Biography

Patrick Mahlen O’Neil, PhD, is Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, where he is also Director of the Weight Management Center. He earned his bachelor degree in economics from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge and his master of science and doctorate degrees in clinical psychology from the University of Georgia in Athens. Since 1977, Dr. O’Neil has been professionally involved in numerous clinical, teaching, research, and public education roles concerning obesity. He directs a long-standing multidisciplinary weight management center offering services for people of all degrees overweight. His teaching activities include supervision of psychology interns on clinical rotations in the Center; lectures to medical students, residents, and other trainee groups; and invited continuing education lectures to physician and other practitioner audiences. He is and has been principal investigator for a number of externally funded clinical trials of weight-loss agents. He is the author of more than 100 professional publications, chapters, and presentations, primarily concerning psychological, behavioral, and other clinical aspects of obesity and its management. From 1987-1996, he authored Weighing the Choices, a weekly column on weight control in the Charleston, South Carolina, Sunday Post and Courier. Dr. O’Neil is Associate Editor of the journal Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases and a member of the editorial boards of the journals Obesity (formerly Obesity Research), Eating Behaviors, and International Journal of Obesity. He is a long-standing active member of The Obesity Society (formerly the North American Association for the Study of Obesity [NAASO]), presently serving as Past President after terms as Councilor, Vice President, President Elect, and President. Previously, he was Editor of the NAASO Web site, Program Chair for the NAASO 1999 annual meeting in Charleston, a member of the Publications Committee, and a member of the National Institutes of Health/NAASO Ad Hoc Committee for Development of The Practical Guide for the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults. He is a former member of the Committee on Military Nutrition Research of the Institute of Medicine. In addition, he is former Chair of the Obesity and Eating Disorders Special Interest Group of the Association for the Advancement of Behavior Therapy. Closer to home, Dr. O’Neil served as a member of the Scientific Council of the South Carolina Nutrition Research Consortium throughout its existence. He participated as a member of a statewide committee that developed the Report on the Impact of Obesity on Health in South Carolina, in response to a mandate by the state General Assembly. He is also a former member and Chair of the South Carolina Board of Examiners in Psychology and Past President of the South Carolina Academy of Professional Psychologists. Since 2001, he has been a member of Town Council of the Town of Sullivan’s Island and, before that, was a member and Chair of the Town’s Planning Commission.

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