Nutrition Obesity Research Center (NORC) Program

May 2024 Council

Lead Division/Office

DDN

Point(s) of Contact

Mary Evans, Ph.D.

Executive Summary

The Nutrition Obesity Research Centers (NORC) program has been an ongoing program for over 40 years with support for 11 NORCs across the US. The NORCs promote new discoveries and enhance scientific progress through support of cutting-edge basic, clinical, and translational research related to nutrition science and/or obesity. The goal of the NORCs is to serve as a key component of the overall NIH/NIDDK plan to advance the fields of nutrition science and obesity and improve health of Americans across the lifespan. NORCs are intended to improve the quality and multidisciplinary nature of research on nutrition and obesity by providing shared access to specialized and technical resources and expertise. NORCs facilitate progress in research with the goal of developing new methods to evaluate, prevent, and treat obesity and to support basic and clinical nutrition science and dietary interventions. The NORCs are part of an integrated program of nutrition and obesity research at extramural research institutions that have established an existing base of high-quality, nutrition and obesity-related research. NORCs provide increased, cost-effective collaboration among multidisciplinary groups of investigators at institutions with an established, comprehensive research base in nutrition and obesity.