Morgan Downey brings tremendous experience, and many noteworthy accomplishments in the obesity policy space, to Obesity PPM. 

 

From 1998 to 2006, Mr. Downey was the executive director of the American Obesity Association (AOA). AOA was an educational and advocacy organization dedicated to promoting understanding of obesity and advocating public policies to combat the epidemic. During his tenure he organized the first conferences on obesity as a public policy issue, secured an Internal Revenue System Revenue Ruling that expenses for weight loss treatment were eligible for the medical deduction on individual taxes; convinced the Social Security Administration, the IRS and Medicare (the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) that obesity is a disease; pushed then Surgeon General David Satcher to focus on obesity leading to his groundbreaking report; and helped to greatly expanded Medicare coverage of bariatric surgery.

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From 2006 to 2008 he was the executive vice president of the Obesity Society, the medical and scientific society for obesity. While at the Obesity Society, Mr. Downey initiated a program to develop a credential to recognize physicians specializing in the treatment of obesity and established a section of the Society dedicated to Health Services Research. He conducted a forum in 2007 “What Should the Next Administration Do About Obesity?” co-sponsored by the STOP Obesity Alliance and the National Journal. Nine presidential candidates (Senators Biden, Clinton, Dodd, Edwards, McCain, Obama, and Governors Richardson, Romney and Mayor Giuliani) were represented as well as Peter Orszag, now President Obama’s director of the Congressional Budget Office, then director of the Congressional Budget Office. The discussions were moderated by Linda Douglass, then with National Journal and now director of communications for the White House health care reform efforts. Due to these efforts, obesity was included for the first time in both party’s national platforms in 2008.

 

In addition to his work with Obesity PPM, Morgan is currently consulting with several organizations on obesity issues including Allergan Inc., Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc., Arena Pharmaceuticals, Orexigen Therapeutics. He is an advisor to the Geisinger Obesity Institute, is on the Board of Directors of the Surgical Review Corporation which certifies bariatric surgery centers of excellence and serves as the Policy Director of the STOP Obesity Alliance, part of George Washington University’s School of Public Health and Health Services, is an advisory board member with the Certification Board for Obesity Educators, and is a member of the steering committee of the Coalition to Prevent DVT.

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Read the remainder of Morgan Downey's bio, list of publications and interviews by clicking here. Also, follow his blog by visiting The Downey Obesity Report.