I. Evolution of the NORC Research Base. The strength of the UNC NORC research base is that it is both large enough and strong enough to effectively span a variety of disciplines within nutritional sciences and obesity related research. From population-based to molecular research, our Center gains from the integration of these diverse perspectives and approaches. Our faculty members are international leaders in nutrition and obesity research, publishing in top journals and directing major nutrition/obesity studies. At the population level, our investigators lead some of the largest NIH-funded nutrition-focused studies including the Long Island Breast Cancer Study (18,000 women), Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC: 15,792 men and women), Trial of Activity in Adolescent Girls (TAAG: 8,728 women), WAY to Health Study (1,200 employees at 12 community colleges), The Hispanic Cohort Health Study (16,000 men and women) and the Carolina Head and Neck Cancer Study (CHANCE: 1,400 men and women), to name a few. Our investigators are at the leading edge of studying the global nutrition transition, with major longitudinal studies in the United States, China and the Philippines. At the clinical nutrition research level, we are leaders in the developing field of nutrigenomics as it influences dietary nutrient requirements (including organizing workshops for the American Society of Nutrition at the 2010 and 2011 Experimental Biology annual meetings). Our members have generated critical information needed for the Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI) development process, and several of our members served on the Institute of Medicine panels that developed those DRIs. At the molecular level, our investigators have made fundamental contributions to the understanding of the genes that regulate activity, lipid and choline metabolism, the effects of obesity on immune responses to viruses, and the mechanisms whereby antioxidants and selenium modulate viral mutation and pathogenesis. We are also leaders in identifying, in both mice and humans, gene loci that regulate adipose distribution, insulin resistance, and glucose metabolism. These examples are only a small portion of the large number of contributions made by the NORC research base. The NORC leadership has worked hard to build a strong and diverse research base. We measure our success as a Center by the strength of our membership, the investment in nutrition and obesity research, and the quantity and quality of publications generated by our members.
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