CNRC Receives Prestigious Nutrition Award
The CNRC has been awarded a $300,000 unrestricted research
grant from Bristol-Myers Squibb/Mead Johnson Nutritionals
in recognition of the Center's leadership in childhood nutrition
research and education.
The three-year grant will support the Center's broad-based
research programs, which address contemporary nutritional
issues affecting the health and well being of children.
Each year, Bristol-Myers Squibb/Mead Johnson Nutritionals
awards this highly prestigious grant to one or two nutrition
programs around the world. The University of Turku, Finland
also received an award this year. Other recent recipients
are the University of Alabama, Columbia University, Children's
Hospital of Philadelphia, Tufts University, University of
Toronto and University of Otago, New Zealand.
"CNRC nutrition researchers have expertise in a variety of
scientific disciplines, including biochemistry, molecular
biology, genetics, physiology, epidemiology, behavioral nutrition,
and pediatric medicine," said Dr. Dennis Bier, director of
the CNRC and principal investigator for the research grant.
"This diversity enables Center scientists to conduct comprehensive
and collaborative studies that include laboratory studies
at the molecular and cellular level, metabolic studies at
the clinical level and behavioral studies at the community
level."
According to Bier, there is mounting evidence that among
the 10 top causes of death in the United States, cancer, cardiovascular
disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes are all at least partially
attributable to diet and exercise habits established in childhood.
Health experts are also concerned over how calcium-poor diets
and soaring obesity rates among today's children will impact
quality of life and healthcare costs in the future.
"This generous Bristol-Myers Squibb Johnson Nutritionals
grant will enable us to expand our innovative research and
educational programs, benefiting today's children and those
of future generations," said Bier, a Baylor professor of pediatrics.
The Bristol-Myers Squibb nutritional grants program is one
of seven biomedical research grants programs funded by the
Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation. The Foundation has committed
more than $90 million to these programs to date. Based in
New York, Bristol-Myers Squibb is a pharmaceutical and related
healthcare products company whose mission is to extend and
enhance human life.
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