Enhancing the Obesity Prevention Program at Harvard's DACP

描述（由申请人提供）：心血管疾病（CVD）是美国死亡和残疾的主要原因。肥胖及其行为因素，缺乏体育活动和不良饮食是心血管疾病的主要决定因素。预防肥胖及其心血管疾病后遗症是临床和公共卫生的重点。然而，人们对肥胖的起源仍然知之甚少，许多潜在的解决方案也没有得到充分的研究。为了应对这些挑战，四年前，我们在门诊护理和预防部门建立了肥胖预防计划，这是哈佛医学院和哈佛朝圣者医疗保健的一个联合部门，位于学术界，医疗服务系统和公共卫生的支点。这个跨学科研究项目的任务是通过在确定的儿童和成人人群中进行流行病学、干预和健康服务研究来减轻肥胖相关疾病的负担。经过激烈的国际竞争，我们成功地招募了Jason Block博士，他是一名普通内科医生，刚刚完成了健康服务和健康政策的高产奖学金，于2009年6月加入我们的全职教师队伍。当他加入我们的初级教师队伍时，坚实的经济支持基础将使他能够作为一名新的独立调查员起飞。拟议的NHLBI PSO核心中心的目标是支持Block博士的薪水和启动研究活动以及试点资助计划。因此，肥胖预防项目可以扩大和加强其在卫生服务、卫生政策和比较有效性研究方面的研究。该项目位于哈佛大学门诊护理和预防部，为开展这类研究提供了无与伦比的资源。由于捐赠基金的急剧下降，哈佛医学院将取消对该部门的财政支持，我们本打算用于Block博士的初始工资和启动研究活动。虽然该部门将使用其他资源来履行其对布洛克博士工资的承诺，但它没有承诺的资源来支付他最初的研究活动。拥有对人员、设备和物资的启动支持，以及从拟议的核心中心获得试点项目资金的能力，对于Block博士利用有限的研究机会的能力至关重要。此外，由于拟议的核心中心将支持Block博士在OPP的前两年的工资，这将使该部门免于保证他至少两年的工资。因此，拟议的NHLBI PSO核心中心拨款将为新独立调查员Block博士提供至关重要的推动，不仅有利于他自己的职业生涯，也有利于整个肥胖预防计划。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading causes of death and disability in the US. Obesity and its behavioral components, lack of physical activity and poor diet, are major determinants of CVD. Prevention of obesity and its CVD sequelae are clinical and public health priorities. Yet the origins of obesity remain poorly understood and many potential solutions to the problem are understudied. To address these challenges, four years ago we established the Obesity Prevention Program at the Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention, a joint department of Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care situated at the fulcrum of academia, medical delivery systems, and public health. The mission of this interdisciplinary research Program is to lessen the burden of obesity-related disorders by conducting epidemiologic, intervention, and health services research studies within defined populations of children and adults. After a competitive international search, we successfully recruited Dr. Jason Block, a general internist just finishing a highly productive fellowship in health services and health policy, to join our full-time faculty as of June 2009. A base of solid financial support as he joins the ranks of our junior faculty will allow him to take off as a Newly Independent Investigator. The goal of the proposed NHLBI PSO Core Center is to support Dr. Block's salary and startup research activities along with a pilot grants program. so that the Obesity Prevention Program can expand and intensify its research in health services, health policy, and comparative effectiveness research The Program's location within Harvard's Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention provides unparalleled resources for conducting this type of research. Because of a precipitous drop in endowment funds, Harvard Medical School will eliminate its financial support to the department that we intended to use for Dr. Block's initial salary and startup research activities. While the department will use other resources to honor its commitment to Dr. Block's salary, it does not have committed resources to pay for his initial research activities. Having startup support for staff, equipment, and supplies and the ability to obtain pilot project funding from the proposed Core Center will be critical to Dr. Block's ability to take advantage of time-limited research opportunities. In addition, because the proposed Core Center will support Dr. Block's salary during his first two years on the OPP faculty, it will free the department to guarantee his salary for at least two more years. Thus the proposed NHLBI PSO Core Center grant will provide a crucial boost to Newly Independent Investigator Dr. Block, and will benefit not only his own career but also the Obesity Prevention Program as a whole. Obesity has grown unchecked in recent years and has thus far eluded easy answers despite its powerful adverse effects on health. New solutions may very well come from research in health services, health policy, and comparative effectiveness. By funding a Newly Independent Investigator, startup research activities, and a pilot grants program, this NHLBI PSO Core Center grant comes at just the right time to support the Obesity Prevention Program at Harvard's Department of Ambulatory Care and Prevention to expand and intensify its research in these increasingly important areas.