Center for Childhood Obesity Prevention

 描述（由申请人提供）：本申请的目标是建立一个综合的，跨学科的和翻译的儿童肥胖预防中心。儿童肥胖是一个国家公共卫生威胁，在阿肯色州更是不成比例地严重。因此，近期目标是防止阿肯色州儿童肥胖率上升，最终目标是在未来5-10年内将该州儿童肥胖率降低≥10%（降低约3.8%）。通过该中心的建立，我们将通过一个协调的，以社区为基础的方法，针对可改变的个人风险行为，环境风险因素，以及地方，州和国家的风险降低政策，满足这一关键需求。这一策略将包括调查潜在的代谢因素。我们将召集一群 四名有前途的初级调查员，他们的集体研究集中在这一中心主题的多个方面，为这些调查员提供专门开发的支持性基础设施环境，以提高他们的成功机会，并利用这一初始小组提供的基础，培养另外四名管道初级调查员，以及促进对儿童肥胖预防的社区方法感兴趣的后续初级研究人员的持续招聘。具体目标#1将建立儿童肥胖预防中心，通过有针对性的行为，环境和政策来解决儿童肥胖问题。在具体目标#2中，我们将协调和加强现有的研究基础设施和整个ACHRI和UA系统的合作，以支持该中心。将建立或加强三个核心，以支持中心研究者的研究：行政和科学支持核心A，生物统计学和信息学核心B和代谢核心C，每个核心都由具有强大研究和行政背景的经验丰富的高级教师领导。指导计划将由中心指导委员会（CMC）组成，其中包括两名高级教师，与每个初级研究员和每个管道研究员（共11名;有些重叠）相匹配;此外，UAMS教师发展计划（FDP）通过晋升和终身教职过程支持初级教师的一般学术职业发展和进步。这些战略与现有的高级研究人员和内部执行委员会的专门知识相协调，将提供必要的协同作用和监督，以开发持续成功的外部应用程序，维持这项工作。

 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.