If you're an adult American, chances are pretty good that at one time or another you've tried to diet. Chances are also good that, despite your efforts, you've found yourself standing on a scale and looking at a certain number with frustration and disbelief. It's the same number as last week, and the week before, even though you've been cutting back on sweets and going to the gym an extra day. Why won't that bulge budge?

What led you to specialize in the study of obesity and diabetes?

I started as a basic science researcher with a Ph.D. in biochemistry and was intrigued by the fact that, of all the hormones, insulin was responsible for the biggest health issue and was the least understood at the time. Over time, it has been a great journey learning about and working primarily on diabetes, but in the context of projects that involve all sorts of different disciplines—from molecular aspects to public health issues—essentially from the molecule to Medicare.

Have you ever had a dream that just didn't feel like a dream—where, like Alice in Wonderland, you had trouble telling fiction from reality? Perhaps you even felt like you had control over what was happening, as if you were directing a film produced entirely in your imagination. If so, you most likely experienced what sleep scientists like Edward Bixler call a "lucid dream."