Dr. Louis Aronne, MD
Not yet claimedWeight loss doctor, Internal medicine doctor · Physician (MD)
New York, NY · Telehealth in 0 states
Sanford I. Weill Professor of Metabolic Research at Weill Cornell Medicine and founder/director of the Comprehensive Weight Control Center (est. 1987); former president of The Obesity Society and author of 150+ papers.
About Dr. Louis Aronne, MD
Updated Sep 20, 2026 · next review Dec 19, 2026Dr. Louis J. Aronne is an internal medicine doctor in New York City who focuses on obesity medicine. He directs the Comprehensive Weight Control Center at Weill Cornell Medicine, a multidisciplinary obesity treatment and research program he founded in 1987, and he is an attending physician at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital.
He went to medical school at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, finished his internal medicine residency at Jacobi Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and completed a fellowship in general internal medicine at New York Presbyterian Hospital. He is board certified in internal medicine and is a founding board member and diplomate of the American Board of Obesity Medicine. He is the Sanford I. Weill Professor of Metabolic Research and Professor of Clinical Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College.
Much of his public work is research on weight-loss medications. His hospital profile says he has written more than 150 papers and book chapters on obesity, and he was the first listed author on a New England Journal of Medicine trial comparing tirzepatide with semaglutide for treating obesity. He also co-authored the Endocrine Society clinical practice guideline on the drug treatment of obesity.
He has business roles outside of patient care: he founded and serves as Chief Scientific Advisor to FlyteHealth, an online weight-control program, and founded BMIQ, a web-based weight management tool for clinicians. CMS Open Payments records list $260,475.88 in industry payments to him across 215 records from 2021 to 2025, with the largest amounts from Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Veru Inc. Payments from drug companies to doctors who do research and speaking are common and legal, but patients may want to know about them.
- Directs weight control center
- He directs the Comprehensive Weight Control Center at Weill Cornell, a multidisciplinary obesity research and treatment program he founded in 1987. weillcornell.org
- Board certification
- He is board certified in internal medicine and is a founding board member and diplomate of the American Board of Obesity Medicine. en.wikipedia.org
- Medical school and training
- He graduated from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1981, then did an internal medicine residency at Jacobi Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine and a fellowship in general internal medicine at New York Presbyterian Hospital. doximity.com
- Lead author on obesity drug trial
- He is listed first on the New England Journal of Medicine paper 'Tirzepatide as Compared with Semaglutide for the Treatment of Obesity' for the SURMOUNT-5 trial investigators. nejm.org
- Guideline author
- He co-authored 'Pharmacological Management of Obesity: An Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline,' published in JCEM. vivo.weill.cornell.edu
- Published research
- His hospital profile states he has authored more than 150 papers and book chapters on obesity. Recent co-authored work includes 2025 studies on monlunabant and on the oral GLP-1 drug orforglipron. doctors.nyp.org
- Academic appointments
- He is the Sanford I. Weill Professor of Metabolic Research and Professor of Clinical Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, an attending physician at New York Presbyterian Hospital, and an adjunct clinical associate professor at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. en.wikipedia.org
- Society leadership
- He was named president of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity (NAASO) in 2004, and was earlier a Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Fellow in General Internal Medicine at what was then Cornell University Medical College and The New York Hospital. news.weill.cornell.edu
- Industry payments reported
- CMS Open Payments lists $260,475.88 to him across 215 records for 2021-2025, with the largest amounts from Eli Lilly ($64,170.82), Novo Nordisk AS ($46,455.02), Veru Inc. ($41,230), Novo Nordisk Inc ($39,058.68), and Pfizer ($18,884.50). openpaymentsdata.cms.gov
- New York license
- A commercial directory lists an active New York medical license with a 2027 expiration date. doctor.webmd.com
Worth knowing
- He has financial and leadership ties to weight-loss companies: he is the founder and Chief Scientific Advisor of FlyteHealth, an online weight-control program, and founder and CEO of BMIQ, a web-based weight management system for providers. He has also served on the board of directors of Jamieson Wellness since April 2014. weillcornell.org
- Open Payments data show $260,475.88 in industry payments across 215 records for 2021-2025, including from makers of obesity drugs he has studied, such as Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk. Such payments are common and legal, and the database does not say whether they affect care. openpaymentsdata.cms.gov
- Sources give different counts of his published work: his NewYork-Presbyterian profile says more than 150 papers and book chapters, while his Doximity profile says more than 200 research articles. doximity.com
- Several biographical details in this profile come from a Wikipedia article that carries editorial maintenance flags, so they may not be fully verified against institutional sources. en.wikipedia.org
- An Instagram account attributed to him could not be independently confirmed as his during this research, and no other social media accounts were found. This was a partial search rather than a confirmed absence. instagram.com
Industry payments (CMS Open Payments)
Open the CMS recordFederal law requires drug and device companies to report what they pay clinicians: meals, travel, speaking, consulting, and research. Payments are common and legal; the point is that you can see them.
2021 to 2025
$260,476
215 payments
| 2021 | $23,247 |
| 2022 | $14,528 |
| 2023 | $55,411 |
| 2024 | $80,005 |
| 2025 | $87,286 |
Top payers
- Eli Lilly and Company$64,171
- Novo Nordisk AS$46,455
- Veru Inc.$41,230
- Novo Nordisk Inc$39,059
- PFIZER INC.$18,885
Payment types
- Consulting Fee$122,090
- Travel and Lodging$68,229
- Compensation for services other than consulting, including serving as faculty or as a speaker at a venue other than a continuing education program$53,230
- Honoraria$11,325
- Food and Beverage$5,602
A word of caution about these numbers
A payment does not mean your doctor is compromised or acting unethically. Most of these entries are drug samples left for patients, or lunch brought in for the office staff, and the amounts are usually small. Research funding and speaking at medical meetings are also normal parts of a clinical career.
As a rough guide, a total under $15,000 a year is usually not a concern. Much larger sums, especially from one company whose product your doctor recommends to you, are worth asking about. You are allowed to ask.
Sources: weillcornell.org · weillcornell.org · vivo.weill.cornell.edu · doctors.nyp.org · doximity.com · en.wikipedia.org · news.weill.cornell.edu · cardiometabolichealth.org. Something wrong or out of date? Tell us and we will correct it.
Summary prepared with AI assistance from the public sources linked above, reviewed every three months. It is not a review, a rating, or an endorsement.
Practice location
Comprehensive Weight Control Center, Weill Cornell Medicine
1305 York Avenue, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10021
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