Aaron S. Kelly

Center for Pediatric Obesity Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School, Minnesota, USA

Dr Aaron Kelly is Professor of Pediatrics and the Co-Director of the Center for Pediatric Obesity Medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School, and the Minnesota American Legion and Auxiliary Chair in Children’s Health.

Dr Kelly has more than 20 years of experience conducting clinical trials for the treatment of paediatric obesity and has published more than 150 peer-reviewed papers on this and related topics. His NIH-funded research programme focuses primarily on treatments targeting the underlying biology of obesity, such as pharmacotherapy and metabolic/bariatric surgery, with the goal of enhancing clinical outcomes in youth struggling with this chronic, refractory, and relapsing disease. Other areas of Dr Kelly’s focus include identifying predictors of treatment response and strategies to improve weight-loss maintenance. 

Dr Kelly is actively involved in spearheading numerous initiatives related to paediatric obesity treatment in the USA and internationally and serves in various leadership positions within The Obesity Society.

Alice Cheng

Trillium Health Partners and Unity Health Toronto; University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Dr Alice Cheng is Endocrinologist at Trillium Health Partners and Unity Health Toronto, and Associate Professor at University of Toronto, ON, Canada.  

Dr Cheng has been involved with the development of the Diabetes Canada clinical practice guidelines since 2003 and served as Chair for the 2013 version. She is immediate Past-Chair of the Professional Section of Diabetes Canada and is serving as Chair of the Scientific Planning Committee for the 2023 and 2024 American Diabetes Association annual scientific meetings. In addition, Dr Cheng is an associate editor for Diabetes Care journal and co-host of the podcast series Diabetes Care “On Air”. In recognition of Dr Cheng’s contribution to the diabetes community, she has received the national Charles H. Best Award and the Gerald S. Wong Service Award from Diabetes Canada. 

Dr Cheng is also the creator of The Med Ed Pledge – an initiative to increase diversity and inclusion in continuing medical education (www.TheMedEdPledge.com) along with CMEX – a searchable database of healthcare professionals in Canada interested in contributing to medical education.

Anna MG Cali

Novo Nordisk A/S, Copenhagen, Denmark

Anna is Corporate Vice President for Obesity, MASH and Cell Therapy in Global Medical Affairs at Novo Nordisk.

Anna trained as an Endocrinologist in Italy where she started to be involved in clinical research. Her passion to understand the physiopathology of diabetes and obesity across different populations and age is reflected by her diverse academic experience, including a sabbatical year at NIH working on the genetic of obesity and diabetes in the Pima Indian of America. 

At Yale University she focused on the understanding of the pathophysiology of diabetes and obesity in the adults and pediatric population; followed by a period of research at Cambridge University focusing on the pathophysiology of monogenic form of obesity.

She has been working in the pharmaceutical industry since 2011 in a country and global strategic position, covering the entire drug development value chain from medical affairs to research and development in different organizations. 

Her major focus has always been obesity, diabetes and to some extent metabolic liver diseases in both adult and pediatric population, although she has spent few years expanding and applying her scientific and strategic knowledge and skills to the immunology, cancer and vaccine landscape.

She has authored numerous peer-review manuscripts and presented at International Congresses throughout her career.

Filip K. Knop

Center for Clinical Metabolic Research, Gentofte Hospital, University of Copenhagen; Steno Diabetes Center, Copenhagen, Denmark

Professor Filip K. Knop is Professor of Endocrinology and Director at the Center for Clinical Metabolic Research at Gentofte Hospital, University of Copenhagen, and Consultant Endocrinologist at Steno Diabetes Center, Copenhagen, Denmark. 

Professor Knop has been involved in diabetes, obesity and metabolic research since his fellowship at The Distinguished Gifford Laboratories for Diabetes Research, University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, TX, USA in 1999/2000. He earned his MD in 2002 and his PhD in medical sciences in 2007 (supervised by Jens J. Holst) from University of Copenhagen, Denmark. 

Professor Knop’s research centres on human metabolism, the pathophysiology of obesity and related disorders including type 2 diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, regulation of appetite and food intake, and the therapeutic potential of the factors involved in these processes.

The Knop laboratory has reported several novel findings describing the integrative role of the gut and the liver in human (patho)physiology. Professor Knop has authored more than 460 peer-reviewed scientific publications and has received multiple honours for his research. He was named ‘Rising star’ by the EASD in 2010, awarded the DPLU/LUDC Nordic Prize for an Outstanding Young Diabetes Investigator in 2011, Johan Quentin and Wife’s Prize for Outstanding Research in 2014, The Capital Region of Denmark’s Global Excellence Prize in 2014, The Thomsen Prize in 2015, The Niels Schwartz Sørensen Prize in 2017, The Odd Fellowship’s Research Prize in 2017, the European Journal of Endocrinology Prize 2018, and EASD’s Minkowski Prize 2019. 

Francesco Cosentino

Karolinska Institute, Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden

Prof. Francesco Cosentino is Professor of Cardiology and Chair of Cardiovascular Medicine at the Karolinska Institute and Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden.

He earned his medical degree and completed his postgraduate training in internal medicine and cardiovascular disease at the University of Rome, Italy. In 1991 he moved to the Mayo Clinic & Foundation, Rochester, MN, USA for a cardiovascular fellowship. During his stay at the Mayo Clinic & Foundation, he fulfilled all the requirements for a PhD in biomedical sciences – cardiovascular pharmacology. In 1995, Prof. Cosentino joined the Cardiovascular Division at the University Hospital of Bern, Switzerland. Two years later, he moved to the Division of Cardiology of Zurich University Hospital as a lecturer and then Titular Professor of Cardiology. In 2006, he was appointed Associate Professor of Cardiology at the Sapienza University of Rome, Italy. He has been full Professor of Cardiology at the Karolinska Institute and Karolinska University Hospital in Stockholm since 2013.

Prof. Cosentino is the recipient of grants and prizes from national and international institutions, research councils and private foundations. He is the lead author of more than 250 original articles published in top-ranking, peer-reviewed journals. Prof. Cosentino is a member of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Board and Chair of ESC Advocacy Committee. He is Deputy Editor of the European Heart Journal and Consulting Editor of Cardiovascular Research Journal. He has been Chairman of the 2019 ESC Guidelines on diabetes, pre-diabetes and cardiovascular disease and in 2020–2022 Vice President of the ESC.

Harpreet S. Bajaj

Endocrine and Metabolic Research, LMC Healthcare/Centricity Research, Ontario, Canada

Dr Bajaj’s medical education was at University of Delhi, India, followed by a Master of Public Health (Epidemiology) at the State University of New York in Albany, NY, USA. He completed his endocrinology fellowship at the Cleveland Clinic, OH, USA. 

Dr Bajaj is the Principal Investigator of the Canadian Diabetes Prevention Program, a nationwide collaborative effort between LMC and Diabetes Canada, funded by the public health agency of Canada. He is the Chair of the Clinical Practice Guidelines Steering Committee at Diabetes Canada. 

Dr Bajaj’s research focus and publications in key medical journals relate to type 2 diabetes (prevention, remission, and management), obesity and cardiorenal risk reduction. 

Jens Aberle

University of Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

Professor Jens Aberle is Professor for Diabetology and Obesity Medicine at University of Hamburg, Germany.

Professor Aberle is the President of the German Obesity Association, a speaker at the Obesity Commission of the German Diabetes Association, and a member of the Executive Board German Diabetes Association. He is a Scientific Advisor at Gemeinsamer Bundesausschuss for Disease Management Programs and Reimbursement. Professor Aberle is also a German Representative to EMA for Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes, a mandate holder of the ‘National Care Guidelines Type 2 Diabetes’, Practice Guidelines ‘Therapy of Type 2 Diabetes’, ‘S3 Guidelines Metabolic Surgery’ and ‘S3 Guidelines Diagnosis and Therapy of Obesity’.

Professor Aberle’s areas of research include genetics of obesity and type 2 diabetes, and physiologic effects of metabolic surgery. Professor Aberle has also worked on the implementation of clinical study results in guidelines and reception of guidelines in clinical practice (Innovation Fund Project). He has been involved in clinical studies in type 2 diabetes, working as Principle Investigator and National Lead (GLP-1 RA, SGLT2-Inhibitors and others). He is a reviewer for multiple scientific journals, including Diabetes Care and Diabetologia.

Julio Rosenstock

Velocity Clinical Research at Medical City Dallas; University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA

Dr Rosenstock earned his medical degree from the University of Costa Rica School of Medicine and completed fellowships in endocrinology and diabetes at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School, Hammersmith Hospital, London, UK, and at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. He is board certified in internal medicine, and endocrinology and metabolism.

Dr Rosenstock’s clinical and research activities have focused on exploring novel agents and therapeutic strategies to improve glycaemic control, particularly early combination therapies in type 2 diabetes. Over the last 30 years, he has participated in hundreds of clinical trials and has had an active role in the development of new oral agents, incretin-related therapies, and insulin preparations, often acting as a lead clinical investigator and scientific advisor on the design and reporting of clinical trials on novel diabetes drugs.

Dr Rosenstock has been the author or co-author of over 350 peer-reviewed manuscripts (h-index 122) and several hundred scientific abstracts. He has also contributed to book chapters on various topics in the field of diabetes. He is considered a key opinion leader in type 2 diabetes. In addition, Dr Rosenstock has chaired or been a featured speaker at multiple lectures and presentations both in the USA and abroad.

Kamlesh Khunti

Diabetes Research Centre,  University of Leicester, Leicester, UK

Professor Kamlesh Khunti is Professor of Primary Care Diabetes and Vascular Medicine at the University of Leicester, UK. He is Director of Leicester Diabetes Centre, Director of the UK National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) in Applied Research Collaborations (ARC) East Midlands, Director of the Centre for Ethnic Health Research and Director of the Real-World Evidence Unit.

Professor Khunti leads a programme of work on cardiometabolic diseases and multimorbidity. He was recently appointed as Director of the first NIHR Global Health Research Centre for Multiple Long-Term Conditions and Co-lead for the Multiple Long-Term Conditions Cross-NIHR Collaboration. He is the national NIHR ARC Lead for Multimorbidity and leads the national training programme for multimorbidity. Professor Khunti led a programme of work during the COVID-19 pandemic and is a member of UK government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) and Chair of the SAGE Ethnicity subgroup.

Professor Khunti has published over 1,200 peer-reviewed articles. He is Chair of the American Diabetes Association’s Overcoming Therapeutic Inertia initiative and is currently a member of the KDIGO Diabetes and CKD Guidelines Work Group and a member of the ADA Standards of Care in Diabetes Professional Practice Committee. He has won numerous awards in the UK and internationally and was awarded the Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours List for services to health.

Katherine Tuttle

Providence Inland Northwest Health; Institute of Translational Health Sciences and Professor of Medicine, University of Washington, Washington, USA

Professor Katherine Tuttle is Executive Director for Research at Providence Inland Health, Regional Principal Investigator of the Institute of Translational Health Sciences and Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington, WA, USA.

Professor Tuttle is Chair of the Diabetic Kidney Disease Collaborative Task Force and served on the inaugural Board of Directors of the Kidney Health Initiative for the American Society of Nephrology. She has chaired numerous working groups and committees for the National Institutes of Health, the National Kidney Foundation, the International Society of Nephrology, and the American Diabetes Association.

Professor Tuttle’s research interests are in diabetes and kidney disease. 

Kees Hovingh

Novo Nordisk A/S, Copenhagen, Denmark

Kees Hovingh is Senior Medical Officer, originally in the Global CMO, and now GMA at Novo Nordisk in Copenhagen, Denmark since 2019. In this role his responsibilities include defining and driving the R&D CVD strategy to address clinical needs for individuals living with obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease. He is involved in the evaluation of the clinical value of products and services at different stages of development, ranging from preclinical idea generation to leveraging the clinical value of marketed products. Kees is a member of a number of clinical trial steering commitees including ZEUS, SELECT, SOUL, Step-HF and the ATTR-phase 2 trial.

Kees received his medical degree in 2000, his PhD in 2005 and his MBA degree in 2016 from the University of Groningen. He is a full professor, internist and vascular medicine specialist at the Department of Vascular Medicine at the University Medical Center Amsterdam (UMCA), the Netherlands. Kees was co-chair of the department of internal medicine at the UMCA in 2016-2019 and in his role as head of the clinical trial unit (2012-2019) he has been involved in a large number of clinical trials, mainly focused on novel therapies to address dyslipidemia, thrombosis and hemophilia. His research focuses on genetics and molecular biology in CVD, and he did a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard Genetics in Boston USA. Kees co-authored over 300 publications (Scholar H index: 91) and was named by Thomsen-Reuters in 2019 as the top1% most cited researchers.

Lise Lotte Gluud

Hvidovre Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Professor Lise Lotte Gluud is Professor of Gastroenterology and Hepatology and Consultant Hepatologist at Hvidovre Hospital, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. She is a member of the steering committee at the Centre for Liver Disease in Copenhagen (CLIC) and the Centre for Obesity at Amager and Hvidovre Hospital. 

Professor Gluud’s qualifications include Specially Appointed Named Person at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen; Member of the National Committee on Health Research Ethics; Chairman of the National Clinical Guideline for the Management of patients with NAFLD; Chairman of the Danish Association of Gastroenterology and Hepatology (DSGH) Research Committee; and Plos ONE Section Editor. 

Professor Gluud’s main research areas include lifestyle associated liver diseases focusing on non-alcoholic steatohepatitis as well as cirrhosis-related complications, and clinical as well as pathophysiological studies with >180 Medline Indexed publications and a H-index of 68. Other interest areas include inflammatory and metabolic complications associated with pancreatitis. 

Liselotte Hyveled

Novo Nordisk A/S, Copenhagen, Denmark

Liselotte Hyveled is Chief Patient Officer and heading up patient voice strategy and alliances at Novo Nordisk A/S, in Copenhagen, Denmark. She has extended experience of the entire drug development value chain with specific focus on late-stage clinical development and regulatory interactions in US, JP and EU. Liselotte has led a fast-acting insulin from first human dose to launch in two major markets. Experience in diabetes, obesity, rare diseases, and HRT. In addition, she has participated in several due diligence process for potential M&A. Liselotte is passionate about diversity and inclusion and have initiated several projects to focus on diversity beyond gender and nationality as a part of CSR activities and company D&I strategic goals.

Lotte Bjerre Knudsen

Novo Nordisk A/S, Copenhagen, Denmark

Lotte Bjerre Knudsen is the Chief Scientific Advisor and member of the EVP leadership team for Research & Early Development in the pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk. Originally trained in biotechnology, she is also a Doctor of Medical Sciences, and was Adjunct Professor in translational medicine at Aarhus University, Denmark from 2015-2020, and worked in Oxford in 2021. She has worked for Novo Nordisk for 34 years. Lotte was responsible for inventing liraglutide and has been the scientific lead for liraglutide and/or semaglutide in obesity, cardiovascular, kidney, NASH and Alzheimer’s, and oral absorption. She has published numerous papers on GLP-1, liraglutide, semaglutide, mode(s) of action, toxicology, and receptor expression. Lotte has received several awards for her work, latest the Paul Langerhans Medal from the German Diabetes Association.

Martin Lange

Novo Nordisk A/S, Copenhagen, Denmark

Martin Lange is executive vice president for Development at Novo Nordisk A/S, in Copenhagen, Denmark. He joined Novo Nordisk in 2002, working with growth hormone, GLP-2 and oral anti-diabetics as first operationally and subsequently medically responsible for several projects within Global Development.

Martin Lange worked two years in Novo Nordisk Inc., USA, from 2006-2008 in the Medical Department as senior medical director. In 2008, Martin Lange moved back to Denmark as vice president, Medical & Science liraglutide during the submission and approval phase, transferring in 2010 upon US approval of Victoza® to insulin degludec in a similar position.

From 2013 to 2017, he served as corporate project vice president for Insulin & Diabetes Outcomes and subsequently Insulin & Devices, being responsible for the development and approval of the Novo Nordisk insulin portfolio. In January 2018, he was appointed senior vice president for Global Development, assuming the overall clinical development responsibilities of the Novo Nordisk pipeline. In March 2021, Martin Lange was appointed executive vice president for Development.

Martin Lange is a doctor of medicine from the University of Copenhagen, where he also obtained a PhD in endocrinology.

Michael Nauck

Katholisches Klinikum Bochum gGmbH, St. Josef-Hospital, Medical Department I, Ruhr-University, Bochum, Germany

Professor Nauck has a particular research interest in the role of gastrointestinal peptide hormones (incretins: glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide, GIP, and glucagon-like peptide-1, GLP-1) in the physiological regulation of metabolism and in the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes. He has contributed pivotal studies proving a therapeutic potential of GLP-1 in type 2 diabetes, and has contributed to the development of incretin-based glucose-lowering medications such as GLP-1 receptor agonists and inhibitors of dipeptidyl peptidase-4. Additional areas of interest include spontaneous hypoglycaemia (insulinomas), pancreas transplantation, cardiovascular complications of type 2 diabetes, and the modification of cardiovascular risk in type 2-diabetic patients with glucose-lowering pharmacotherapy.

Professor Nauck’s scientific contributions have been honoured with several awards, including the Ferdinand-Bertram Award (1993), the Werner-Creutzfeldt Award (2007) and the Paul Langerhans Medal (2012) from the German Diabetes Association, and the Claude Bernard Medal from the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (2022).

Professor Nauck has served as reviewer for many major diabetes journals and has published more than 250 original articles and 140 reviews and book chapters. His publications have been quoted more than 70,000 times, his “H-index” is 109, and he has been a “highly cited researcher” (among the top 1%) in 2019, 2021, and 2022(Web of Knowledge). Professor Nauck is member of a number of professional societies, including the German, European, and American Diabetes Associations, and the International Diabetes Federation.

Peter Kurtzhals

Novo Nordisk A/S, Copenhagen, Denmark

Peter Kurtzhals is Chief Scientific Advisor for Novo Nordisk R&D. Peter holds a PhD degree from the Royal Danish School of Pharmacy in Copenhagen, Denmark, and has been a visiting scientist at the Joslin Diabetes Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.

Peter was appointed adjunct Professor at the University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences in 2012. Peter joined Novo Nordisk in 1990; he was Senior Vice President and Head of Novo Nordisk’s Global Research organisation 2001–2018. In April 2018, he was appointed Chief Scientific Advisor for Novo Nordisk R&D. 

Furthermore, Peter is a member of various boards and committees, and chairs the Research Policy Committee of the Danish Association of the Pharmaceutical Industry.  

Stephen Gough

Novo Nordisk A/S, Copenhagen, Denmark

Stephen Gough is Senior Vice President and Global Chief Medical Officer of Global Medical Affairs at Novo Nordisk A/S, in Copenhagen, Denmark. He joined Novo Nordisk A/S as Senior Principal Clinical Scientist in 2015 in the Chief Medical Office, to provide advice and clinical guidance on the development of new molecules and drugs, from early through to phase 3 and beyond, for the treatment of diabetes and obesity. In 2018, Stephen became Senior Vice President and Global Chief Medical Officer, and in 2021 also became responsible for Global Medical Affairs.

Prior to joining Novo Nordisk, Stephen was Head of the Oxford Centre for Diabetes Endocrinology and Metabolism (OCDEM) in the UK and served as Professor of Diabetes at the University of Oxford and Consultant Physician at the Oxford University of Hospitals NHS Trust. Stephen was also the Diabetes Clinical Lead for the Local Clinical Research Network and the Academic Health Science Network in Oxford.

Stephen’s research interests are in the genetics of autoimmune disease, glucose homeostasis, incretin biology in pancreas whole organ and islet transplantation, and clinical trials of GLP-1 based therapies. Since joining Novo Nordisk, he has supported a number of activities and provided senior medical opinion in diabetes, obesity and BioPharm.

Sue D. Pedersen

American Board of Obesity Medicine; C-ENDO Diabetes & Endocrinology Clinic, Calgary, Alberta, Canada 

Dr Sue Pedersen is Endocrinologist at C-endo Diabetes and Endocrinology Clinic in Calgary, AB, Canada, where she focuses on obesity and type 2 diabetes.  

Dr Pedersen completed her training as an endocrinologist at the University of Calgary, AB, Canada in 2005 and is a certified American Board of Obesity Medicine diplomate and Specialist in Endocrinology and Metabolism. Dr Pedersen has worked at the Royal University Hospital, SK, Canada, and held a research sabbatical at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Dr Pedersen serves as a principal, national, and/or global panel investigator and co-author of numerous research studies, including studies of pharmacotherapy for obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular outcome trials.

Dr Pedersen has a prominent role with Obesity Canada. She is the lead author of the 2020 and 2022 update of the chapter ‘Pharmacotherapy in Obesity Management’ of the Canadian Adult Obesity Clinical Practice Guidelines. Dr Pedersen is also a member of the expert committee for the 2018 Diabetes Canada guidelines as an author on the chapter ‘Weight Management in Diabetes’. She maintains a public information website about weight management and diabetes at www.drsue.ca. 

Vanita Aroda

Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Dr Vanita Aroda is Director of Diabetes Clinical Research at the Brigham and Women's Hospital and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, both in Boston, MA, USA.

Dr Aroda completed her training in Internal Medicine and in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at the University of California San Diego, CA, USA. 

Dr Aroda has an interest and published record in diabetes prevention and novel therapeutics in diabetes and weight management. She also has a strong interest in understanding therapeutic interventions in large multicentre clinical trials and their applicability and integration into care.

Dr Aroda has many years of experience in clinical trial conduct and leadership, has served as an investigator on multiple National Institutes of Health-funded studies, and as the national or international signatory Principal Investigator for numerous therapeutic clinical trials. She served on the Professional Practice Committee of the American Diabetes Association (Standards of Care in Diabetes 2021, 2022, 2023) and on the international 2022 ADA-EASD Consensus Group for the Management of Hyperglycemia in Type 2 Diabetes.