Queen Mary to coordinate new Nature Medicine global obesity data Commission
Queen Mary University of London is set to play a central role in a major new international effort to transform obesity care through data-driven healthcare and clinical decision-making.
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The newly launched Nature Medicine Data-Driven Decision Support in Obesity Management Commission brings together leading global experts, clinicians and researchers to develop more precise and equitable approaches to obesity prevention, diagnosis and treatment.
The Commission’s secretariat will be jointly based at Queen Mary and Lund University, coordinating an international network of contributors and large-scale global health datasets. The initiative which officially launched on 12 May 2026, is expected to continue through 2031.
Overweight and obesity is a major global health challenge, affecting an estimated 2.5 billion people worldwide. It is linked to more than 250 related conditions, yet its impact varies widely between individuals and populations.
Obesity is increasingly understood not as a single condition but as a complex disorder influenced by genetic, environmental, behavioural and social factors, as well as the capacity and structure of the health systems – making one-size-fits-all approach to obesity management inadequate. There’s an urgent need for more precise, data-driven strategies for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of obesity that work for everyone across the globe.
The Commission will focus on four objectives:
- Mapping the global landscape of data for predicting obesity risk and treatment response
- Identifying key gaps, barriers, and opportunities in obesity management
- Developing a comprehensive clinical decision support system (CDSS) based on global cohort data
- Creating adaptable frameworks and toolkits for diverse healthcare settings
Much of the burden of obesity-related disease lies outside high-income countries, yet the data needed to support evidence-based care in those settings are often limited. The Commission will incorporate data from diverse populations across the world, improve representation across regions, genders and backgrounds – ensuring that tools they create are application across a wide-range of healthcare settings.
Professor Paul Franks, Chair of the Commission and Professor and Chair in Translational Precision Medicine at Queen Mary’s Precision Healthcare University Research Institute (PHURI), said: “Our goal is to generate evidence that supports better and more equitable care for people living with obesity worldwide.”
He adds: “There is a clear need to move beyond consensus-based approaches and towards data-driven solutions that can better support decisions for individual patients wherever they may be. The work will support the development of clinical decision-support tools that can help healthcare providers tailor prevention and treatment strategies.
“Success will mean creating tools and evidence that objectively improve how obesity is managed across different populations, settings, and scenarios. This is a long-term effort with the potential for transformative global impact.”