? Overall MNORC The Michigan Nutrition Obesity Research Center (MNORC) was initially funded in 2010 to support, integrate and enhance research related to obesity and nutrition among the faculty of the University of Michigan. The goal of MNORC is to create an environment to encourage and enable researchers from preclinical, clinical and translational research disciplines to integrate advanced, phenotyping and data analytic tools to more fully define individual and population characteristics that arise in response to dietary nutrient composition or amount. This will be accomplished by providing core laboratory infrastructure, educational and training opportunities and pilot grants to enhance research productivity. The MNORC has expanded the research infrastructure and Core offerings in response to the needs of the research community and has supported the expansion of nutrition and obesity research across the UM campus. This is highlighted by the institutional investment to establish two new cores that are part of this proposal. MNORC has 102 members that are faculty across the various schools at UM. These faculty currently control just under $26M/year of direct costs in nutrition/obesity-related funding for R-awards and funding from non-NIH sources and an additional $30M/year in nutrition/obesity-related F, K, P, T and U grants. The MNORC Cores include the Administrative Core, which will oversee and integrate the research, clinical and education functions of the Center, including an annual symposium, seminar series, training for undergraduates, dieticians, medical students, house staff and fellows in the breadth of nutrition and obesity care and research; the Nutrition, Exercise and phenotype Testing Core, which will provide expertise and infrastructure for sophisticated metabolic and neurobehavioral testing of humans in inpatient and outpatient settings; the Molecular Phenotyping Core, which will continue supporting targeted and untargeted metabolomics profiling as well as new initiatives for multi-omics data integration; the newly established Adipose Tissue Core will provide expertise and technical services to basic and clinical biomedical researchers interested in investigating how adipocytes throughout the body develop, function, and interact with other cell types; the Childhood Obesity Research Core will support investigators focused on translational research in childhood overweight/obesity by leveraging learning health systems and health information technology at the University of Michigan. MNORC will continue to support the Weight Management Program which integrates research into a highly successful adult clinical weight loss program and is now being extended into children, families and women seeking to become pregnant. Numerous investigators access the patients, biosamples and data collected through this program for their own research. Through the next funding period, MNORC will continue to communicate with the research base to identify new areas for support and adjust the service offerings consistent with the needs of the community.
? Overall MNORC Obesity is a critical health problem that contributes to a wide range of health problems and healthcare costs. Obesity has also defied easy treatment. The Michigan Nutrition Obesity Research Center will provide researchers the opportunity to utilize advanced technologies and computational tools to understand how causes of obesity vary among individuals and across the population. Through these efforts, health professionals will be able to translate these lessons to the design and implementation of novel dietary, exercise and medication interventions to control obesity and obesity- related diseases in both adults and children.
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