Dr. David Kessler, the former Commissioner of the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA), will present The End of Overeating: Controlling America’s Insatiable Appetite on Thursday, April 16, at 7 p.m. in the Carnegie Hotel’s Grand Soldiers Ballroom.
The event is hosted by East Tennessee State University’s College of Public Health as part of its Leading Voices in Public Health Lecture Series.
Kessler is regarded as one of the nation’s most respected figures in public health. He is currently Professor of Pediatrics, Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco, where he previously served as Dean of Medicine and Vice Chancellor for Medical Affairs.
He also held the deanship of the Yale School of Medicine.
In addition, he now serves as the chairman of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation Board of Directors.
While at the FDA, Kessler initiated new programs to expedite drug approvals, especially for people with HIV/AIDS and other serious and life-threatening diseases.
He also implemented a new food labeling system and greatly enhanced the FDA’s ability to enforce safe food and drug laws. His book, A Question of Intent, recounts the FDA’s efforts to explore the regulation of tobacco products, an issue still in the public dialogue.
Kessler graduated from Amherst College, Harvard Medical School and the University of Chicago Law School. He completed a pediatric residency at Johns Hopkins University.
The event is free and open to the public. For more information, or to request special accommodations, contact the ETSU College of Public Health at (423) 439-4243.

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