This federal Project Grant award, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under the Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research program (CFDA 93.865), supports research to develop novel dual agonist therapeutics targeting the melanocortin (MC4R) and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor pathways for the treatment of childhood obesity. The primary awardee, Seattle Children's Hospital, will receive $531,174 over the project period from September 2024 to August 2026 to fully...
This federal Project Grant award from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), under the Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research program (CFDA 93.847), provides $499,761 to support research on the role of melanocortin circuits in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and their influence on feeding behavior and obesity. The award to Albert Einstein College of Medicine will fund a 5-year study to define the connectivity between hypothalamic...
This Project Grant award from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) under the Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research program (CFDA 93.847) will fund a study to develop robust implementation approaches to maximize the population health benefits of anti-obesity medications (AOMs). The total award amount is $766,551.00, with a period of performance from July 1, 2024 to April 30, 2028. The study will use data from the STAR PCORNET...
This federal Project Grant award from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), under the Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research program (CFDA 93.847), aims to investigate the role of NR2F2 in driving beige adipogenesis to mitigate childhood obesity risk. The $107,250 grant will fund research to understand how developmental exposure to omega-6 fatty acids impacts adipose stem cell fate and metabolic activity, and whether manipulating...
This Project Grant award of $418,560 from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) under the Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research program (CFDA 93.847) supports research to evaluate the therapeutic potential of a new orally active small molecule in obesity-linked diabetic models. The primary objectives are to: Analyze the pharmacokinetic profiles and investigate the efficacy and mechanisms of the new small molecule in improving...
This federal Project Grant award of $585,232 was issued by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) under the Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research program (CFDA 93.847). The grant was awarded to Brigham & Women's Hospital Inc., a research institution affiliated with Harvard Medical School, to conduct a comprehensive study on the neurobiological and behavioral underpinnings of intergenerational obesity in humans. The research project...
This federal Project Grant award from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), under the Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research program (CFDA 93.847), aims to develop a novel computational pharmacology approach to selectively activate or inhibit multiple neuron types that regulate energy balance and satiety. The $800,000 award to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Inc. (Bidmc) will fund research to test whether coordinated...
This federal Project Grant award from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), under the Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research program (CFDA 93.847), will provide $546,831.44 to the University of Florida to investigate the role of the melanocortin-3 receptor (MC3R) in regulating feeding, stress, and anxiety-related behaviors. The research aims to determine how dietary and stressful perturbations during critical developmental periods may...
This $2,593,112 Project Grant award from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), under the Cardiovascular Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.837), aims to evaluate the use of the melanocortin 4 receptor (MC4R) agonist setmelanotide to treat obesity-hypoventilation syndrome (OHS), a severe form of sleep-disordered breathing. The grant recipient, George Washington University, will conduct preclinical studies in diet-induced obese mice to determine if setmelanotide can acutely and...
This federal Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), under the Cancer Cause and Prevention Research program (CFDA 93.393), provides $441,913 to Tufts University School of Medicine to conduct research on the relationship between obesity-related DNA methylation markers and obesity-related cancers. The key objectives are to: Identify specific adiposity-related DNA methylation markers associated with an increased risk of 13 obesity-related cancers using data from the...
This federal Project Grant award from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), under the Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases Extramural Research program (CFDA 93.847), will fund a Phase 2 clinical trial to evaluate the use of the drug atomoxetine for treating obesity caused by melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) insufficiency. The trial will enroll 20 patients aged 6 years and older with MC4R-related obesity, also known as melanocortin obesity syndrome (MCOS), the most common genetic cause of severe early-onset obesity. The $361,250 award will support testing the hypothesis that atomoxetine, a medication approved for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), can increase brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels and lead to weight loss through improved appetite regulation in MCOS patients. The study will assess changes in BMI, body composition, energy expenditure, dietary intake, and other relevant clinical measures. This pilot trial is intended to provide data to guide the design of a future larger-scale, multi-center clinical trial for this rare genetic obesity disorder.