Nutrition Obesity Research Center
Mission
Since its inception as the UW Clinical Nutrition Research Unit in 1985, the University of Washington (UW) Nutrition and Obesity Research Center’s (NORC) overarching goal has been to support basic, clinical, and translational research at UW related to nutrition, obesity, and related metabolic disturbances. As the preeminent educational institution in the Northwest, the research base of the UW NORC derives from a large, highly productive, School of Medicine that includes both clinical and basic research Departments, a School of Public Health, and affiliated research institutions such as the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center. We offer a broad range of services to this diverse research base and focus on three overarching scientific themes: Energy Balance and Obesity Pathogenesis, Health Risks of Obesity, and Nutritional Aspects of Systemic Illness. Over the years, the organization and offerings of our Cores have evolved to keep pace with the changing needs of researchers, but always with the same objectives: to support our investigators and thereby advance nutrition- and obesity-related science at this institution.
The goals of the UW NORC are to:
- To offer a balanced array of services in support of research in nutrition and obesity in a manner that evolves to meet the specific needs of our investigators.
- To advance science by offering, optimizing, and individualizing services that otherwise would be either unavailable to or not cost-effective for the local nutrition and obesity research community.
- To proactively support collaboration within, and the educational enrichment of, the local nutrition and obesity research community.
The UW NORC is organized into three biomedical research cores, an Administrative and Enrichment Core with a Biostatistics Subcore, and Enrichment and Pilot and Feasibility Programs. Collectively, these Cores and Programs support research using animal models as well as translational, clinical, and epidemiological research.