Center for Childhood Obesity Prevention

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 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of this application is to develop an integrated, interdisciplinary and translational Center for Childhood Obesity Prevention. Childhood obesity is a national public health threat that is disproportionately worse in Arkansas. Therefore, the immediate goal is to prevent the rise in Arkansas childhood obesity rates, with an ultimate goal of reducing childhood obesity rates by ≥10% (reduction of ~3.8%) in our state over the next 5-10 years. Through the establishment of the Center, we will meet this critical need through a coordinated, community-based approach targeting modifiable individual risk behaviors, environmental risk factors, and local, state and national risk reduction policies. This strategy will include investigation of underlying metabolic factors. We will bring together a group of four promising junior investigators whose collective research focuses on multiple aspects of this central theme, provide these investigators with a supportive infrastructure environment developed specifically to enhance their chances for success, and use the foundation provided by this initial group to develop four additional pipeline junior investigators, as well as to promoe ongoing recruitment of subsequent junior investigators with an interest in community-based approaches to childhood obesity prevention. Specific Aim #1 will establish the Center for Childhood Obesity Prevention, addressing childhood obesity through targeted behaviors, environments, and policies. In Specific Aim #2, we will coordinate and enhance existing research infrastructure and collaboration throughout the ACHRI and the UA System in support of the Center. Three cores will be established or enhanced to support the research of Center investigators: an Administrative and Scientific Support Core A, a Biostatistics and Informatics Core B, and a Metabolism Core C, each under the leadership of experienced senior faculty with strong research and administrative backgrounds. The mentoring program will consist of the Center Mentoring Committee (CMC) which includes two senior faculty members matched with each junior investigator and each pipeline investigator (11 total; some overlap); further, the UAMS Faculty Development Program (FDP) supports the general academic career development and advancement of junior faculty through the Promotion and Tenure process. These strategies, in coordination with the expertise of the established senior research faculty and an internal Executive Committee, will provide the synergy and oversight required for the development of ongoing successful external applications to sustain this work.