Patient Oriented Research and Mentorship Program in Obesity

描述（由申请人提供）：此申请是为了获得职业中期研究者奖（K24），以支持面向患者的肥胖研究和指导。该奖项将每5年资助魏博士50%的研究成果。魏博士将投入30%的精力指导博士后、初级教员和其他肥胖研究实习生，另外20%的精力用于扩大她目前的研究范围。魏博士将为受训者提供结构化的指导和研究培训，协助他们开展自己的调查，并在职业发展的各个阶段为他们提供指导。受训者将能够利用魏博士目前的研究项目资源，其中包括2个活跃的R01项目。第一个项目分析了3个具有全国代表性的大型数据集，以了解种族和肥胖对4个结果的相互作用：1)死亡率；2)新的心血管危险因素；3)传统心血管危险因素的诊断和控制滞后；4)医疗支出。该项目的目的是澄清先前观察到的非裔美国人（AAs）相对于白人肥胖对死亡率和健康支出的不利影响的减弱是否可以用几个方面的种族差异来解释：竞争的健康风险；在AAs中，肥胖与新型心血管危险因素之间的关系减弱；以及诊断和治疗方面的差异。在新的研究中，Wee博士提出了一种竞争风险模型的新应用，以估计竞争（非肥胖相关）死亡率风险在多大程度上解释了从更传统的分析方法中得出的bmi -死亡率关系中观察到的种族差异。Wee博士的第二个R01项目是一项多中心队列研究，旨在了解患者如何重视减肥并决定减肥治疗，特别是减肥手术（WLS）。该项目的目标是：1)描述患者对减肥的效用（价值）和期望以及他们为减肥而承担风险的意愿的观点；2)确定与更好的WLS结果相关的预测因素；3)了解初级保健患者在决定是否接受WLS和其他体重治疗时遇到的因素和障碍。在新的研究中，Wee博士建议创建一个血液样本数据库，以探索遗传和其他生物标志物在患者决策和预测WLS结果中的作用。这个K24奖将允许在肥胖患者导向的研究中创建一个指导计划，并允许魏博士在新的方向上扩展她的研究组合，这将指导与肥胖相关的临床决策和公共卫生政策。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This application is for a Midcareer Investigator Award (K24) to support Patient-Oriented Research and Mentoring in obesity. This award will support 50% of Dr. Wee's effort for each of 5 years. Dr. Wee will devote 30% effort to mentoring postdoctoral fellows, junior faculty, and other research trainees in obesity investigation, and another 20% to expand the scope of her current research program. Dr. Wee will provide her trainees with structured mentoring and research training and assist them in initiating their own investigations and mentor them through the stages of career development. Trainees will be able to leverage the resources of Dr. Wee's current research program which includes 2 active R01 projects. The first project analyzes 3 large nationally- representative datasets to understand the interplay of race and obesity on 4 outcomes: 1) mortality; 2) novel cardiovascular risk factors; 3) delays in the diagnosis and control of traditional cardiovascular risk factors; and 4) healthcare expenditures. The objective of this project is to clarify whether previously observed attenuations in obesity's adverse impact on mortality and health expenditures in Africans Americans (AAs) relative to Whites can be explained by racial differences on several fronts: competing health risks; an attenuated relationship between obesity and novel cardiovascular risk factors in AAs; and disparities in diagnosis and treatment. In new research, Dr. Wee proposes a novel application of competing risk models to estimate the degree to which competing (nonobesity-related) mortality risks explain observed racial differences in BMI-mortality relationships derived from more traditional analytic methods. Dr. Wee's second R01 project is a multicenter cohort study to understand how patients value weight loss and make decisions about weight treatment particularly weight loss surgery (WLS). The goals of this project are to 1) describe the perspectives of patients in terms of their utility (value) and expectations for weight loss and their willingness to take risks to achieve weight loss; 2) identify predictors that are associated with better WLS outcomes, and 3) understand the factors and barriers patients in primary care encounter in deciding whether or not to undergo WLS and other weight treatments. In new research, Dr. Wee proposes to create a blood sample data repository to explore the role genetic and other biomarkers play in patient decision-making and in predicting outcomes of WLS. This K24 award will allow the creation of a mentorship program in obesity patient-oriented research and allow Dr. Wee to expand her research portfolio in new directions that will guide clinical decision-making and public health policy related to obesity.