Joseph Donnelly is a nationally recognized researcher in weight loss and maintenance. Since 2000 he has received $35 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health for his research to help combat obesity in children and adults, including those with disabilities. His current projects involve more than 15,000 Kansas children in strategies to fight obesity involving physical activity and the environment, diet, pharmaceuticals and public policy.
Donnelly is currently engaged in a NIH funded randomized trial to evaluate weight loss and weight maintenance in individuals with IDD. The study compares participants who use a modified Spot Light Diet (SLDm) with participants who use a recommended care diet (RC).
Donnelly is the director of the Center for Physical Activity & Weight Management, a broad-based initiative that provides research, education, and clinical programs to Kansans and those in the Greater Kansas City area. The Center’s primary mission is to promote physical activity and nutrition for both children and adults through a broad array of research, education and clinical programs that are conducted at the individual and community levels to provide weight loss and improve weight maintenance.
Research Interests
- Energy balance
- Child nutrition and fitness
- Obesity and chronic disease risk
- Effect of exercise on weight loss and maintenance
- Physical activity, brain function and academic achievement in children
- Exercise and Alzheimer’s disease in the elderly
- Alternative delivery strategies for prevention and treatment of obesity
- Resistance training, energy balance and weight management
- Weight loss and maintenance for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities
Relevant Publications
- Ptomey,L., Goetz, J., Lee, J., Donnely, J. & Sullivan, D. (2013). Diet Quality of Overweight and Obese Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities as Measured by the Healthy Eating Index-2005. Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities. 1:25 (6)
- Ptomey, L. T., Hermann, S. D., Lee, J., Sullivan, D. K., Rondon, M. F., Donnelly, J. E. (2013) Photo-assisted recall increases estimates of energy and macronutrient intake in adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 113 (12):1704-9.
- Donnelly, J. E., Saunders, R. R., Saunders, M., Washburn, R. A., Sullivan, D. K., Gibson, C. A., Ptomey, L. T., Goetz, J. R., Honas, J. J., Betts, J. L., Rondon, M. R., Smith, B. K., Mayo, M. S. (2013) Weight Management for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: Rationale and Design for an 18 Month Randomized Trial. Contemporary Clinical Trials, 36(1): 116-24.
For a complete list of network members go to the HWRN network member page.