Mentoring in Translational Research to Prevent Disparities in Childhood Obesity and Cardiometabolic Disease

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PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Dr. Anisha Patel is a midcareer pediatrician-researcher at Stanford applying for a K24 Midcareer Investigator Award in Patient-Oriented Research (POR). Dr. Patel has excellent training in research (public health, health services research, community-engaged research, health policy). She has built an innovative research program that leverages community-academic-policy partnerships to prevent racial/ethnic and income-related disparities in obesity and cardiometabolic diseases funded by federal agencies, foundations, and institutional support. She also has an extensive history of mentoring in POR, with a particular emphasis on trainees underrepresented in health fields. As Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Stanford in many formal mentoring roles and as Director of Community-Engaged Research in Stanford’s Maternal and Child Health Research Institute, Dr. Patel is poised to mentor early and junior clinician-investigators in translational science. Dr. Patel is conducting numerous community-engaged studies to prevent racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in childhood obesity that provide training opportunities for mentees. The first two aims of this application focus on two R01-funded cluster randomized-controlled trials (CRTs) examining the impact of drinking water promotion and access on children’s intake of water and sugar-sweetened beverages, and obesity in elementary schools (Water First, n=1249 students) and childcare centers (Healthy Drinks, Healthy Futures, n=420 children).This K24 award will leverage these two trials by applying the RE-AIM framework to examine the interventions’ reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, cost, and maintenance. The Specific Aims are to: 1) Estimate the short-term cost, population reach and effectiveness of Water First and Heathy Drinks, Healthy Futures interventions in increasing water intake, decreasing SSB intake, and preventing overweight, 2) Examine the impact of the interventions among different subgroups (by age, sex, racial/ethnic background, English proficiency and acculturation level), and 3) Describe how the impact of the interventions differ by fidelity to the intervention implementation strategies. These data will be used to translate evidence into practice and adapt the interventions for “real-world” settings. The research will also provide a platform for training experiences in conduct of CRTs, community-engaged research, dissemination and implementation science, intervention development, mixed methods, dietary assessment, and statistical analysis. The award will also allow Dr. Patel to expand her mentoring of early stage clinical investigators pursing translational POR and support her own career development in 1) gaining and applying mentorship and leadership skills, 2) building novel research with multi-disciplinary investigators, and 3) fostering new research expertise in dissemination and implementation research and economic evaluation at an opportune time in her career.