David Sarwer
American clinical psychologist and obesity researcher
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Sarwer graduated from Forest View High School in Arlington Heights, Illinois in 1986. He received his B.A. in 1990 from Tulane University, graduating Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and with Honors in Psychology. He subsequently received his M.A. in 1992 and his doctorate in Clinical Psychology in 1995 from Loyola University of Chicago. He then completed his internship year at the Medical College of Pennsylvania at Eastern Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
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Career
Sarwer began his career as a post-doctoral fellow at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania from 1995-1997. From 1997-2004, he served as Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Departments of Psychiatry and Surgery. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2004 and Professor in 2012. While at Penn, he served as Director of Clinical Services at the Center for Weight and Eating Disorders, Director of the Stunkard Weight Management Program, as well as Consulting Psychologist to both the Center for Human Appearance and Division of Plastic Surgery at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. In 2015, he became Associate Dean for Research, Director of the Center for Obesity Research and Education, and Professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences in the College of Public Health at Temple University.
Much of Sarwer's work has focused on the psychosocial and behavioral aspects of extreme obesity and Bariatric surgery. His research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health since 2002. He was the founding Editor-in-Chief for the journal Obesity Science and Practice. He also serves as Senior Associate Editor for the journal Health Psychology, Associate Editor for the journal Obesity Surgery, and is on the Editorial Board of the American Psychologist, Childhood Obesity, and Surgery for the Treatment of Obesity and Related Diseases.
Sarwer also maintains a line of research on the psychological aspects of physical appearance and, more specifically, both reconstructive and cosmetic plastic surgery. Much of his early work in this area focused on the relationship between body image, body dysmorphic disorder, and cosmetic surgery. More recently, his work has focused more on physical disfigurement and reconstructive procedures. This includes several grants from the Department of Defense looking at the use of vascularized composite allotransplantation procedures to treat military veterans who have suffered devastating injures while in service to United States Military. Sarwer currently serves on the Editorial Board of the Aesthetic Surgery Journal and Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.