TY - JOUR
T1 - Obesity and Overweight
T2 - Probing Causes, Consequences, and Novel Therapeutic Approaches Through the American Heart Association’s Strategically Focused Research Network
AU - Clark, Jeanne M.
AU - Garvey, W. Timothy
AU - Niswender, Kevin D.
AU - Schmidt, Ann Marie
AU - Ahima, Rexford S.
AU - Aleman, Jose O.
AU - Battarbee, Ashley N.
AU - Beckman, Joshua
AU - Bennett, Wendy L.
AU - Brown, Nancy J.
AU - Chandler-Laney, Paula
AU - Cox, Nancy
AU - Goldberg, Ira J.
AU - Habegger, Kirk M.
AU - Harper, Lorie M.
AU - Hasty, Alyssa H.
AU - Hidalgo, Bertha A.
AU - Kim, Sangwon F.
AU - Locher, Julie L.
AU - Luther, James M.
AU - Maruthur, Nisa M.
AU - Miller, Edgar R.
AU - Sevick, Mary Ann
AU - Wells, Quinn
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of H. Caine, Research Operations Manager, Office of Science Operations, of the AHA. She has managed and supported this SFRN on Obesity since 2017. We are indebted to her for all of her support and expert management of the center grants and for the preparation of this article. The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of R. Elliott, AHA, in the preparation of the figure illustrations provided in this article. The authors are grateful to the oversight advisory committee for all of their support, insights, and critical review of the centers and their progress, including Dr Volgman, chair of the oversight advisory committee and Drs Ader, Hardin, Kumar, Mahle (oversight advisory committee vice chair), Powell-Wiley, Pratt, Sun, Tian, Tristani-Firouzi, and J.L. Young II. The authors gratefully acknowledge the expert assistance of L. Woods of the Diabetes Research Program, Department of Medicine, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, for her expert assistance in the preparation of this article. Drs Clark, Luther, Garvey, Niswender, and Schmidt wrote and edited the article. All other authors edited and agreed to the final version of the article.
Funding Information:
At Johns Hopkins University, 2 additional T32-funded fellows were recruited to work on the clinical project, TRIM. Dr Scott Pilla was a fellow in the Division of General Internal medicine funded by a T32 grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Dr Pilla became an integral part of the clinical project team from 2017 to 2019 including his transition to faculty. He was involved in finalizing the study design and feeding intervention as well as study recruitment. He was recruited to the Johns Hopkins University faculty in 2018 as an Assistant Professor of Medicine and successfully competed for a KL2 award and then a K23 award from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. He is coauthor of several articles that are in development. Dr Daisy Duan was a fellow in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism who also worked with the clinical project team from 2019 to 2022. She was funded by 2 T32 grants, 1 from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and 1 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Dr Duan led efforts to examine the hormonal effects of TRF, including collecting samples to measure cortisol levels. Dr Duan joined the faculty at Johns Hopkins University in July 2022 as an Assistant Professor of Medicine and has a pending K23 award from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
Funding Information:
This research was funded by the American Heart Association SFRNs as follows: 17SFRN33560006 to Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; 17SFRN33490004 to New York University Grossman School of Medicine; 17SFRN33570038 to the University of Alabama at Birmingham; and 17SFRN33520017, 17SFRN33560015, 17SFRN33520059, and 17SFRN33590035 to the Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Funding Information:
Dr Brown is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and has equity in Johnson and Johnson. Dr Garvey has served as a volunteer consultant on advisory committees for Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Pfizer; in each case, he received no financial compensation. He has also been a paid consultant for Fractyl Health and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals. He has served as site principal investigator for clinical trials, sponsored by his university and funded by Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, Epitomee, and Pfizer. Dr Schmidt holds patents and patent applications through New York University Grossman School of Medicine that have been submitted/published that are related to the work of the New York University SFRN. The remaining authors have no disclosures to report.
Funding Information:
Through this SFRN on Obesity, innovative and serendipitous collaborations and partnerships were stimulated, and essential bridges linking basic, clinical, and population level research were born and are being cemented. Through the highly successful training program built from this SFRN, both through the fellows directly funded by the SFRN on Obesity and the many other fellows and trainees who were attracted to the programs, the future for obesity research and solutions is highly promising. This team of SFRN researchers looks forward to seeing the many next steps and achievements as they unfold.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors.
PY - 2023/2/21
Y1 - 2023/2/21
N2 - As the worldwide prevalence of overweight and obesity continues to rise, so too does the urgency to fully under-stand mediating mechanisms, to discover new targets for safe and effective therapeutic intervention, and to identify biomark-ers to track obesity and the success of weight loss interventions. In 2016, the American Heart Association sought applications for a Strategically Focused Research Network (SFRN) on Obesity. In 2017, 4 centers were named, including Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Vanderbilt University Medical Center. These 4 centers were convened to study mechanisms and therapeutic targets in obesity, to train a talented cadre of American Heart Association SFRN-designated fellows, and to initiate and sustain effective and enduring collaborations within the individual centers and throughout the SFRN networks. This review summarizes the central themes, major findings, successful training of highly motivated and productive fellows, and the innovative collaborations and studies forged through this SFRN on Obesity. Leveraging expertise in in vitro and cellular model assays, animal models, and humans, the work of these 4 centers has made a significant impact in the field of obesity, opening doors to important discov-eries, and the identification of a future generation of obesity-focused investigators and next-step clinical trials. The creation of the SFRN on Obesity for these 4 centers is but the beginning of innovative science and, importantly, the birth of new collaborations and research partnerships to propel the field forward.
AB - As the worldwide prevalence of overweight and obesity continues to rise, so too does the urgency to fully under-stand mediating mechanisms, to discover new targets for safe and effective therapeutic intervention, and to identify biomark-ers to track obesity and the success of weight loss interventions. In 2016, the American Heart Association sought applications for a Strategically Focused Research Network (SFRN) on Obesity. In 2017, 4 centers were named, including Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Vanderbilt University Medical Center. These 4 centers were convened to study mechanisms and therapeutic targets in obesity, to train a talented cadre of American Heart Association SFRN-designated fellows, and to initiate and sustain effective and enduring collaborations within the individual centers and throughout the SFRN networks. This review summarizes the central themes, major findings, successful training of highly motivated and productive fellows, and the innovative collaborations and studies forged through this SFRN on Obesity. Leveraging expertise in in vitro and cellular model assays, animal models, and humans, the work of these 4 centers has made a significant impact in the field of obesity, opening doors to important discov-eries, and the identification of a future generation of obesity-focused investigators and next-step clinical trials. The creation of the SFRN on Obesity for these 4 centers is but the beginning of innovative science and, importantly, the birth of new collaborations and research partnerships to propel the field forward.
KW - American Heart Association
KW - Strategically Focused Research Network
KW - obesity
KW - overweight
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85148479636&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85148479636&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1161/JAHA.122.027693
DO - 10.1161/JAHA.122.027693
M3 - Article
C2 - 36752232
AN - SCOPUS:85148479636
SN - 2047-9980
VL - 12
JO - Journal of the American Heart Association
JF - Journal of the American Heart Association
IS - 4
M1 - e8192
ER -