Research Programs

Since 1974, the MUSC Health Weight Management Center (WMC) has been the University’s center for clinical, research, and educational activities related to obesity and weight control. The WMC has a professional staff which includes physicians, registered dietitians, registered nurses, psychologists, and exercise physiologists.

The Center is active in multi-site and single-site clinical trials of potential weight loss medications and of other non-pharmacological interventions. As a member of the Obesity Research Network, we are in regular contact and collaboration with the leading clinical trial investigators, keeping us involved in cutting-edge research in obesity treatment.

Other research topics have included aspects of personal weight goals, relations between psychological and biological variables, correlates of treatment outcomes, and factors related to physician efforts to encourage patients to lose weight. Center staff have authored more than 100 publications and presentations and have published works in journals such as Obesity, the International Journal of Obesity, and the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. They have presented papers at such scientific meetings as the International Congress of Obesity, the Obesity Society, and the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy.

The Center offers research studies for individual patients as well as working in conjunction with corporate sponsors. For more information on corporate research, select the links to the right.