New York Obesity Research Center

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The New York Obesity Nutrition Research Center (NYNORC) has as its primary aim to convene and support - by its Core Services, Pilot & Feasibility and Enrichment programs - funded investigators at Columbia University and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine studying obesity. The themes for this Center include: the etiology, pathophysiology and complications of obesity; treatment strategies; the physiology of weight regulation and nutrient use; development of new tools and strategies for the study of nutrition and obesity; and the training and development of scientists to study nutrition and obesity. A particular strength of the NYNORC, by design, is an explicit commitment to the promotion of multidisciplinary research that integrates basic observations relating to nutritional, metabolic and behavioral biology, with the application of these insights to clinical approaches to the prevention and treatment of obesity. The size and breadth of our base has provided a strong basis for collaborations and productivity. During the current cycle, the research base has grown from 109 to 115 funded members. Currently, NYNORC members were PIs on 206 obesity-related grants totaling $60M/annum in direct costs: 166 grants from NIH totaling $48M/annum ($13M NIDDK) and 40 foundations and pharmaceutical entities supported obesity-related grants totaling $11M/annum. NYNORC Members are PIs of 12 NIH training grants, 14 P30 and P50 program projects, the CTSA at Columbia, and mentors of 10 K series and 4 F31 graduate awards. These efforts are supported by our three Biomedical Research Cores: Human Phenotyping, Animal Phenotyping and Molecular Biology/Molecular Genetics. Since the last submission, the Cores have provided ~40,000 services to 115 members, including ~8464 services provided by the Human Phenotyping Core, 10,231 services from the Animal Phenotyping Core and >20,000 service requests by the Molecular Genetics/Molecular Biology Core. The research base is also supported by a highly successful Pilot & Feasibility Program – subsidized by the sponsoring institutions - that awarded $1.2M to 13 investigators since the last submission and 3 new awards to begin this summer. In addition, through the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center programs in Frontiers in Diabetes Research, the Russell Berrie Initiative in the Neurobiology of Obesity and the recently inaugurated Preliminary Translational Research Program, the NYNORC has access to an additional ~$2M in annual funds to support innovative studies related to the pathogenesis and treatment of obesity. The NYNORC is a dynamic enterprise that has strong institutional support permitting it to evolve and thrive as it fosters novel and collaborative science in the study of obesity. This evolution is apparent in the role of members of the NYNORC in creating intellectual and physical resources for addressing basic and translational research approaches to COVID-19 epidemic.