# Obesity Research Center Training Grant > **NIH NIH T32** · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · 2024 · $197,244 ## Abstract Project Summary/Abstract This T32 post-doctoral training program, now in its 31st year, provides 2-3 years of fellowship designed to prepare PhDs and physicians for investigative careers in obesity research. Of the fellows trained with support from this T32 during the past 15 years, 92% remain in research (academic, industry) positions related to obesity and allied disorders. Our Specific Aim is to train promising young scientists to become independent investigators focusing on obesity-related issues. Our long-term objective is to increase the investigator pool working on the broad biology of obesity and its co-morbidities. This program has important national implications since obesity is among the foremost health problems facing America, imposing growing costs in terms of human suffering, health care and productivity. There is a critical dearth of well-trained young investigators. We provide a structured curriculum in the first 2 years (includes career development and grantsmanship), in combination with a research experience emphasizing wide opportunities in basic laboratory and/or translational research, reflecting the great strengths of Columbia University in these areas. Post-doctoral fellows are appointed at Columbia University, enabling access to a wide array of formal courses throughout the University. The T32 has specified course requirements that are attuned to the fellow’s previous experience and selected research project. Fellows participate in seminars of obesity, diabetes, nutrition and other bioscience Centers of the University. Trainees elect to work with a faculty member at Columbia and are incorporated into the investigative program of mentors at the New York Nutrition Obesity Research Center and other laboratories. The faculty's multidisciplinary nature (physicians, biochemists, cell biologists, pathologists, neuroscientists, psychiatrists, nutritionists, molecular biologists and geneticists) allows a multi-disciplinary approach by the trainees. Strong collaborative ties among the training faculty make this possible. Trainees have access to the entire spectrum of research tools in obesity biology, ranging from structural/cell biology, molecular genetics and neuroscience through clinical investigation. Trainees are (1) physicians who have completed 3 to 5 years of post-graduate clinical training, (2) recent PhD (or equivalent) recipients in disciplines including (but not limited) to molecular genetics, biochemistry, nutrition, physiology, neuroendocrinology, neuroscience, or pharmacology. Individuals are selected based on their demonstrated competence in medical and/or graduate school, recommendations of their faculties, and consideration of the extent to which their research interests are congruent with those of the Columbia faculty. All trainees at time of entry must be pursuing an investigative career in obesity (including its complications) or appetitive behaviors. An Individual Development Plan is created for each trainee an... ## Key facts - **NIH application ID:** 10896924 - **Project number:** 5T32DK007559-34 - **Recipient organization:** COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES - **Principal Investigator:** DYMPNA GALLAGHER - **Activity code:** T32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.) - **Funding institute:** NIH - **Fiscal year:** 2024 - **Award amount:** $197,244 - **Award type:** 5 - **Project period:** 1989-07-01 → 2027-07-31 ## Primary source NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10896924 ## Citation > US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10896924, Obesity Research Center Training Grant (5T32DK007559-34). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10896924. Licensed CC0. --- *[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*