Our People
OUR PEOPLE
Director
Jamie A. Cooper, PhD
Director, UGA Obesity Research Initiative
Professor and Department Head, Kinesiology
Profile | Email | 706-542-4378
Dr. Cooper has been the Department Head in Kinesiology since 2023. Prior to that she served as a faculty member in the Department of Nutritional Sciences since 2015. She holds BS and MS degrees in Kinesiology (exercise physiology) from Michigan State University and a PhD in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Wisconsin- Madison. Dr. Cooper’s lab primarily focuses on the effects of dietary fatty acid composition on metabolic and appetite outcomes as it relates to weight management. They also explore bioactive properties of certain fat-rich foods and how they can impact health and disease risk. Dr. Cooper’s work has led to a number of peer-reviewed articles, books, and book chapters as well as several externally funded projects. She has been actively involved in graduate student, undergraduate student and postdoctoral fellow mentoring while also holding several leadership positions with The Obesity Society, the American Society for Nutrition, and UGA.
In her role as Director of the Obesity Research Initiative, Dr. Cooper provides strategic direction for the Initiative while fostering multi-disciplinary, collaborate research in the areas of obesity treatment and prevention. She will continue to foster the presently established affiliations and work to build new collaborations with other entities at UGA and outside Universities. In addition to coordinating the annual research symposium, Dr. Cooper is looking forward to assisting faculty with their obesity-related research needs to ensure the highest quality of obesity research at UGA.
Advisory Committee
Jennifer Gay, PhD
Associate Professor
Health Promotion & Behavior, Institute of Gerontology
Profile | Email | 706-542-6698
Dr. Jennifer Gay conducts research in the area of physical activity and public health. More specifically her interests include how built environment and social contexts influence physical activity in children, adolescents and adults. Since joining the University of Georgia, Dr. Gay has focused primarily on the health benefits of occupational physical activity and how to increase time spent in activity during work hours. Her secondary areas of interest include built and social environment determinants of activity, growth and maturation as indicators of decreases in physical activity, measurement and methodological issues in physical activity research, and program evaluation.
Chad Paton, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Nutritional Sciences, Department of Food Science and Technology
Dr. Paton studies the transcriptional regulation of metabolism. His research is focused on the role of functional foods and nutritional factors that regulate metabolic activity. He is actively investigating compounds that act as ligands for DNA-binding transcription factors to alter epigenetic regulation of metabolism.