Today’s member profile comes from Dr. Maryam Kebbe, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Researcher Reproductive Endocrinology and Women’s Health Laboratory, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Dr. Kebbe sits on the Clinical – Pediatrics Committee.
I am a behavioral scientist with extensive experience in innovating solutions within clinical settings to manage, and uncover developmental origins of, obesity. My formation includes a PhD from the University of Alberta and postdoctoral training at the University of Oxford and the Pennington Biomedical Research Center (PBRC). Below, I highlight some of my previous and current work.
Developing and Evaluating Tools and Interventions for Managing Adult and Pediatric Obesity
My research has taken a patient-centered approach to develop and evaluate tools and interventions for health care providers and individuals with obesity, focusing on lifestyle modifications or weight loss/maintenance. In partnership with Obesity Canada, I led an AHS-funded study (UAlberta) to develop and evaluate Conversation Cards for Adolescents© (CCAs), available in both English and French (PI: Dr. Geoff Ball). Additionally, I contributed (UOxford) to the evaluation and subsequent scalability of an opportunistic adult weight loss intervention called Brief Interventions for Weight Loss (BWeL) across medical practices in the United Kingdom (PIs: Dr. Paul Aveyard and Dr. Susan Jebb).
Studying the Intergenerational Transmission of Obesity through Maternal and Infant Phenotyping
My current research at the PBRC involves clinical research to phenotype mothers and infants in an effort to elucidate factors and mechanisms of obesity programming in infants. I am involved in two NIH-funded studies using state-of-the-art equipment (eg, deuterium dilution, DXA, BodPod, PeaPod) to test whether the effects of a smartphone-directed weight management intervention and a controlled manipulation of diet to induce fat loss and weight maintenance in pregnant women can ameliorate maternal and infant outcomes and obesity risk factors (PI: Dr. Leanne Redman).
