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Nutrition Obesity Research Centers Grant Program

Ezine - 02/20/2012

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The National Institutes of Health, otherwise called NIH, is a federal government agency operating under the United States Department of Health and Human Services that is essentially designed to encourage and support the country's biomedical and health-related research studies.

The grants and initiatives of the NIH are all designed to make a contribution to the accomplishment of its general agency mission which is to"seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and cut back the burdens of illness and disability."

In an effort to support this mission, the National Institutes of Health has formed a collaboration with the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) to sanction the Nutrition Obesity Research Centers Grant Program whereby both agencies propose to solicit grant applications that would like to establish core centers which will be a crucial part of an integrated programme of nutrition and obesity research.

At first, the program was established to put together various basic science and clinical investigators from a few areas of discipline, with the end of goal of improving and extending the efficiency of the research studies associated with nutritional sciences and obesity, and other related disorders.

In the frame of reference of this programme, a research core center is defined as an "identifiable unit within a college or medical center or a consortium of cooperating establishments, including an associated university."

The research studies that'll be supported within these core centers are the ones that focus solely on nutritional sciences and/or obesity, and several associated disorders.

The NIH and NIDDK has required that the grant applications to be submitted to them contain an administrative core plan which will state the way the core centers will be run and managed.

In addition, the NIH and NIDDK has also specified that the core center will be required to maintain its own website, with the administrative core taking responsibility for its creation, content, and maintenance.

The funding agencies mentioned above are prepared to administer a total amount of $1,250,000 to support the activities covered under the Nutrition Obesity Research Centers Grant Program.

The institutions and organizations who will be considered eligible to submit an application under this program are the following:

a) State Governments, Country Governments, City or Township Governments, Special District Governments

b) Independent School Districts, Public and State Controlled Institutions of Higher Education

c) Native American Tribal Governments

d) Private and non-private non-profit affiliations

e) Private Institutions of Higher Education

f) Faith-based or Community-based Organizations and Regional Affiliations.