The Louisiana Clinical and Translational Science (LA CaTS) Center is pleased to announce the appointment of Peter T. Katzmarzyk, PhD, FACSM, FAHA, FTOS, as the new Program Director (PD). A nationally and internationally recognized leader in population health, obesity research, physical activity science, and translational research, Dr. Katzmarzyk brings decades of scientific leadership and collaborative research experience to the role.

Dr. Katzmarzyk currently serves as Associate Executive Director for Population and Public Health Sciences at Pennington Biomedical Research Center and holds the Marie Edana Corcoran Endowed Chair in Pediatric Obesity and Diabetes. He is also a Professor with LSU Health New Orleans and has held senior academic and research leadership positions throughout his distinguished career.

Dr. Katzmarzyk is an internationally recognized leader in the field of obesity, with a special emphasis on physical activity, pediatrics and public health. He has over two decades of experience in conducting large clinical and population-based studies in children and adults. His recent work has focused on studying the implementation of behavioral weight loss approaches in primary care settings. He has conducted several clinical trials to test the effects of behavioral interventions coupled with technological solutions among adults with obesity or type 2 diabetes. He has published his research in more than 700 scholarly journals and books and has delivered over 250 invited lectures in 16 countries. Each year from 2019 through 2025, Dr. Katzmarzyk was recognized as a highly cited researcher by the Web of Science.

In addition to his research, Dr. Katzmarzyk has played a leading role in national health initiatives. He served on the 2018 U.S. Physical Activity Guidelines Advisory Committee for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the World Health Organization Guideline Development Group for the WHO 2020 Guidelines on Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior in Youth, Adults and Older Adults.

In his new role, Dr. Katzmarzyk will oversee strategic initiatives designed to strengthen research infrastructure, foster collaboration among partner institutions, support early-career investigators, and enhance the translation of scientific discoveries into meaningful health improvements for patients and communities. These priorities reflect his long-standing commitment to advancing research that addresses Louisiana’s most pressing health challenges.

As the LA CaTS Center enters this new era of leadership, the Center remains committed to advancing clinical and translational science, expanding opportunities for researchers, and improving health outcomes throughout Louisiana and the Gulf South region.