Nearly two-thirds of the US population are either clinically overweight or obese and 8% of the population are affected by adult-onset diabetes. The Pennington Biomedical Research Center is leading an effort to enhance research in Louisiana on obesity and adult-onset diabetes by recruiting, mentoring, and retaining promising young scientists.

The establishment of the Pennington Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) provides support for four outstanding young faculty members at PBRC as they transition from training to independence and establish their own extramurally funded research programs.  They will lead the four initial projects using a combination of molecular, cellular and in vivo approaches to address fundamental questions about the processes of adipocyte differentiation and development. Each of the projects will pursue answers to critical but as yet unresolved questions that are essential to understanding the expansion of adipose tissue mass which occurs during the development of obesity and diabetes.

The Specific Aims of our COBRE are to: (a) expand the critical mass of investigators in the cell biology of obesity/diabetes research; (b) mentor junior faculty displaying great promise to develop into productive, independent scientists; (c) implement evaluation criteria for junior investigators that enhance their ability to acquire continuous independent extramural funding; (d) foster a collaborative and interactive research environment in which Junior Investigators may conduct nationally recognized research and (e) strengthen the research infrastructure for obesity/diabetes research by expanding the capabilities of Cell Biology and Genomics core facilities at the PBRC.

Our primary goal during the first five year funding period is to enhance the professional development of COBRE junior Investigators and facilitate their transition to independence as they establish extramurally funded research programs. The long-term goal of our COBRE is to increase the retention of promising young scientists within Louisiana and strengthen our critical mass of scientists devoted to this expanding national health problem.