It was during Bennett's summer trip to Beijing in the summer of 2009 as an instructor in the joint Duke - Peking University Global Health diploma program, that he was alerted to the severity of chronic diseases among the Chinese, and the potential to tailor his research to that population.

Bennett's work in North Carolina is focused on populations who are at a disproportionately higher risk of becoming obese and developing cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension and cancer. This group includes the socially-disadvantaged, as well as immigrants, ethnic minorities and women. To reach this population, Bennett has developed strategies and coordinated behavioral interventions that have been implemented and evaluated at community health centers, where he says there are oftentimes limited resources to deal with the complications of obesity. These proven intervention research studies have shown how clinically-significant weight loss can be achieved in disadvantaged primary care settings.