Current Fellows

A post-doctoral fellowship program is available at the National Institutes of Health-funded NYORC at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. These positions entail working collaboratively with an interdisciplinary group of scientists. The NYNORC studies virtually all aspects of obesity ranging from molecular biology to epidemiology. Investigators include molecular biologists, physicians, psychologists, statisticians, physiologists, nutritionists, and engineers. The goal of this program is to train scientists to be independent investigators in obesity research.

  • Maxine Ashby-Thompson, EdD, MPH

    • Postdoctoral Research Associate

    Postdoctoral Research Associate (April 2019 - )

    Dr. Ashby-Thompson is a behaviorally trained nutritionist with an interest in the effects of diet on body composition and related health conditions throughout the life course.  Her early research focused on elucidating relationships between maternal diet quality and child health outcomes. Her current training under the mentorship of Dr. Dympna Gallagher is to develop expertise in methodologies to study energy metabolism and human body composition phenotyping and their application to disease states and intervention.

     

    Publications:

    1. Shah A, Prasad M, Devjani S, Rai P, Ashby-Thompson M, Yu WW, Gallagher D, Laferrère B. Anthropometrics by Three-Dimensional Photonic Scanner in Patients with Obesity Before and After Bariatric Surgery. Obes Surg. 2020 Aug 13. Online ahead of print. PMID: 32794078.
    2. Ashby-Thompson M, Ji Y, Wang J, Thornton JC, Wolper C, Weil R, Chambers EC, Laferrère B, Pi-Sunyer X, Gallagher D. High-Resolution Three-Dimensional Photonic Scan-Derived Equations Improve Body Surface Area Prediction in Diverse Populations. Obesity. 2020 Apr;28(4):706-717. PMID: 32100449. PMCID: PMC7375836.
    3. Hagobian TA, Phelan S, Schaffner A, Brannen A, McHugh A, Ashby-Thompson M, Gorin AA, Pi-Sunyer X, Gallagher D, Wing R.  Ripple Effect of Lifestyle Interventions During Pregnancy on Untreated Partners' Weight. Obesity. 2019, May;27(5):733-739. PMID: 30957985. PMCID: PMC6478509.
    4. Lovasi, G.S., Jacobson, J.S., Quinn, J.W., Neckerman, K.M., Ashby-Thompson, M.N., Rundle, A.G., Is the Environment near Home and School Associated with Physical Activity and Adiposity of Urban Preschool Children? J Urban Health. 2011 Dec;88(6):1143-57. PMID: 21826583. PMCID: PMC3232416.
    5. Rundle A, Goldstein IF, Mellins RB, Ashby-Thompson M, Hoepner L, Jacobson JS. Physical activity and asthma symptoms among New York City Head Start Children. J Asthma. 2009 Oct;46(8):803-9. PMID: 19863284. PMCID: PMC3144487.
    6. Rotsides DZ, Goldstein IF, Canfield SM, Perzanowski M, Mellins RB, Hoepner L, Ashby-Thompson M, Jacobson JS. Asthma, allergy, and IgE levels in NYC head start children. Respir Med. 2010 Mar;104(3):345-55. PMID: 19913396. PMCID: PMC2826511.
    7. Jacobson JS, Goldstein IF, Canfield SM, Ashby-Thompson M, Husain SA, Chew GL, Perzanowski MS, Hoepner L, Garfinkel R, Mellins RB. Early respiratory infections and asthma among New York City Head Start children. J Asthma. 2008 May;45(4):301-8. PMID: 18446594.

  • Kathryn Whyte, PhD, RD

    • Postdoctoral Research Fellow

    Postdoctoral Research Fellow

    Dr. Kathryn Whyte is a clinically trained nutritional and physical activity interventionist with an extensive background in dietary and physical activity assessment and prescription.  Dr. Whyte’s current postdoctoral training under the mentorship of Dr. Dympna Gallagher is in the areas of energy expenditure by whole room calorimetry and body composition methodologies.  Dr. Whyte’s research interests relate to questions involving exposures to ultra-processed food, the relationships between physical activity prescriptions and body composition phenotyping, and impact of diet quality and physical activity exposures on metabolic health across the lifespan.    
     

    Publications:

    1. Whyte KJ, Russell R, Albu J, and Pi-Sunyer X. Evaluation of a new whole room indirect calorimeter for measurement of resting metabolic rate The FASEB Journal 2013 27:1_supplement, 854.9-854.9 
    2. Rising R, Whyte K, Albu J, Pi-Sunyer X. Evaluation of a new whole room indirect calorimeter specific for measurement of resting metabolic rate. Nutr Metab (Lond). 2015 Nov 19;12:46. doi: 10.1186/s12986-015-0043-0. eCollection 2015. PubMed PMID: 26594229; PMCID: PMC4653920.
    3. Rising R, Whyte K, Albu J, Pi-Sunyer X. A new whole room indirect calorimeter for measurement of the energetics of exercise. J Exerc Physiol Online. 2016 Dec;19(6):156-169. PubMed PMID: 28179805; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5292921.
    4. Whyte, K. Thornton JC, Pi-Sunyer FX, Gallagher D. No sustained effects of an intervention to reduce excessive gestational weight gain on offspring body composition at 59 weeks.  Abstract.  Obesity Week 2019, Las Vegas (2019).
    5. Whyte, K. Johnson J, Kelly K, Horowitz M, Widen EM, Toro-Ramos T, Gidwani S, Paley C, Crane J, Lin S, Rosen B, Thornton JC, Pi-Sunyer FX, Gallagher D. No sustained effects of an intervention to prevent excessive gestational weight gain on offspring fat and lean mass at 54 weeks: yet a greater head circumference persists.  Under Review. 2020.
    6. Whyte K, Contento I, Pi-Sunyer FX, Gallagher D. Effect of ultra-processed food intake on excessive gestaional weight gain for mothers with obesity.  Abstract. Obesity Week 2020.
    7. Whyte K, Contento I, Pi-Sunyer FX, Gallagher D. No effect of ultra-processed food intake on neonatal lean mass or fat free mass measured by QMR or PEAPOD.  Abstract.  Obesity Week 2020.

  • Giada Benasi, PhD

    • Postdoctoral Research Fellow

    Postdoctoral Research Fellow (August 2021 - )

    Dr. Giada Benasi is a clinical psychologist with an interest in the assessment and promotion of psychological well-being and its application to behavioral interventions for improving psychological and physiological health outcomes among people with chronic medical conditions. She received a MSc in Clinical Psychology in 2016 and a PhD in Psychology in 2021 from the University of Bologna, Italy. Her early research focused on the design and implementation of clinical trials testing the efficacy of a well-being intervention for the promotion of weight loss and distress reduction in patients with type 2 diabetes, and for the promotion of sleep health in a community sample of adults reporting moderate distress and poor sleep quality during the Covid 19 pandemic. Her current training under the mentorship of Dr. Marie-Pierre St-Onge is to develop expertise in methodologies to objectively measure obesity and sleep parameters. Dr. Benasi’s research interests relate to understanding the role of psychosocial variables in relation to measures of energy intake, energy expenditure, and body composition to inform the development of real-world interventions for the management of obesity and other health-related outcomes.

    Publications:

    1. Zhu B, Gostoli S, Benasi G, Patierno C, Petroni ML, Nuccitelli C, Marchesini G, Fava GA, Rafanelli C. The role of psychological well-being in weight loss: New insights from a comprehensive lifestyle intervention. Journal of Clinical and Health Psychology 2022; 22:100279.

    2. Benasi G, Fava GA, Guidi J. Prodromal symptoms in depression: A systematic review. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics 2021; 20:1-8.

    3. Gostoli S, Piolanti A, Buzzichelli S, Benasi G, Roncuzzi R, Abbate Daga G, de Figueiredo JM, Rafanelli C. Negative health outcomes in depressed cardiac patients are associated with both low and high psychological well-being dimensions. Psychology, Health & Medicine 2021; 1-9.

    4. Hayashi LC, Benasi G, Aggarwal B, St-Onge M-P. Intuitive and mindful eating to improve physiological health parameters: A short narrative review of intervention studies. Journal of Complementary and Integrative Medicine 2021 (Online ahead of print).

    5. Benasi G, Fava GA, Rafanelli C. Kellner’s Symptom Questionnaire, a highly sensitive patient-reported outcome measure: Systematic review of clinimetric properties. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics 2020; 89(2):74-89.

    6. Benasi G, Guidi J, Rafanelli C, Fava GA. New applications of Well-Being Therapy. Rivista Sperimentale di Freniatria 2019; 1:87-106.

    7. Offidani E, Benasi G, Charlson ME, Ravenell JE, Boutin-Foster C. Impact of depression and demoralization on blood pressure control in African Americans with hypertension: Findings from the TRIUMPH Trial. Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities 2018; 5(5):913-918.