Suzanne Phelan, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Kinesiology at California Polytechnic State University. She earned her Master's degree and Ph.D. in Clinical and Health Psychology (2001) from MCP Hahnemann University in Philadelphia, PA. She completed her internship and postdoctoral fellowship in Behavioral Medicine at Brown University. She became faculty in the Department of Psychiatry at Brown in 2002 and currently holds an adjunct Assistant Professor position there. Dr. Phelan's principal research is on the treatment of obesity by interventions that have included behavior modification and medications. She is Co-Investigator of the National Weight Control Registry, which is an ongoing longitudinal study evaluating over 6,000 successful weight losers. Dr. Phelan is also conducting studies looking at the prevention of pregnancy-associated weight gain and obesity. She has several publications and numerous professional presentations in the area of obesity.
Articles
What Distinguishes Weight-Loss Maintainers from the Treatment-Seeking Obese? Analysis of Environmental, Behavioral, and Psychosocial Variables in Diverse Populations (with Tao Liu, Amy Gorin, Michael Lowe, Joseph Hogan, Joseph Fava, and Rena R. Wing), Annals of Behavioral Medicine (2009)
Background Understanding the factors that influence successful weight control is critical for developing interventions.
Purpose...
What Do Physicians Recommend To Their Overweight and Obese Patients? (with Mithun Nallari, Francine E. Darroch, and Rena R. Wing), The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine (2009)
Background: It is recognized that physicians play an important role in responding to the nation's...
Becoming Physically Active After Bariatric Surgery is Associated With Improved Weight Loss and Health-Related Quality of Life (with Dale S. Bond, Luke G. Wolfe, Ronald K. Evans, Jill G. Meador, John M. Kellum, James W. Maher, and Rena R. Wing), Obesity (2009)
The purpose of this study was to determine whether pre- to postoperative increases in physical...
Weight-Loss Maintenance in Successful Weight Losers: Surgical vs. Non-Surgical Methods (with D. S. Bond, T. M. Leahey, James O. Hill, and Rena R. Wing), International Journal of Obesity (2009)
Objective: As large weight losses are rarely achieved through any method except bariatric surgery, there...
Maintaining Large Weight Losses: The Role of Behavioral and Psychological Factors (with Rena R. Wing, George Papandonatos, Joseph L. Fava, Amy A. Gorin, Jeanne McCaffery, and Deborah F. Tate), Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology (2008)
Few studies have examined predictors of weight regain after significant weight losses. This prospective study...