Growth Spurt

In 1985, Drs. William Strong, Maurice Levy and Frank Treiber received the institute’s first National Institutes of Health grant to study the relationship of childhood diet and exercise to future heart disease. Since then, the GPI has grown to include 13 full-time faculty members, an annual growth rate in extramural funding in excess of 25 percent since 1992 and an ever-expanding number  of research grants, currently numbering 19. GPI research has generated more than 200 peer-reviewed scientific publications in the past decade.

Grants target issues such as genetic factors underlying coronary artery disease, environmental factors that affect health and lifestyle, psychosocial factors associated with obesity, insulin resistance, intervention studies and many related topics. Some studies are short-term while others follow children over many years to glean longitudinal information. The GPI also maximizes the advantage of being housed within a health sciences university to conduct extensive multidisciplinary research and collaboration. (next page)