Dr. Yang Ming, a professor at the National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders of West China Hospital (WCH), recently traveled to Rome, Italy, to attend the 2025 annual meeting of the Sarcopenic Obesity Global Leadership Initiative (SOGLI) and was formally inducted as a member of the SOGLI expert panel. He joins top scholars worldwide to formulate diagnostic criteria and chart the future direction of sarcopenic obesity. As one of only two Chinese experts in the organization, Dr. Yang’s appointment reflects international recognition of WCH’s research excellence in geriatric sarcopenic obesity and clinical nutrition.

SOGLI was launched in 2018 by Professor Lorenzo M. Donini of Sapienza University of Rome in conjunction with the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) and the European Association for the Study of Obesity (EASO). The initiative is a global authoritative academic consortium. This year’s meeting covered validation of the SOGLI diagnostic algorithm in large cohort studies, pathophysiological mechanisms of sarcopenic obesity, life-cycle management strategies from pediatrics to geriatrics, and novel pharmacologic and nutritional interventions. Eighty-seven leading experts from more than 20 countries and regions gathered to establish a unified global definition and diagnostic standard for sarcopenic obesity, standardize clinical pathways, and promote epidemiological research and clinical translation. In 2022 the group published the first-ever global consensus definition and diagnostic criteria for sarcopenic obesity—a landmark milestone in the field.