Enrichment Program

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PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT (ENRICHMENT PENNINGTON/LOUISIANA NORC) The Enrichment Program conducts activities that support the mission of the Pennington/Louisiana NORC and are designed “to facilitate and promote collaborative and multidisciplinary interactions that will foster new research ideas and enhance the translation of basic nutritional research findings into the clinical-research arena and ultimately into clinical application”. It provides opportunities to foster multidisciplinary approaches to nutrition/obesity research and to attract new investigators or investigators with relevant expertise to the field. The program accomplishes this by 1) improving communication among NORC members, 2) monitoring the participation of investigators in enrichment activities associated with the NORC grant, 3) promoting awareness of the NORC and disseminating information about its research findings to other scientists, health care professionals and the community, and 4) coordinating events that attract distinguished nutritional scientists to Pennington Biomedical and Louisiana. To maximize resources for training and enrichment, our program dovetails with other NIH-sponsored research and training groups in Louisiana (The Louisiana Clinical and Translational Science Center, Pennington Biomedical’s Center of Biomedical Research Excellence and two T32 Postdoctoral Training Grants). The program is directed by Dr. Leanne Redman who is the Associate Executive Director for Scientific Education at Pennington Biomedical and Co-Program Director of the Training in Obesity Research T32. The enrichment program strives to specifically cater to 5 unique groups including NORC members, the participating institutions’ faculty, postdocs and students, and the lay community. Efforts will be made to reach out across the state and to provide enrichment opportunities for current and future nutrition/obesity researchers at multiple career levels including NORC member scientists, faculty from Louisiana universities and medical schools, postdoctoral fellows, graduate and undergraduate students, and medical students. A variety of evaluated activities will be used to deliver enrichment opportunities. Our new annual initiatives include a traveling Louisiana/Pennington NORC roadshow “Obesity Day”, sponsoring seminars and visiting scientists, providing webinars and on-site training courses, teaching graduate courses in molecular and clinical nutrition and providing undergraduate student internships, a NIH-funded postdoctoral training program in obesity research (T32DK064584-16; recently renewed through May 2024).