Grand rounds, CME programs, conference keynotes, and provider workshops — helping clinicians navigate the rapidly evolving incretin landscape with confidence and rigor.
Michael Albert, MD is a board-certified obesity medicine physician, healthcare entrepreneur, and clinical educator committed to transforming how the United States approaches obesity — as a chronic, relapsing, neurohormonal disease deserving of evidence-based treatment, not a personal failing.
As Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Accomplish Health, he built a fully virtual, insurance-covered obesity care model combining medical expertise, FDA-approved treatments, personalized nutrition coaching, and connected technology. The platform has supported more than 10,000 patients, achieving an average of 21% total body weight loss at 12 months across published cohorts — among the highest outcomes in the field.
He serves as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, where he mentors the next generation of clinicians in obesity medicine. His clinical and academic work spans incretin-based pharmacotherapy, digital health innovation, metabolic surgery, and the fight against weight-based stigma in healthcare.
Prior to his focus on obesity, Dr. Albert co-led the COVID-19 response team at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, serving as one of the first physicians to care for COVID patients in the United States — an experience that deepened his commitment to systemic healthcare change.
The latest generation of incretin-based therapies has redefined what's pharmacologically possible in obesity treatment. But clinical trials and clinical reality are two different things — and bridging that gap is where the real work begins.
Mean placebo-subtracted weight loss with earlier agents like liraglutide and older AOMs. A meaningful step, but clinically modest for many patients with severe obesity.
Peak trial weight loss with semaglutide 2.4 mg and tirzepatide — outcomes previously achievable only with metabolic surgery. Up to 91% of participants lost ≥5% body weight on tirzepatide 15 mg.
Emerging multi-agonist compounds and combination strategies pushing toward surgical-level efficacy with pharmacotherapy alone. Oral formulations and novel mechanisms on the horizon.
From GLP-1 monotherapy to dual and triple agonists — what clinicians need to know about mechanism, efficacy, and real-world prescribing.
Reframing obesity care beyond BMI. The neuroscience of appetite, the biology of weight regain, and why willpower is not the answer.
Why clinical trial outcomes don't automatically translate to practice — and the comprehensive care model needed to close the gap.
Digital health, AI in clinical workflows, next-generation pharmacotherapy, and the policy changes needed to make evidence-based obesity care accessible.
Person-first language, evidence over anecdote, and dismantling the misconceptions that prevent clinicians from treating obesity as a legitimate disease.
Select themes from Dr. Albert's public commentary — challenging conventional thinking on obesity, healthcare, and scientific integrity.
The genetics and neuroscience literature makes it clear — obesity is driven by biology, not willpower. Appetite regulation operates in evolutionarily ancient brain structures largely outside conscious control. Effective treatment must target these mechanisms, not shame people into compliance.
When GLP-1 therapy stops, weight returns at 0.7–0.8 kg per month. Obesity care must be continuous, comprehensive, and chronic. Medications are essential tools, but without structured long-term care models, the benefits fade quickly.
Only ~2% of eligible patients receive evidence-based obesity treatment. Insurance barriers, stigma, and the Medicare statutory prohibition of "weight loss drugs" perpetuate a system that fails millions. The medical evidence is clear — now the policy must catch up.
When studies fail to report pre-registered primary outcomes, the scientific community must hold them accountable. Evidence-based medicine depends on rigorous reporting — not social media memes or pseudoscience influencers. The stakes are too high for anything less.
Too much of healthcare is shaped by people with business degrees and no clinical experience. The rise of AI and digital health presents an opportunity to re-humanize medicine — but only if clinicians lead the conversation and the technology is designed around patient needs.
Being lean is a privilege — not a virtue. Person-first language, evidence-based treatment, and compassionate care are not optional extras. They are the foundation of equitable obesity medicine. We must reframe responsibility: expect engagement with appropriate care, not superhuman resistance to biological drives.
Original articles on obesity medicine, incretin pharmacotherapy, health policy, AI in medicine, and the future of care delivery.
There's a phrase spreading through healthcare right now that should make anyone in obesity medicine pause.
A growing number of companies are marketing GLP-1 medications as if they are the entire solution to obesity. But obesity is a complex, chronic, heterogeneous disease — not a prescription fulfillment problem. When we reduce it to a single drug class, we set patients up for failure and undermine the field.
"Food noise" has become one of the most common — and most misunderstood — terms in modern discussions about weight and obesity.
Appetite regulation operates in evolutionarily ancient brain structures largely outside conscious control. The machinery governing hunger and fullness doesn't deactivate through willpower alone — and understanding this distinction is the key to compassionate, effective obesity treatment.
Why we're asking the wrong question.
We've confused the delivery of healthcare services with the achievement of health. But spending more on healthcare doesn't make us healthier. Until we address the upstream determinants — food systems, environment, education, and equity — we're treating symptoms while the disease spreads.
The shocking truth about sleep apnea — and the revolutionary solution that's finally here.
Sleep apnea is one of the most underdiagnosed conditions in medicine, affecting millions who don't know their chronic fatigue, brain fog, and metabolic dysfunction trace back to what happens when they close their eyes at night. The intersection of obesity and sleep is an area ripe for innovation.
Finding common ground in a polarized conversation about weight and health.
The Health at Every Size community and obesity medicine share more common ground than either side admits. Both oppose stigma. Both advocate for compassionate care. The disagreement is about whether pharmacotherapy and medical intervention have a role — and the evidence is clear that they do.
Tested the new DEEP SEARCH AGENT by Consensus.
Putting AI-powered research tools to the test on one of medicine's most studied questions. The results reveal both the promise and the limitations of using artificial intelligence to synthesize complex medical evidence.
GLP-1s are more than weight loss meds — they're the first real antidote to modern life.
GLP-1 receptor agonists target the two biggest threats to human longevity: behavioral chaos in modern life and chronic inflammation driving biological aging. They reduce compulsive eating, dull cravings, and downregulate pro-inflammatory signaling pathways — reshaping the aging process at the cellular level.
Why our care model goes far beyond weight loss.
Plans that fail to address obesity as a medical condition face increasing downstream costs: diabetes, cardiovascular events, disability, and lost productivity. A clinically rigorous, scalable, and cost-effective solution for managing obesity must treat it as a chronic disease — not a benefit add-on.
We live in a culture of contradictions when it comes to obesity.
We dismiss BMI as outdated yet it has nearly 98% concordance with DEXA scans. We resist calling obesity an energy balance issue despite understanding that appetite isn't a conscious choice. This cognitive dissonance exists because confronting these realities feels like assigning blame — but obesity is not about blame.
A frank — yet compassionate — reckoning with how biology drives overeating in obesity.
People don't choose obesity. When people with obesity lose weight, their bodies initiate a coordinated defense: resting energy expenditure decreases, hunger hormones surge, and metabolic efficiency increases. The diet collapses not from lack of commitment, but because the brain overrides conscious plans.
Not last resort — first line.
There's a tired narrative in obesity care that needs to be retired: the idea that metabolic-bariatric surgery should only be considered after everything else has failed. Today's bariatric surgery has a 30-day mortality rate below 0.1%, making it safer than many common procedures.
Not until it carries the weight of a human life.
The algorithm won't be liable — the company behind it will. And today, few of those companies are raising their hands to take on that legal and ethical burden. Until the system — not just the software — is ready to bear the full weight of responsibility, patients still need someone willing to be accountable.
Rethinking an outdated paradigm.
The FDA's removal of BMI from prescribing labels for Wegovy and Zepbound signals a readiness to embrace a more nuanced understanding of obesity. The Lancet Commission's work challenges us to move beyond BMI to a definition characterized by excess adiposity and its consequences — organ dysfunction.
They didn't care about obesity until they could make money.
Shadow provider groups with little to no weight management expertise have entered the fray, seizing the opportunity to capitalize on the GLP-1 craze. A small group of clinicians behind dozens of websites write the majority of prescriptions — often for compounded versions with minimal oversight.
Moving beyond marketing hype.
More than half of all lost weight is regained within two years and greater than 80% within five years. Weight recurrence begets disease recurrence. The gold standard trials reject the notion that deprescribing effective treatment leads to sustained disease improvements.
Fundamentally different philosophies in addressing the health and well-being of people living with obesity.
Obesity care is a nuanced, integrated, comprehensive, evidence-based, and personalized approach to weight health, contrasting sharply with weight-loss commerce focusing solely on the commercial transaction of a single health outcome. Despite it being commonly advertised, there is no GLP-1-for-all solution.
How history can inform a more equitable future.
Recent estimates suggest that only 2% of eligible people receive evidence-based obesity treatment. Not only are we failing to prevent obesity, but we are failing to provide appropriate treatment for those living with it. Medicare's statutory prohibition of "weight loss drugs" predates the era of modern pharmacotherapy.
Clinical strategy, medical affairs support, and KOL development for companies navigating the obesity and metabolic disease space. Experienced advisor to Novo Nordisk, Gelesis, Elo Health, and GoodRx.
Evidence-based benefit design for obesity treatment programs. Helping payors and self-insured employers build coverage that improves outcomes and reduces downstream costs — informed by real clinical data.
Guidance on building clinically rigorous virtual obesity care models, integrating AI into clinical workflows, and designing technology that serves clinicians and patients — not the other way around.
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