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David Marrero Joins Noom Inc. as Chief Scientific AdvisorNoom Inc., a leader in mobile health coaching, today announced the addition of Dr. David Marrero, B.A., M.A., Ph.D., one of the fathers of the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) to the executive team in the position of chief scientific advisor. Dr. Marrero will seek to improve the overall counseling and coaching approach of the Noom platform, spearhead Noom's research efforts and will lead the integration of Noom's chronic and pre-chronic programs into disadvantaged communities. "Dr. Marrero is a true innovator in the field of preventing chronic conditions. He was responsible for architecting the DPP and ensuring YMCAs and community centers could deliver the DPP to various populations across the country," said Saeju Jeong, CEO of Noom Inc. "By having one of the DPP's creators as a member of Noom's team, we can ensure that our programs are always on the cutting edge of science. Additionally, Dr. Marrero will help us bring the DPP to unconventional places through our mobile, virtual experience - something the conventional model cannot deliver. Social ecologist and innovator, Marrero comes to Noom with 25 years of experience within the mobile health industry, in tandem with 32 years of research at Indiana University (News - Alert). More notably, he helped dsign the DPP and lead the Translating Research Into Action for Diabetes (TRIAD) study, which evaluated strategies to improve diabetes care delivery in managed care settings. "With my focused interest in promoting diabetes prevention and the use of technology to facilitate care and education, I look forward to advising the Noom team to continue to drive impactful results for employers, payers and underserved populations, leveraging our smart, mobile coaching platform," said Dr. Marrero. "Certain populations are disproportionately affected by pre-diabetes such as the Hispanic community; we are positioned to address this need and meet every user where they are - regardless of race, culture, language or geographical barriers." The DPP, tested by the YMCA of the USA, was proved successful at reducing the risk of developing diabetes, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. The goal was to work with people with prediabetes, which is characterized by risk factors including higher-than-normal blood sugar, obesity and a sedentary lifestyle, to prevent the condition from progressing to full-on diabetes. Participants met with a lifestyle coach each week and learned about diabetes risks, healthy eating and the value of increased exercise. The YMCA says the 42,000 participants in 45 states lost an average of 5.5 percent of their body weight after one year. Providers, like Noom Inc., have transformed the potential of the DPP by adopting it to a successful and intuitive mobile platform. This promises to help significantly increase access to diabetes prevention, and by using a unique interactive approach on a mobile system, improve the engagement of persons at risk. About Noom Noom Inc., a leader in mobile health coaching, combines the power of technology with the empathy of real human coaches to deliver successful behavior change at scale. Noom's direct-to-consumer weight loss and exercise tracking mobile applications have reached more than 40 million users worldwide. Leveraging the success of their ground-breaking health and fitness programs, Noom developed a behavior change platform to treat chronic and pre-chronic conditions, beginning with the CDC's Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP). On the first day the CDC began recognizing mobile and online DPP providers, Noom was there. Since then, Noom has expanded its curricula across the acuity spectrum and now features programs for pre-hypertension, hypertension and diabetes management in addition to its flagship weight loss and diabetes prevention programs. Noom has offices in New York City, Seoul and Tokyo. View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160720005556/en/ |
