Dr. Barbara Rolls is a pioneering authority in nutritional sciences whose transformative research has fundamentally reshaped our understanding of eating behavior and weight management. She currently serves as Professor and Helen A. Guthrie Chair of Nutritional Sciences at The Pennsylvania State University where she also directs the Laboratory for the Study of Human Ingestive Behavior. Dr. Rolls earned her BA in Biology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1966, followed by advanced degrees including an MA from the University of Oxford and a PhD in Physiology from the University of Cambridge in 1970. Prior to joining Penn State in 1992, she established her research career at the University of Oxford and served as Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, building a distinguished foundation in the physiological and psychological aspects of food intake.
Dr. Rolls' groundbreaking research has systematically demonstrated how food characteristics such as variety, energy density, and portion size influence energy intake and weight management across the lifespan. Her innovative Volumetrics approach, detailed in three influential books, has provided evidence-based dietary strategies that help individuals manage their weight by focusing on foods with lower energy density. Her studies have fundamentally reshaped nutritional science by revealing how environmental and psychological factors interact to affect eating behaviors and energy balance. This rigorous body of work has had substantial practical impact, informing clinical practice guidelines and public health approaches to obesity prevention and treatment worldwide.
As a leader in her field, Dr. Rolls has served as President of both the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior and The Obesity Society, significantly shaping research directions and professional standards. She has received numerous prestigious honors including election as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and The Obesity Society's Bray Founders Award for her exceptional contributions to obesity research. Dr. Rolls continues to advance the science of eating behavior through her active research program, mentoring the next generation of nutritional scientists, and serving on influential advisory panels including the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Her ongoing work promises to further refine dietary approaches for weight management and address the complex challenges of the global obesity epidemic.
