Wondr Health Appoints New Science Advisory Board to Guide Curriculum Development and Clinical Strategy

Diverse and distinguished healthcare researchers and leaders in science include experts in weight management, obesity prevention, lifestyle change, exercise, nutrition, women’s health, and diabetes intervention

Wondr Health™ (formerly Naturally Slim), a digital behavioral change company focused on weight management and preventing chronic disease within the employer-sponsored space, today announced the addition of its Science Advisory Board (SAB), comprised of internationally recognized experts in physical and mental health. The newly appointed board will serve to work alongside the company’s expert clinical team to guide curriculum and product updates to further enhance the program’s reach and expertise. Founding members of the board include internationally recognized experts in a diverse variety of fields including physical and mental health, obesity research, chronic conditions, and more: Donna H. Ryan, MD; Gary Bennett, Ph.D.; John Jakicic, Ph.D.; Corby K. Martin, Ph.D. FTOS; and Deborah Tate, Ph.D.

The development of the SAB is the most recent reflection of Wondr Health’s expansion and market leadership in the benefits space. Mid-May, the company announced its rebrand to Wondr Health, after being in the benefits space for over 15 years. Like every other element of the new brand, the addition of the Science Advisory Board strengthens the company’s foundation and commitment to aligning with the latest behavioral science, driving clinically-proven results, and making the Wondr program relevant and available to all.

“The nature of Wondr Health being rooted in science means that we’re always looking to the latest research and expertise to improve our program and program results,” said Dr. Tim Church, Chief Medical Officer of Wondr. “The board’s experience and knowledge will deepen and widen our expertise, help build on our foundation of clinical research, and further enable us to fully live out our mission of doing the most good for the most people.”

Pandemic-related stress led to serious health consequences including undesirable weight gain, poor sleep, increased alcohol consumption, and deteriorated mental health – creating new challenges for employers to control healthcare costs and keep employees healthy. Solutions that target weight management and holistic health through behavior change have become increasingly important to help improve health outcomes, prevent disease, and support immunity. Wondr’s SAB is a diverse, world-renowned group of scientific leaders with a profound understanding of the future of healthcare, weight management, digital health, and how employers can utilize benefits solutions to make an impact on the health of their organizations. Experts in their respective fields, board members Donna Ryan and John Jakicic share key elements of successful weight management programs employers should consider when evaluating programs for their populations:

“Intensive lifestyle intervention is critical to the future of effective digital behavioral weight management programs, and has been shown in studies to prevent diabetes, improve blood pressure and lipid control, allow reduction in medications for chronic disease management and improve how patients feel and function,” said Wondr SAB member, Donna H. Ryan, MD. “However, delivering a lifestyle intervention in routine medical practice is simply impractical. That’s why digital behavioral weight management programs like Wondr are so important, they allow the principles of those gold-standard studies to be implemented on a large scale.”

“We’ve seen an increased need to expand beyond the traditional physical components of health to include elements that allow for a comprehensive approach to health and wellbeing,” said advisory board member, John Jakicic, Ph.D. “Providers within the weight management industry, such as Wondr, who are able to provide this broader perspective on health and wellbeing, while remaining focused on the desire for individuals to manage their weight, will likely have the greatest opportunity for impact.”

Each of Wondr’s individual SAB members have made significant scientific contributions to multiple areas of behavioral weight management. Their combined expertise—ranging from weight management, obesity prevention, lifestyle change, exercise, nutrition, women’s health, and diabetes intervention—will strengthen the development of the results-proven curriculum employers rely on from Wondr for long-term improvements to the health of their employee populations.

Members of the Wondr Science Advisory Board include:

Donna H. Ryan, MD is Professor Emerita at Pennington Biomedical in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and the President of World Obesity Federation. She is the associate editor-in-chief of the journal, Obesity, has authored more than 200 publications on nutrition, obesity and weight management, has been an investigator for various U.S. National Institutes of Health-sponsored studies, including Pounds Lost, DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension), DPP (Diabetes Prevention Program), and the Look AHEAD study, and is Co-Chair of the Steering Committee for SELECT, a cardiovascular outcome trial of semaglutide.

Gary G. Bennett, Ph.D. is the Bishop-MacDermott Family Professor of Psychology & Neuroscience, Global Health and Medicine and Vice-Provost for undergraduate education at Duke University and is an expert on integrating digital therapeutics into the primary care setting. Authoring more than 150 scientific papers, many of which supported by the National Institutes of Health, his work demonstrates the effectiveness of coach-led, digital obesity treatments in preventing obesity, and improving cardiometabolic functioning.

John Jakicic, Ph.D. has an international reputation as a leading scholar in the area of physical activity, and this builds on a line of research to determine the appropriate dose of physical activity for long-term body weight regulation and related chronic diseases across the lifespan. Specifically, Dr. Jakicic’s research has been key to the public health recommendation regarding physical activity for weight control, and he is an expert in the implementation of strategies to improve long-term adherence to physical activity. Dr. Jakicic has served on various national and international committees to develop physical activity guidelines for the prevention and treatment of obesity and other chronic conditions.

Corby K. Martin, Ph.D., FTOS is a Professor and Director of the Ingestive Behavior, Weight Management, & Health Promotion Laboratory at Pennington Biomedical Research Center. Dr. Martin’s research is focused on developing tools and interventions to help people live healthier lives through diet and exercise, which is apparent in his role directing the Human Phenotyping Core of the Center’s NIH-funded Nutrition Obesity Research Center.

Deborah Tate, Ph.D. is a professor in the Departments of Health Behavior and Nutrition in the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina with 20 years of research in behavioral weight management, particularly delivered through web and mobile platforms. With continuous funding in obesity and digital health intervention research by the National Institutes of Health since 2000, she has published over 75 peer reviewed papers and conducted numerous randomized controlled trials (RCTs) based on self-regulation theory, as well as participated in multi-center trials of behavioral interventions–most involving new technologies.

For more information about Wondr’s science-based approach visit https://wondrhealth.com/science-backing/.

About Wondr Health

Wondr Health^TM (formerly Naturally Slim) is a digital behavioral change program focused on weight management, that helps participants improve their physical and mental wellbeing through simple, interactive, and clinically-proven skills and tools. By treating the root cause of obesity through behavioral science, Wondr reduces risk factors to prevent chronic diseases like diabetes and hypertension, helps enhance employee productivity and engagement, decreases claims costs, and improves overall physical and mental wellbeing.

A master class of sorts, Wondr Health’s team of renowned doctors and scientists teaches practical, data-backed skills that empower participants to stress less, sleep better, and feel better. The highly personalized program has helped hundreds of thousands of people by flipping diet culture upside down and teaching employees the science of eating the foods they love so they can still lose weight. Through the app, online community, certified coaches, and series of weekly videos that offer a new perspective on better health, participants enter a world where weight loss is a science, small steps lead to big changes, perspectives are flipped, possibilities are infinite, and good habits last. Learn more at www.wondrhealth.com.

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