Arya M. Sharma is Emeritus Professor of Medicine and Past-Chair in Obesity Research and Management at the University of Alberta. He is also the Past-Clinical Co-Chair of the Alberta Health Services Obesity Program. Dr. Sharma is founder and Past-Scientific Director of Obesity Canada and co-founder and Past-President of the Canadian Association of Bariatric Physicians and Surgeons. In 2020 he was inducted into the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. Dr. Sharma is a leading voice in obesity science and medicine, has authored and co-authored more than 500 scientific articles, and has lectured widely on the ethology and management of obesity. He has received several prestigious international and national honours including the 2019 Master of Obesity Medicine Award, the 2012 W.L. Asher and Peter Lindner Lecture by the American Society of Bariatric Physicians, as well as a Killam Annual Professorship (2017) and a McLaughlin Gallie Visiting Professorship from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons (2014). In 2011 he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science (DSc) by the University of Guelph-Humber for his contribution to obesity research and advocacy.