Clinical Nutrition Research Unit of Maryland

总体描述（由申请人提供）： 马里兰州的CNRU将重点关注营养和运动对与年龄相关的慢性疾病风险的影响，包括肥胖、2型糖尿病、高血压、心血管疾病（CVD）、睡眠呼吸障碍和骨质疏松症。随着肥胖症的流行，相关的合并症现在降低了大多数美国人的生活质量，并成为我们医疗保健系统的主要负担。我们的研究基地汇集了44名研究人员在三个机构（马里兰州，约翰霍普金斯大学和美国农业部，贝尔茨维尔）从事营养相关研究，具有多学科的专业知识和良好的合作和NIH资助记录。为了识别和评估预测对饮食（营养基因组学）和运动的生物反应的重要基因，我们的多学科研究团队利用了人类遗传学研究的全方位，从招募和表型到高通量分子遗传学，再到最先进的统计遗传分析。我们的团队在临床和转化研究、测试饮食和运动干预以治疗中心性肥胖和代谢综合征方面也拥有丰富的经验。连接遗传学和临床和转化研究，大量研究人员对调节脂肪组织功能的机制进行基础研究。许多研究合作的一个跨领域主题是了解遗传和营养因素对少数民族人群（特别是非洲裔美国人）肥胖及其合并症的高患病率的影响。此外，研究人员解决了骨密度和中风风险的遗传和环境控制以及转化研究，以检查增加髋部骨折和中风风险和恢复的遗传和营养因素。拟议中的马里兰州CNRU将提供基础设施和资源，以扩大我们的合作研究工作的范围，并加快在营养相关研究的新发现。CNRU分为（遗传学;干预;脂肪细胞生物学），（遗传学，功能基因组学和遗传流行病学;临床研究;脂肪生物学和基本机制）。我们还将组织研讨会，期刊俱乐部，座谈会和其他活动。马里兰州的CNRU将促进和促进对人类营养关键问题的研究，并将知识转化为有效的治疗和干预措施，以解决我国人口中的重要健康差距

DESCRIPTION, OVERALL (provided by applicant): The CNRU of Maryland will focus on the influence of nutrition and exercise on risk for age-related chronic diseases, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease (CVD), sleep disordered breathing, and osteoporosis. With the obesity epidemic, associated co-morbidities now detract from the quality of life for the majority of Americans and represent a major burden to our health care system. Our research base brings together 44 investigators working on nutrition-related research at three institutions (University of Maryland, Johns Hopkins University, and U.S. Department of Agriculture, Beltsville), with multidisciplinary expertise and a strong track record of collaboration and NIH funding. To identify and evaluate the important genes that predict biological responses to diet (nutrigenomics) and exercise, our multidisciplinary research team utilizes the full spectrum of human genetics research from recruitment and phenotyping to high throughput molecular genetics to state-of-the-art statistical genetic analyses. Our team also has extensive experience in clinical and translational research, testing diet and exercise interventions to treat central obesity and the metabolic syndrome. Bridging genetics and clinical and translational research, a critical mass of investigators conduct basic research into the mechanisms regulating adipose tissue function. A cross-cutting theme of many research collaborations is understanding the genetic and nutritional contributors to high prevalence of obesity and its co-morbidities in minority populations, particularly African-Americans. Additionally, researchers address the genetic and environmental control of bone density and stroke risk and translational research to examine genetic and nutritional factors that increase risk of, and recovery from, hip fracture and stroke. The proposed Maryland CNRU will provide infrastructure and resources to expand the scope of our collaborative research efforts and to expedite new discoveries in nutrition-related research. The CNRU is organized into (Genetics; Interventions; Adipocyte Biology), (Genetics, Functional Genomics and Genetic Epidemiology; Clinical Research; Adipose Biology and Basic Mechanisms). We will also organize seminars, journal clubs, symposiums and other activities. The CNRU of Maryland will foster and facilitate research into critical issues in human nutrition and translate knowledge into effective therapies and interventions that address important health disparities in our population