About Dr. Bennett

Gary G. Bennett is the Bishop-MacDermott Family Professor of Psychology & Neuroscience, Global Health and Medicine at Duke University. He serves as Duke’s Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education and also directs the Duke Global Digital Health Science Center. He is the immediate past President of the Society of Behavioral Medicine.

Dr. Bennett’s research program designs, tests, and disseminates digital obesity treatments. He is especially interested in integrating digital health treatments into primary care settings, particularly those that serve medically vulnerable patients. He developed the interactive obesity treatment approach (iOTA); his recent work demonstrates the effectiveness of coach-led obesity treatments—delivered via app, texting, and interactive voice response—in preventing obesity and improving cardiometabolic functioning. He also co-founded three digital health startups.  Dr. Bennett’s research has been featured in the New York Times, NPR, Time, CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox News, and other media outlets. He has served on NIH panels, editorial boards, guidelines committees, and advises several health care and health technology organizations. He is a member of the American Psychological Association’s obesity treatment guidelines panel and works with committees at GirlTrek, the Institute of Medicine, American Heart Association, and American Council on Exercise to reduce Americans’ high rates of obesity and physical inactivity.

Prior to joining Duke in 2009, Dr. Bennett served on the faculties of the Harvard School of Public Health and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He earned a bachelor’s degree at Morehouse College, a Ph.D. in clinical health psychology at Duke University, and he completed postdoctoral studies in social epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Dr. Bennett disclosed the following conflicts of interest. He has stock equity in Coeus Health and is a Scientific Advisory Board Member for Weight Watchers and Interactive Health.