Faculty and Staff News

News and awards related to faculty and staff in the School of Education.

John Jakicic contributed to a landmark study investigating the long-term effects of weight loss on the risks of cardiovascular disease among patients with type 2 diabetes has now concluded, with significant results published online in the New England Journal of Medicine. Conducted at the University of Pittsburgh and clinical facilities throughout the United States, the multicenter clinical trial investigated the effects of an intensive lifestyle intervention program, intended to achieve and maintain weight loss in overweight or obese people with type 2 diabetes, on rates of cardiovascular disease. Begun in 2001, the trial enrolled more than 5,000 people at 16 clinical centers across the United States and is the longest intervention study of its type ever undertaken for patients with diabetes.

Jakicic, professor and chair of Department of Health and Physical Activity, served as principal investigator for the University of Pittsburgh in the study. He, along with colleagues throughout the University, is among the researchers making up the national Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) Research Group, which carried out the study and authored the New England Journal of Medicine paper. Among the study’s main findings is that weight loss by members of the study’s Intensive Lifestyle Intervention group, who were provided with a program of weight management and increased physical activity, resulted in no difference in heart attacks and strokes when compared with the study’s control group, the Diabetes Support and Education group, which was provided with only general health information and social support.

Ming-Te Wang, an assistant professor, co-wrote a study about yelling and its negative effect on adolescents, which has been covered in a various news outlets across the country, such as USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and CBS News.

John Weidman was recently featured on the Huffington Post in an interview about international higher education funding. In the article, he discusses the worldwide shift of the burden of higher education costs from governments and taxpayers to parents and students, and how the international model for funding has historically differed from the American one.