alumni Award.

Career

Wadden joined the University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Psychiatry as an instructor in 1981 and rose to full professor by 1994. From 1992 to 1993, he was Professor of Psychology and Director of Clinical Training at Syracuse University, where he also led the Center for Health and Behavior. Returning to Penn in 1994, he directed the Center for Weight and Eating Disorders until 2017. He was the first Albert J. Stunkard Professor in Psychiatry.
He has also taught as Visiting Professor of Psychology at Haverford College and Bryn Mawr College, offering courses on obesity and health psychology. In addition, he is Clinical Associate Professor at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine.
Wadden was president of The Obesity Society in 2005–2006 and has served as associate editor of its journal, Obesity. He was also associate editor of Annals of Behavioral Medicine.

Research

Wadden’s research has focused on the behavioral and medical management of obesity. His early work on very low-calorie diets included the first long-term trial of high-protein VLCDs, showing short-term efficacy but frequent weight regain, which underscored the need for long-term maintenance strategies. In the 1990s, he helped establish methods for evaluating commercial weight-loss programs, contributing to federal consumer-protection efforts.
Beginning in the late 1990s, Wadden’s trials demonstrated that combining weight-loss medications with intensive lifestyle intervention produced greater weight reduction than either approach alone, shaping clinical guidelines and drug trial designs. He also played a central role in research that supports the Centers for [Medicare and Medicaid Services] reimbursement of intensive behavioral therapy for obesity. His studies showed that brief, protocol-driven IBT sessions delivered in primary care produced clinically meaningful weight loss.
As a principal investigator on the NIH-funded Look AHEAD trial, Wadden helped show that ILI improved cardiometabolic risk factors, physical function, quality of life, and health-care costs in patients with type 2 diabetes, despite not reducing cardiovascular events. More recently, he has reported on glucagon-like peptide-1 medications such as semaglutide and tirzepatide, which produce substantial weight loss and health benefits. His work has also examined the changing role of behavioral treatment when used with GLP-1 medications, as well as the psychiatric safety of the new drugs.
With colleague Gary Foster, Wadden developed the Weight and Lifestyle Inventory , a widely used self-report tool for obesity assessment, including in bariatric surgery programs. He has published more than 500 refereed papers and 40 book chapters, and co-edited seven books, including Handbook of Obesity Treatment. Since 2020, he has been recognized by Clarivate as a Highly Cited Researcher across multiple fields.

Awards and honors

Wadden has received recognition from professional societies and universities throughout his career. Early honors included the President’s New Researcher Award from the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy. He was later elected a Fellow of the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research, Society of Behavioral Medicine, College of Physicians of Philadelphia, and the Obesity Society.
Subsequent honors included the Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Arthur K. Asbury Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award from the University of Pennsylvania, the George A. Bray Founder's Award, and the TOPS Research Achievement Award, both from the Obesity Society. Other honors included the Bud Orgel Award for Distinguished Achievement in Research and the inaugural Thomas A. Wadden Award for Distinguished Mentorship from The Obesity Society.
Later recognitions included an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, designation as a “distinguished leader in obesity medicine” by the American Board of Obesity Medicine, the Friends of Albert Stunkard Lifetime Achievement Award from The Obesity Society, and the George Bray Outstanding Achievements Award in Obesity Research from the American Society for Nutrition.
In 2022, the University of North Carolina established two student awards in his name, funded in part by gifts from Wadden and his sister, Anne Wadden Peck: one for training in clinical and health psychology and another for distinguished research in behavioral medicine and health psychology.

Selected publications

Books

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Articles

  • Wadden TA, Brown GK, Egebjerg C, Frenkel O, Goldman B, Kushner RF, McGowan B, Overvad M, Fink-Jensen A. Psychiatric Safety of Semaglutide for Weight Management in People Without Known Major Psychopathology: Post Hoc Analysis of the STEP 1, 2, 3, and 5 Trials. JAMA Intern Med. 2024 Nov 1;184:1290-1300. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2024.4346. PMID 39226070; PMCID: PMC11372653.