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。肥胖及其行为成分，缺乏体力活动和不良饮食是CVD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优先事项。然而，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建立了肥胖预防计划，该部门是哈佛医学院和哈佛朝圣者医疗保健的联合部门，位于学术界，医疗服务系统和公共卫生的支点。这个跨学科研究计划的使命是通过在特定的儿童和成人人群中进行流行病学、干预和卫生服务研究来减轻肥胖相关疾病的负担。经过竞争性的国际搜索，我们成功地招募了杰森块，一个普通内科医生刚刚完成了在卫生服务和卫生政策的高生产力奖学金，加入我们的全职教师截至2009年6月。坚实的财政支持的基础，因为他加入我们的初级教师的行列将使他起飞作为一个新的独立调查员。拟议中的NHLBI PSO核心中心的目标是支持博士块的工资和启动研究活动沿着试点赠款计划。因此，肥胖预防计划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的研究。该计划的位置在哈佛的门诊护理和预防部门提供了无与伦比的资源进行这种类型的研究。由于捐赠基金的急剧下降，哈佛医学院将取消对我们打算用于布洛克博士最初工资和启动研究活动的部门的财政支持。虽然该部门将使用其他资源来荣誉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。拥有对员工、设备和用品的启动支持，以及从拟议的核心中心获得试点项目资金的能力，对于布洛克博士利用时间有限的研究机会的能力至关重要。此外，由于拟议中的核心中心将支持布洛克博士在哈佛大学任教的头两年的工资，它将使该部门能够保证他至少两年的工资。因此，拟议中的NHLBI PSO核心中心赠款将为新独立研究员布洛克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。 近年来，肥胖症的增长势头不受控制，尽管对健康有强大的不利影响，但迄今为止，肥胖症一直没有简单的答案。新的解决方案很可能来自对卫生服务、卫生政策和比较有效性的研究。通过资助一个新的独立研究者，启动研究活动，和试点赠款计划，这个NHLBI PSO核心中心赠款来在正确的时间来支持肥胖预防计划在哈佛的门诊护理和预防部门扩大和加强其在这些日益重要的领域的研究。

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.