Ray Symposium to address obesity

The nation’s worsening obesity epidemic will be the topic of Western University of Health Sciences’ annual Ray Symposium, to be held at 5 p.m. Thursday, April 18, 2013 in the Health Education Center, Lecture Hall 1, 701 E. Second St., Pomona, Calif. 91766.

Keynote speaker Dr. Patricia Crawford, RD, director of the Dr. Robert C. and Veronica Atkins Center for Weight and Health at UC Berkeley, and a Cooperative Extension Nutrition Specialist, will present “”Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention.””

Crawford has conducted research in the prevention of childhood obesity for more than 20 years, and served as the principal investigator of the 10-year longitudinal National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) Growth and Health Study. She also served on the Institute of Medicine (IOM) 2010-12 Accelerating Progress in Obesity Prevention Committee.

She also advised on the HBO series “”The Weight of the Nation,”” and is an advisor to the United States’ “”Let’s Get Healthy”” Task Force. She has served on the California Legislative Task Force on Diabetes & Obesity, and the IOM of the National Academies’ Standing Committee on Childhood Obesity Prevention.

Crawford is an adjunct professor for the School of Public Health at UC Berkeley, where she also received her master and doctorate degrees in public health.

The Ray Symposium is organized by the College of Pharmacy and the Interprofessional Education Program in honor of Max Ray, MS, PharmD, Dean Emeritus of the College of Pharmacy. He joined WesternU as Professor of Pharmacy Practice and Director of the Center for Pharmacy Practice and Development in 1996, and served as Dean of the College of Pharmacy from 1999 to 2006.

The symposium is free and open to the public. Parking is available at the University Parking Structure at Towne Avenue and Second Street.