The mission of the Michigan Nutrition Obesity Center (MNORC) is to provide researchers with infrastructure, expertise, and training to integrate, analyze, and model data from properly designed basic, clinical, and population-based studies in obesity and metabolism-related diseases with a goal to identify better ways for prevention and treatment of obesity.
The Michigan Nutrition Obesity Research Center (MNORC) began in 2010, funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). The MNORC is one of 12 U.S. centers designed to inspire and support translational, multi-disciplinary research in obesity and nutrition, across the continuum of basic science to applications in individuals (medicine) and populations (public health).
Objectives
- To facilitate the interaction between basic, clinical and population-based researchers in nutrition, obesity and related metabolic disorders.
- To support Core Laboratories to provide a range of basic, clinical and translational research tools to Research Base investigators.
- To provide expertise and infrastructure to promote the integration of basic research technologies into clinical studies.
- To provide biostatistical design, database management and bioinformatics tools for the Research Base.
- To support a Demonstration Unit, the Weight Management Program, which will combine state of the art clinical care and translational research in developing methodologies and tools to integrated, advanced human phenotyping in the clinical setting.
- To facilitate access to human subjects and phenotypic data for obesity and obesity-related research.
- To evaluate, refine, and apply new knowledge regarding nutrition interventions, obesity and related disorders in clinical and population-based research.
- To enrich the intellectual and educational environment for researchers in obesity and nutrition through seminars, symposia, classes, clinical research, and clinical care opportunities for faculty, students, and other trainees.
- To recruit, train, motivate and retain basic, clinical and population-based researchers in the area of nutrition interventions, obesity, and other metabolic disorders.
- To disseminate knowledge to the research community and to the public about the causes, consequences and treatments of nutrition, obesity, and obesity-related disorders so that public policy decisions about health care resources can be made in an informed environment.