How can we match our patients with the best treatment options that will work for them?  This is the big question when treating a vastly heterogenous disease like obesity. Rather than using trial and error, what if we could phenotype our patients and choose a treatment that is most likely to be successful for that specific patient?

It may sound too good to be true, but this is the type of science and precision medicine that Dr. Andres Acosta and his team at Mayo are making a reality. Dr. Acosta's goal is to treat and ultimately cure obesity, which he considers this century's greatest health epidemic. Dr. Acosta's work on individualized obesity therapy aims to identify the right therapy for the right patient, minimizing side effects.

Andres Acosta, MD, PhD is a Physician scientist, Obesity and Diabetes Expert, and serial entrepreneur. He is faculty at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota and focuses his research on gastrointestinal physiology to understand the complexity of food intake regulation and obesity. Dr. Acosta's laboratory utilizes a combination of genetics, physiology, pharmacology, proteomics, metabolomics, and gastrointestinal and brain imaging to understand food intake regulation and to modulate them for the treatment of obesity. He and his colleagues at Mayo are also using cutting-edge techniques to understand the pharmacotherapy and pharmacogenomics of obesity and how this information can be used to optimize the care of patients with obesity.

To read the full journal articles of the studies discussed:

Selection of antiobesity medications based on phenotypes enhances weight loss: A pragmatic trial in an obesity clinic

Phenotype tailored lifestyle intervention on weight loss and cardiometabolic risk factors in adults with obesity: a single-centre, non-randomised, proof-of-concept study

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