OnDemand: May 2025 Grand Rounds - Relevance of Body Composition Assessments in Clinical Practice

Precise measurement of body composition offers a powerful window into health and disease. This session explores the cutting-edge methodologies clinicians and scientists use to quantify body components—from fat mass and lean tissue to cellular and molecular markers. With longitudinal assessment, these tools enable tracking of patient outcomes, guiding diagnosis, prevention, and treatment strategies across a range of clinical conditions.

Dr. Dympna Gallagher of Columbia University will dive into how advancements in body composition analysis—paired with energy expenditure measurements, brain imaging, and behavioral assessments—are reshaping our understanding of obesity, metabolism, and the efficacy of nutritional, pharmacologic, and lifestyle interventions. This session is especially relevant for physicians and researchers working at the intersection of clinical care and translational science who want to stay at the forefront of personalized obesity care and precision medicine.

After participating in this webinar, learners will understand how assessing specific body composition compartments and changes in these compartments can contribute to improved understanding of efficacy of treatment.

After participating in this webinar, participants will be able to apply standardized analytical methods and body composition models to interpret changes in metabolic and biological functions, in order to enhance the evaluation of weight control strategies and support evidence-based decision-making in diagnosis, treatment, and disease prevention.

Dympna Gallagher, EdD

Professor of Nutritional Medicine, Columbia University

Dr. Dympna Gallagher is a Professor of Nutritional Medicine, a Director of the New York Nutrition Obesity Research Center and Director of the Human Body Composition Laboratories at Columbia University Medical Center. A focus of her research continues to be energetics and body composition across the life span.

The Obesity Society is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The Obesity Society designates this enduring material for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

ACCME Activity ID 202955025

Date of Release: June 1, 2025
Date of Termination: December 31, 2027

No commercial support was received for this activity.

Dympna Gallagher, EdD, FTOS: No relevant financial relationships

Jonathan Purnell, MD, FTOS: Consultation Relationship with Novo Nordisk (Pharmaceuticals), Boehringer Ingelheim (Pharmaceuticals), and Luciole (Pharmaceuticals).

No members of the TOS CME Oversight Committee, charged with the resolution of all relevant conflicts of interest, had any relevant financial relationships while serving on the committee.

1. Lemos T, Gallagher D. Current body composition measurement techniques. Curr Opin Endocrinol Diabetes Obes. 2017 Oct;24(5):310-314. doi: 10.1097/MED.0000000000000360. PMID: 28696961; PMCID: PMC5771660.
2. Lee SY, Gallagher D. Assessment methods in human body composition. Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2008 Sep;11(5):566-72. doi: 10.1097/MCO.0b013e32830b5f23. PMID: 18685451; PMCID: PMC2741386.
3. Whyte K, Gallagher D. 1.2.3 Technical Measurements of Body Composition Assessment. World Rev Nutr Diet. 2022;124:23-30. doi: 10.1159/000517192. Epub 2022 Mar 3. PMID: 35240646.
4. Gallagher D, Andres A, Fields DA, Evans WJ, Kuczmarski R, Lowe WL Jr, Lumeng JC, Oken E, Shepherd JA, Sun S, Heymsfield SB. Body Composition Measurements from Birth through 5 Years: Challenges, Gaps, and Existing & Emerging Technologies-A National Institutes of Health workshop. Obes Rev. 2020 Aug;21(8): e13033. doi: 10.1111/obr.13033. Epub 2020 Apr 20. PMID: 32314544; PMCID: PMC7875319.