John.Batsis@unc.edu
919-966-5945
John A. Batsis, MD
CRC Medical Director, Associate Professor of Medicine
Dr. Batsis has dedicated his professional career to caring for older adults through clinical care, research and education. The privilege of helping older adults maximize their physical function and quality of life through patient-centered, compassionate care serves as a daily motivation in his work. His role as a clinician-researcher allows him to apply scientific principles of inquiry to enhance clinical care for an older adult population. Through learning and discovery, he aims to advance healthy aging by improving goal-directed care and healthcare delivery for older adults.
Dr. Batsis’s academic work focuses on three main areas: (a) understanding the relationships between obesity and sarcopenia (loss of muscle mass, strength and/or function with aging) and important outcomes for older adults; (b) developing multicomponent interventions (diet and exercise) to improve physical function in older adults; and (c) using novel technologies (telemedicine, remote monitoring, Internet-of-Things devices) and collaborating with transdisciplinary scientists (engineers and computer scientists) to improve the health and well-being of older adults.
Read: Dr. John Batsis Presents Keynote at AI Technology Center Consensus Guidelines Workshop
Read: Dr. Batsis Presents at American Diabetes Association Annual Meeting
Read: Dr. Batsis talks to Stat about new weight loss drugs
Watch: Dr Batsis – ‘Everyone has their own secret sauce’
Read: Doctors Assess Opportunities Gained, Lost through Medicare’s Annual Wellness Visits
Read: Batsis Discusses Five Common Medications That Can Cause Weight Gain
In the News
Nutrition for Dancers @ Piedmont School of Music & Dance
January 22, 2020 – Kaylee Helfrich, a doctoral graduate student in the Smith Lab at the UNC Nutrition Research Institute as well as an accomplished dancer, gave a program on nutrition for dancers at the Piedmont School of Music and Dance in Kannapolis. The recipes from this program are available here for your cooking enjoyment!
Early-Life Predictors of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
January 22, 2020 – The clinical teams at the UNC Nutrition Research Institute and in South Africa led by principal investigator Philip A. May, PhD have published findings of a decade-long effort to drive down the age at which the diagnosis of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) can be made in affected children. The paper, “Early-Life Predictors of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders” is published in Pediatrics.
Important NIH Award for NRI and Partners
December 12, 2019 – Agatha Christie once said, “the first time you do a thing is always exciting.” Well, we’ve had a lot of excitement at the Nutrition Research Institute recently! Two members of the Smith Lab are celebrating becoming first-time first-authors of scientific journal publications.
NRI Congratulates First-time First-Authors
December 12, 2019 – Agatha Christie once said, “the first time you do a thing is always exciting.” Well, we’ve had a lot of excitement at the Nutrition Research Institute recently! Two members of the Smith Lab are celebrating becoming first-time first-authors of scientific journal publications.
Publications
2026
2025
The Relationship Between a Mediterranean Diet and Frailty in Older Adults: NHANES 2007-2017.
Changes in senescence markers after a weight loss intervention in older adults with obesity.
Editorial: Clinical uses and alternative approaches of frailty determination.
Tailoring Obesity Management to Support Physical Function in Older Adults.
Treating Sarcopenic Obesity in the Era of Incretin Therapies: Perspectives and Challenges.
New Drugs and Same Blind Spots-Rethinking Obesity Care in Later Life.