Fatima Cody Stanford is an American obesity medicine physician, internist, and pediatrician and an

Associate Professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a position ...

of medicine and pediatrics at

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

. She is one of the most highly cited scientists in the field of

obesity Obesity is a medical condition, considered by multiple organizations to be a disease, in which excess Adipose tissue, body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it can potentially have negative effects on health. People are classifi ...

. She is recognized for shifting the global perception of obesity as a chronic disease.

Early life and education

Stanford was born and raised in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, and she attended the

Atlanta Public Schools Atlanta Public Schools (APS) is a school district based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It is run by the Atlanta Board of Education with Superintendent Dr. Bryan Johnson. The system has an active enrollment of 54,956 students, attending ...

where she was valedictorian of Benjamin E. Mays High School and finalist in the

International Science and Engineering Fair The Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) is an annual science fair in the United States. It is owned and administered by the Society for Science, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Washington, D.C. Each May, more ...

. She received a Martin Luther King Scholarship to complete undergraduate studies at

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

, and also completed a

Master of Public Health The Master of Public Health (MPH), Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH), Master of Medical Science in Public Health (MMSPH) and the Doctor of Public Health (DrPH), International Masters for Health Leadership (IMHL) are interdisciplinary profes ...

degree at the same university. She is a Diamond Life

Member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

Delta Sigma Theta Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, sorority. The organization was founded by college-educated women dedicated to public service with an emp ...

. Stanford completed her medical training at the

Medical College of Georgia The Medical College of Georgia (often referred to as MCG) is the medical school of Augusta University, the state's only public medical school, and one of the top 10 largest medical schools in the United States. Established in 1828 as the Medical ...

, where she was the first black class president. She completed her medical residency at the

University of South Carolina The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a Public university, public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Car ...

and her fellowship in obesity medicine at

Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is a teaching hospital located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the original and largest clinical education and research facility of Harvard Medical School/Harvar ...

and

. She completed her

Master of Public Administration A Master of Public Administration (MPA) is a specialized professional graduate degree in public administration that prepares students for leadership roles, similar or equivalent to a Master of Business Administration but with an emphasis on the ...

at the

Harvard Kennedy School of Government The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

as a Zuckerman Fellow in the

Center for Public Leadership The Center for Public Leadership (CPL) is an academic research center at Harvard University that provides teaching, research and training in the practical skills of leadership for people in government, nonprofits, and business. The center works to ...

and her Executive

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

Quantic School of Business and Technology The Quantic School of Business and Technology is an online private business school based in Washington, D.C. Founded as Smartly Institute by Tom Adams in 2016, the school offers accredited executive degree programs through its proprietary mobil ...

Career

She has served as the chair of the Minority Affairs Section (MAS) for the

American Medical Association The American Medical Association (AMA) is an American professional association and lobbying group of physicians and medical students. This medical association was founded in 1847 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Membership was 271,660 ...

, chair of the

American College of Physicians The American College of Physicians (ACP) is a Philadelphia-based national organization of internal medicine physicians, who specialize in the diagnosis, treatment, and care of adults. With 161,000 members, ACP is the largest medical-specialty or ...

Obesity Advisory Committee, executive committee member of the

American Academy of Pediatrics The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is the largest professional association of pediatricians in the United States. It is headquartered in Itasca, Illinois, and maintains an office in Washington, D.C. The AAP has published hundreds of poli ...

Section on Obesity,

The Obesity Society The Obesity Society is a scientific society dedicated to the study of obesity and its treatment. It was founded in 1982 and has approximately 2,500 members. The official scientific journal of the society is ''Obesity'', which is available in print ...

Advocacy, Public Affairs, and Regulatory Board of Directors member, the American Board of Obesity Medicine Outreach and Awareness Committee, and the Massachusetts Chapter of the

American Heart Association The American Heart Association (AHA) is a nonprofit organization in the United States that funds cardiovascular medical research, educates consumers on healthy living and fosters appropriate Heart, cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability ...

Board of Directors. She is the director of scholarly engagement and mentoring for the Nutrition Obesity Research Center at Harvard (NORCH). Through the

NIH The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

, she serves as the director of the Nutrition Obesity Research Center (NORC) working group on workforce diversity. Stanford's research focuses on the utilization of anti-obesity pharmacotherapy after

bariatric surgery Bariatric surgery (also known as metabolic surgery or weight loss surgery) is a surgical procedure used to manage obesity and obesity-related conditions. Long term weight loss with bariatric surgery may be achieved through alteration of gut ho ...

, outcomes and utility of adolescent

, pharmacotherapy for the treatment for obesity, the effectiveness of calorie counting, the appropriateness of

body mass index Body mass index (BMI) is a value derived from the mass (Mass versus weight, weight) and height of a person. The BMI is defined as the human body weight, body mass divided by the square (algebra), square of the human height, body height, and is ...

(BMI) as a measure of health, and physician education and training in obesity care. She has also published work in

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

disparities with

Esther Duflo Esther Duflo, FBA (; born 25 October 1972) is a French-American economist currently serving as the Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In 2019, she w ...

and Marcella Alsan. Stanford has conducted interviews with the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

, U.S. News & World Report, Glamour, and

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

''. On January 1, 2023, Stanford appeared on ''

60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...

'' with

Lesley Stahl Lesley Rene Stahl (born December 16, 1941) is an American television journalist. She has spent most of her career with CBS News, where she began as a producer in 1971. Since 1991, she has reported for CBS's ''60 Minutes''. She is known for her ne ...

, stating

is a chronic disease and that there is physician bias against those with excess weight As part of a panel with

Deborah Roberts Deborah Ann Roberts (born September 20, 1960) is an American television journalist for the ABC News division of the ABC broadcast television network. Early life and education Roberts was born in Perry, Georgia to Benjamin Roberts, a business o ...

on addressing weight stigma, Dr. Stanford advocated for elimation of bias towards those with higher weights.

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954) is an American television presenter, talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and media proprietor. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show' ...

interviewed Dr. Stanford as an obesity expert for her "The Life You Want Class: The State of the Weight" on ''

Oprah Daily ''O, The Oprah Magazine'', also known simply as ''O'', is an American monthly magazine founded by talk show host Oprah Winfrey and Hearst Communications. In 2021, Winfrey and Hearst rebranded it as ''Oprah Daily''. Overview It was first pub ...

.'' In this interview, Stanford teaches about the science of obesity as a chronic disease. In an interview with

Sanjay Gupta Sanjay Gupta (born October 23, 1969) is an American neurosurgeon, medical reporter, and writer. He serves as associate chief of the neurosurgery service at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, associate professor of neurosurgery at ...

for his

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

''Chasing life'' podcast, she coined the term "street corner medicine" to refer to the assumption that people judge people based on their size-- they assume that heavier people are unhealthy and leaner people are healthy without investigating whether this is factual by evaluating metabolic health parameters such as blood pressure, cholesterol, liver function tests, blood sugar, etc. Dr. Stanford was featured as a leading voice at the ''

NY Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' Deal Book Summit alongside the CEO of

Eli Lilly Eli Lilly (July 8, 1838 – June 6, 1898) was a Union Army officer, pharmacist, chemist, and businessman who founded Eli Lilly and Company. Lilly enlisted in the Union Army during the American Civil War and recruited a company of men to ...

, Dave Ricks, as they discussed the role of

GLP-1 receptor agonist Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists, also known as GLP-1 analogs, GLP-1RAs, or incretin mimetics, are a class of anorectic drugs that reduce blood sugar and energy intake by activating the GLP-1 receptor. They mimic the actions of ...

in obesity treatment. Stanford was a deputy editor for '' Contemporary Clinical Trials''. In 2018, Stanford said she was racially profiled when administering medical assistance to a fellow passenger on a

Delta Airlines Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its largest in terms of total passengers and number of depart ...

flight. Flight attendants did not believe that she was a physician despite her presenting her medical license to them. The

United States Department of Health and Human Services The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the US federal government created to protect the health of the US people and providing essential human services. Its motto is ...

and

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and producti ...

named Dr. Stanford to the 2025

Dietary Guidelines for Americans The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) provide nutritional advice for Americans who are healthy or who are at risk for chronic disease but do not currently have chronic disease. The Guidelines are published every five years by the USDA Center f ...

Advisory Committee as one of 20 nationally recognized nutrition and public health experts. In 2025, she and over 55 international commissioners, led by Dr. Francesco Rubino, proposed a new definition and diagnostic criteria for obesity. The specific aim of the Lancet Commission was to establish objective criteria for disease diagnosis, aiding clinical decision-making and prioritization of therapeutic interventions and public health strategies.

Books

* ''Facing Overweight and Obesity: A Complete Guide for Children and Adults'' with J.R. Stevens and T.A. Stern (Mass General Hospital Psychiatry Academy, February 4, 2019) * ''Deja Review: Behavioral Sciences, 1st Edition'' (McGraw Hill, November 1, 2006)

Honors and awards

* 1995:

Finalist * 1996:

Martin Luther King Jr. Scholar * 2001: United States

Congressional Award The Congressional Award is an award given by Congress to Americans aged 14 to 23. The United States Congress founded the program in 1979 to "recognize initiative, service and achievements of young people." The Congressional Award is Nonpartisansh ...

* 2005: American Medical Association Foundation Leadership Award * 2013:

Joseph E. Johnson Leadership Award * 2013:

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

Loan Repayment Program- Disparities * 2014:

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Zuckerman Fellow * 2015: Fellow,

* 2016: National Minority Quality Forum Top 40 under 40 in Minority Health * 2016:

Department of Medicine Sanchez and Ferguson Research Faculty Award * 2017:

Harold Amos Faculty Diversity Award * 2017:

Massachusetts Medical Society The Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS) is the oldest continuously operating state medical association in the United States. Incorporated on November 1, 1781, by an act of the Massachusetts General Court, the MMS is a non-profit organization t ...

Women's Health Award * 2017:

Top 40 Under 40 * 2017:

Physician Scientist Development Award * 2018:

Loan Repayment Program- Clinical Research * 2019:

Suffolk Community Clinician of the Year * 2020:

Anne Klibanski Visiting Scholar Award * 2020:

Clinician of the Year for Excellence in Clinical Management of Obesity * 2021:

American Medical Women's Association The American Medical Women's Association (AMWA) is a professional advocacy and educational organization of women physicians and medical students. History The '' Woman's Medical Journal'' began publication in the 1893. As World War I broke out ...

Fellow * 2021:

Grant V. Rodkey Award for Outstanding Contributions to Medical Education * 2021:

Young Mentor Award * 2021: Nutrition Obesity Research Center at Harvard Outstanding Manuscript Award * 2021:

Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is a multi-unit enterprise that includes a 501(c)(6) trade association in the United States. With over 112,000 members, the association claims to be the largest organization of food and nutrition professiona ...

Friend of Weight Management Dietetic Practice Group Award * 2021:

Pride of the Profession Award * 2021: Emory Rollins School of Public Health Distinguished Alumni Award * 2021: Nutrition Obesity Research Center at Harvard (NORCH) Mentoring for Diversity and Inclusion Award * 2022: Georgia Society of Endocrinology Dr. Anthony E. Karpas Memorial Lecture Award * 2022:

National Academy of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), known as the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineerin ...

Scholar in Diagnostic Excellence * 2023:

Advisory Committee * 2024:

Royal Society of Medicine The Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) is a medical society based at 1 Wimpole Street, London, UK. It is a registered charity, with admission through membership. Its Chief Executive is Michele Acton. History The Royal Society of Medicine (R ...

Fellow * 2024:

Sigma Xi Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society () is an international non-profit honor society for scientists and engineers. Sigma Xi was founded at Cornell University by a faculty member and graduate students in 1886 and is one of the oldest ...

Member * 2024:

Walgreens Walgreens is an American pharmacy store chain. It is the second largest in the United States, behind CVS Pharmacy. As of March 2025, the company operated more than 8,700 stores in the U.S. Walgreens has been the subject of a number of lawsuit ...

Clinical Trials Award * 2024:

National Medical Association The National Medical Association (NMA) is the largest and oldest organization representing African Americans, African American physicians and their patients in the United States. As a 501(c)(3) organization, 501(c)(3) national professional and sc ...

Meritorious Achievement Award * 2024:

Mastership

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stanford, Fatima Cody 21st-century African-American scientists 21st-century African-American women African-American physicians Emory University alumni Fellows of the Royal Society of Medicine Harvard Kennedy School alumni Harvard Medical School faculty Living people Medical College of Georgia alumni Year of birth missing (living people)