Unhealthy diet and physical activity practices are second only to tobacco as the leading preventable cause of death in the US. The goal of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) Nutrition Training Grant has been to address this issue by training pre-doctoral students in interdisciplinary nutrition research in order to provide a solid foundation for future careers in academia. Funds are requested to continue our program of predoctoral training in Nutrition. We propose to fund seven predoctoral Trainees each year for a term of two years each. The UNC-CH Nutrition training grant offers a strong educational program which includes formal course work and research mentored by an outstanding group of nutritional scientists. Their research interests and expertise provide an environment in which students can integrate 1) laboratory derived understanding of basic biological mechanisms;2) epidemiological knowledge of relationships between diet and health or disease;and 3) theory-based strategies for changing the diets of individuals and populations in order to reduce disease and improve health. The program links traditional training in the basic and clinical sciences with selected in-depth training in epidemiology, statistics and the behavioral sciences. Training faculty members have broad research interests in nutrition and a commitment to teaching and mentorship. Faculty members include experienced Trainers who will partner with Junior Trainers and Physician Associates to provide expertise and training in cutting-edge techniques, including genomics and metabolomics, to enhance predoctoral training. Diverse UNC-CH Centers and Core Labs are resources that provide additional depth of experience for Nutrition predoctoral Trainees. The success of the UNC-CH training program is demonstrated by our Trainees: previous and current predoctoral students have been acknowledged nationally with numerous prestigious awards for their research. Graduates of the training program are currently Assistant or Associate Professors or are researchers or consultants in non-profit or government groups.
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