How to Join Who We Are Contact Us Privacy Policy
The HEalth Registry of Obesity (HERO) is a study being conducted by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles. We are researchers who study healthy behaviors and well-being. We think people can be healthy, regardless of what number shows up on the scale. Our goal is to gather a group of people who might be considered obese by conventional standards, but are perfectly healthy. We know there are many of you out there. The purpose of our study is to understand what thoughts, behaviors, and qualities are characteristic of this “fit-and-fat” group, so that in the future,
everyone - no matter what they weigh - can enjoy good health.
How to Join
How it works
Are you eligible?
Step 1. First, calculate your BMI:
Step 2. If your BMI is greater than 30, you may be eligible to join the registry. Please complete the contact form below. To receive information on participating in the registry, you must provide us with a mailing address and a valid email address.
Who We Are Contact Us
Please direct any questions, comments, and/or concerns you may have on HERO to:
Privacy Policy
UCLA HEalth Registry of Obesity (HERO) is committed to protecting your privacy. We won’t share your information with anyone outside of HERO. The only personally identifiable information we will collect about you is information that you choose to share with us.
Support for HERO is provided by the Hellman Fellows Fund. Please note: HERO is not a weight loss program or treatment to improve health. 2015 Janet Tomiyama, UCLA Department of Psychology
registry logo by JTK
Recruitment for HERO is ongoing! There are a few steps in order to join the registry.
Step 3. After completing the form above, you will be contacted by a member of our study team who will ask you to sign and return a HIPAA Authorization form. What is a HIPAA Authorization form? It is a form that gives us permission to access information about your health records, which is what we need to understand information about your blood pressure, cholesterol, etc.
Step 4. We will then ask you to print out our checklist and have your physician fill it out. We will not be able to reimburse you for any co-pays you incur. However, you will receive $50 for participating in this study, and another $50 if you join the registry.
Dr. A. Janet Tomiyama, Principal Investigator of HERO, is on the faculty in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Tomiyama received her BA from Cornell University in 2001, her MA (2004) and PhD (2009) from UCLA, and completed a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health and Society Scholar Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2011 jointly at the University of California, San Francisco and Berkeley. Dr. Tomiyama is the Director of the Dieting, Stress, and Health lab, and her research focuses on weight stigma, stress, eating, and the potentially negative consequences of low-calorie dieting.
Jeffrey M. Hunger, MA, is a doctoral candidate at the University of California, Santa Barbara, working in Dr. Brenda Major’s Self and Social Identity Lab. He received his BA from the University of Minnesota in 2009 and his MA from California State University, Fullerton in 2011. His work focuses primarily on how weight-based stigma and discrimination influences mental and physical health.
Jolene Nguyen-Cuu earned her BS in Psychobiology at the University of California, Los Angeles. Jolene is the Project Manager of the Dieting, Stress, and Health Lab and a research assistant for the Brain Injury Research Center at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine. Her work is inherently interdisciplinary, as she pursues a future as a physician who understands how biological, psychological, and social factors all play an important role in the context of health.
DiSH Lab
5625 Franz Hall
502 Portola Plaza
Los Angeles, CA 90095
Web address: www.dishlab.org/hero.php
Email address: uclaherostudy@gmail.com
Phone: 408.909.HERO