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
Choline: The forgotten vital nutrient we’re not getting enough of
November 14, 2019 – Eating a plant-based diet? You may be low on choline. Standard nutritional advice to cut down on meat and dairy may be stopping us getting enough of an essential nutrient named choline. Should we be worried?
If food is medicine, why isn’t it taught at medical schools?
November 14, 2019 – Students in medical schools across the country spend less than 1 percent of lecture time learning about diet. Earlier this year, Mount Sinai, the biggest hospital network in New York City, invested in a meal delivery service. Though it seemed like an unusual move at the time, the network’s decision makes sense if you consider the intrinsic relationship between food and health—a connection underscored by countless other recent examples of healthcare initiatives that harness diet as a tool to improve well-being.
Saroja Voruganti, PhD, Promoted to Associate Professor of Nutrition
October 22, 2019 – Saroja Voruganti, PhD, was recently promoted to the rank of Associate Professor in the Department of Nutrition at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Nutrition Research Institute (NRI) Director Steven Zeisel, MD, PhD, announced the promotion with great pleasure, acknowledging the significance of this accomplishment and the impact of Dr. Voruganti’s research: “Dr Voruganti is a leading scientist in the area of how our genes affect our nutritional needs, and her promotion by the university recognizes these important contributions.”
AFL@JWU Nutrition Notes – October 15, 2019
October 15, 2019 – Chef Megan Lambert, MS, RD, Senior Instructor in College of Culinary Arts at Johnson & Wales University, Charlotte, prepared Healthy Fall soups & Stews recipes while Sarah Hreyo of the UNC Nutrition Research Institute, shared nutrition information on each recipe. The nutrition notes from the October 15, 2019 Appetite For Life @ Johnson & Wales University program are available here to help you better understand the nutrition and health benefits of each recipe.
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.