This proposal requests renewed support for the UCLA Nutrition and Obesity Training Program in order to continue to train diverse and highly trained clinical and basic scientists in nutrition and obesity research. Through stipends and educational support of four postdoctoral M.D. or Ph.D. trainees, this program seeks to develop a new generation of scientists and physician-scientists capable of translating advances in the understanding of gene-nutrient interactions relevant to obesity and obesity-related diseases to clinical medicine and community health both nationally and internationally. Obesity-related diseases account for 300,000 deaths per year and one of 9 health care dollars are spent on over 30 obesity-related diseases. This program was established in 1992, and has since developed a cadre of dedicated faculty, a clear record of accomplishment among nutrition fellows who have advanced their careers to become competitively funded investigators in nutrition and obesity-related research areas. Since the last renewal, the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition has grown considerably with the funding in 1999 of the UCLA P50 Center for Dietary Supplements Research:Botanicals (CDSRB), and the NCI -funded P30 Clinical Nutrition Research (CNRU) which was competitively renewed for five years in 2002. All of these programs are housed in the Center for Human Nutrition which also is the site of successful clinical programs integrated into the research training of both basic and clinical scientists including the University Obesity Center, the Surgical Obesity Program, the Primary Care Network, and Community Outreach Programs in the Venice Family Clinic and Martin Luther King Medical Center. The Administrative Unit of the Center will administer the training program and foster the growth of the trainees. The training program will be directed by a Steering Committee including Principal Training Faculty from six broad areas: 1 ) The Genetics of Obesity; 2) Adipocyte and Lipid Metabolism; 3) Neuroregulation and Satiety; 4) Eating Disorders and Behavioral Medicine; 5) Clinical Research and Biostatistics; and 6) Minority and International Nutrition Research. The UCLA Center for Human Nutrition including the Nutrition Research Laboratories and the Scientific Core Laboratories of the CNRU and the CDSRB will provide laboratory resources and faculty expertise. Trainees in basic and clinical sciences training side by side will be prepared for the research agenda mandated by the growing epidemic of obesity through the acquisition of skills in molecular biology, genetics and neurosciences while critically understanding their translation to the clinical and public health challenges of the epidemic of obesity.
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