Dr. Jonathan Krakoff is the section chief of the Obesity and Diabetes Clinical Research Section, Phoenix Epidemiology and Clinical Research Branch and a board-certified endocrinologist and internist. His research investigates the etiology of type 2 diabetes and obesity, primarily by focusing on issues that affect energy balance, energy expenditure, and energy intake.
Dr. Douglas Chang is Medical Director of the Clinical Research Unit in the Obesity and Diabetes Clinical Research Section of NIDDK Phoenix. Dr. Chang is board certified in both Internal Medicine and Obesity Medicine. Current research interests include understanding determinants of energy intake and expenditure with a special emphasis on examining the interaction between hydration and obesity which is characterized by prolonged energy imbalance. Additional research examines the role of insulin and glucose regulation in metabolism and investigates novel biomarkers of type 2 diabetes.
Director of Behavioral Sciences
Dr. Marci Gluck is Director of Behavioral Sciences in the Obesity and Diabetes Clinical Research section of the NIDDK. She is a trained clinical health psychologist, having completed her graduate training from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine from Yeshiva University, her predoctoral internship at Yale University School of Medicine, and her NIH postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. Gluck has over 20 years of experience conducting clinical studies in adults with obesity and disordered eating behaviors. Her research focuses on the integration of behavioral, neuropsychological and physiological mechanisms that influence appetitive behavior and body weight regulation. In her spare time, Dr. Gluck enjoys hiking, spending time with her two dogs Ben & Jerry and complaining about the Arizona heat!
Dr. Votruba has a Ph.D. in Nutritional Sciences and is a Registered Dietitian. She is the only R.D./Ph.D. at NIDDK PECRB, and is responsible for the oversight of the metabolic kitchen and also functions as a PI on several studies. Her research interests include improving measurement of food intake and establishing determinants of weight loss and gain. Her broader research interests are in the metabolic determinants of obesity, obesity phenotypes, the measurement of food intake, the development of biomarkers of food intake, and the interaction of the microbiome with the physiology of metabolism.
Tomás Cabeza de Baca, Ph.D., is an associate scientist for the Obesity and Diabetes Clinical Research Section in Phoenix, Arizona. He received his doctoral degree from the University of Arizona and completed his postdoctoral training at the University of California, San Francisco. His research interests include the examination of psychosocial, ecological, and physiological determinants of energy intake and expenditure and their underlying effects on cardiometabolic risk and physiological deterioration. In his spare time, Tommy enjoys shortening his telomeres with cheeseburgers and tequila.
Paolo Piaggi, Ph.D. is interested in the physiological and genetic determinants of the energy balance equation (energy intake and expenditure) and the role these play in contributing to weight change and in predisposing individuals to obesity.
Emma J. Stinson, M.P.H.
Statistician
Emma J. Stinson, M.P.H. is a statistician for the Obesity and Diabetes Clinical Research Section in Phoenix, Arizona. She received her master’s degree in Biostatistics from Drexel University in March of 2020. Her research interests include the development and application of statistical methodology in the study of obesity and eating behaviors with an emphasis on the psychosocial and behavioral determinants of energy intake and energy expenditure.