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
Breast Cancer Subtype Important in Deciding Impact of Folate
February 1, 2017 • It is generally known that folate (vitamin B9) is important in early pregnancy to prevent neural tube defects in babies, because folate is needed by rapidly dividing cells (e.g., those of a developing embryo) for DNA synthesis and cellular energy production. As a consequence, many processed foods in the United States are fortified with […]
One Scientist's 40-Year Journey to the First NIH-Endorsed FASD Diagnostic Criteria
January 1, 2017 • After almost 40 years of research, Philip May, PhD, a leading expert in the field of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), and his team have published their fifth study on FASD in a South African community. Equally as monumental is the recent endorsement by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), of the FASD diagnostic guidelines that were developed by May’s research team […]
What We're Learning about Mom's Nutrition and Alcohol
January 1, 2017 • Dr. Phil May’s research group at the NRI studies the prevalence of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) in humans. The recent addition to the NRI faculty of Dr. Susan Smith now provides an avenue toward understanding how maternal nutrition might affect the relationship between alcohol and FASD through the use of animal models. Two recent papers from these research groups illustrates this synergy […]
Renowned Scientist Joins Nutrition Research Institute
November 30, 2016 • Susan Sumner, PhD joins the UNC Nutrition Research Institute (NRI) on December 1, 2016, as a Professor of metabolomicsNutrition. Dr. Sumner is working to make personalized medicine a reality through metabolomics. Metabolomics involves measuring thousands of metabolites in cells, tissues, and biological fluids.
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.