The Department of Medicine at the Anschutz Medical Campus boasts top medical care for patients, as well as fellowships and endowments. The Grand Rounds Schedule includes all events for divisions under the department.

My research is in the area of obesity, specifically food intake and appetite regulation. My mentor is Marc Cornier, whose work has been on the effects of phenotypes and interventions on the neuronal, behavioral, and hormonal responses to food and food-related stimuli. I have performed data analysis, interpretation and publication of findings for a study in which obese prone and obese resistant women and men were studied in eucaloric, overfed and underfed states, with measures of appetite ratings, hormones, metabolites, fMRI and food image ratings. I am currently conducting a research protocol with the goal of evaluating the metabolic and behavioral responses to breakfast skipping in overweight women. I am also the PI for the University of Colorado site for a multi-site, randomized trial of the effects of breakfast recommendations on body weight. In addition, I am involved in another protocol that will examine whether or not the subjective sensation of hunger is a predictor of the response to phentermine in obese subjects.

 Publications

1. Smucny J, Cornier MA, Eichman LC, Thomas EA, Bechtell JL, Tregellas JR. Brain Structure Predicts Risk for Obesity. Appetite. 2012 Dec; 59(3):859-65.
2. Thomas EA, Bechtell JL, Vestal BE, Johnson SL, Bessesen DH, Tregellas JR, Cornier MA. Eating-related Behaviors and Appetite During Energy Imbalance in Obese-Prone and Obese-Resistant Individuals. Appetite. 2013 Feb 10 [Epub ahead of print]
3. Cornier MA, McFadden KL, Thomas EA, Bechtell JL, Eichman LC, Bessesen DH, Tregellas JR. Differences in the Neuronal Response to Food in Obesity Resistant as Compared to Obesity Prone Individuals. Physiol Behav. 2013 Jan 10;110-111C:122-128.
4. McDermott, M.T. (2013, in press). Obesity. Endocrine Secrets, 6th Edition. W.B. Saunders Company.

 Poster Presentations

1. Thomas EA, Bechtell JL, Kealey EH, Bessesen DH, Cornier MA. The Effects of Short-term Energy Imbalance on Appetite and Hunger-related Hormones. Poster presented at the Endocrine Society Annual Meeting June 2012 (Houston, TX).
2. Thomas EA, Bechtell JL, Kealey EH, Johnson SL, Bessesen DH, Cornier MA. Sex-based Differences in the Hormonal and Behavioral Responses to Energy Imbalance. Poster presented at The Obesity Society Annual Meeting September 2012 (San Antonio, TX).

I am from Colorado and went to medical school here, after which I left for residency in North Carolina. I had an interest in endocrinology as a medical student and so had done an elective during my fourth year. I knew from that experience that the Endocrinology department was great, but did not find out just what an amazing program it was until I started looking into fellowships during my third year of residency! I was very excited to be able to return to Colorado and to have the opportunity to join such a wonderful program.

There are so many things that I love about our program, but probably the most important thing to consider about a fellowship program is the people with whom you will be working. The faculty here is amazing; there is a wide variety of research interests, they are very involved in teaching, and they are great people to work with. Additionally, we have fantastic staff in our clinics and administration!

There are so many things to love about where we live! It is the perfect mix of city and outdoors. I love that we can go to restaurants, museums, plays and all the things that make a city fun, but can also easily get away to the mountains.