Zigman Receives Prestigious Founders Award from The Obesity Society
Jeffrey Zigman, M.D., Ph.D., FTOS, a Professor of Internal Medicine and Psychiatry, has received The Obesity Society’s George A. Bray Founders Award. This prestigious honor acknowledges his significant contributions to advancing the scientific and clinical understanding of obesity, as well as his extensive involvement with The Obesity Society.
The award comes with a $1,000 prize and a plaque, which will be presented at The Obesity Society’s annual scientific meeting in November in San Antonio. During the ceremony, Dr. Zigman will also deliver the George A. Bray Founders Award Lecture.
The Zigman Lab’s research centers on ghrelin, a hormone produced by the stomach. Known as the “hunger hormone,” ghrelin travels through the bloodstream to the brain, pituitary gland, and pancreas. It plays a role in stimulating appetite, increasing body weight, raising blood sugar levels, enhancing exercise endurance, and reducing depression and anxiety.
The lab’s research has shown that manipulating the levels of ghrelin and LEAP2—either by increasing or decreasing them—could be a clinical strategy for treating conditions such as obesity, fatty liver disease, diabetes, and cancer cachexia, a wasting syndrome common in advanced cancer patients.
Originally from Bradford, Pennsylvania, Dr. Zigman holds a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences from Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. He earned his doctorate in biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Chicago, where he also received his medical degree and completed internal medicine residency training. He then received advanced training through a clinical and research fellowship in endocrinology, diabetes, and metabolism at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.
Dr. Zigman joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2006. He serves as Director of the Molecular Metabolism & Metabolic Diseases Track in the UT Southwestern Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. He also serves as Director of the Enrichment Program in the Nutrition & Obesity Research Center.
Dr. Zigman holds the Kent and Jodi Foster Distinguished Chair in Endocrinology, in Honor of Daniel Foster, M.D.; Mr. and Mrs. Bruce G. Brookshire Professorship in Medicine; and the Diana and Richard C. Strauss Professorship in Biomedical Research.