Biography

Maral Misserian is a PhD candidate at the school of Health Professions at UT Southwestern, Advanced Clinical research program. She earned her masters degree in clinical nutrition in August 2020 and became a registered dietitian in February 2021. Prior to her current studies, she ran corporate fitness centers for many years and has counseled many people on fitness and nutrition. Maral’s mentor is Dr. Sarah Messiah PhD, MPH, FTOS who is a professor of Epidemiology, Human Genetics and Environmental Sciences at the University of Texas Health Science Center, School of Public Health, and the director of The Center for Pediatric Population Health. Maral’s research is based on an NIH grant called: ‚ÄúPartnering Lifestyle Intervention with Bariatric Surgery to Maximize Health Outcomes in Adolescents,‚Äù which was earned by Dr. Messiah. This is a study that examines the role of an adolescent adapted Diabetes Prevention program, Group Lifestyle Balance (DPP/GLB) in increasing the participation of adolescents with severe obesity (ages 12 to 18) in metabolic bariatric surgery (MBS). It also examines the effect of this lifestyle intervention on improving three to six months post-surgery health related outcomes. In this project, Maral is involved in developing the adapted DPP/GLB curriculum to fit the needs of this population. The study has 72 participants already, of which 15 have had surgery. We have started delivering our lifestyle behavior change program through Facebook and YouTube and will be concluding the study on July 2024.