# Training the Next Generation of Innovative and Collaborative Patient-Oriented Researchers to Reduce Obesity and Improve Cardiometabolic Health

> **NIH NIH K24** · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER · 2024 · $126,058

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
My career focuses on research, clinical, and translational efforts to improve lifestyle treatment for obesity.
Obesity is a major contributor to cardiovascular
disease
(CVD),
accelerated by the current epidemic of highly
palatable energy dense food, reduced physical activity, and insufficient sleep. While weight loss can reduce
CVDrisk, sustaining weight loss is a major challenge for most individuals with obesity. It is imperative to identify
innovative and evidence-based strategies to promote greater and more durable weight loss. My collaborative
research program focuses on understanding predictors of successful weight loss maintenance and translating
those findings into strategies to improve lifestyle weight management programs. Specifically, I develop and
evaluate novel weight loss interventions, focusing on alterations of the timing or pattern of energy intake and
physical activity (PA). My studies involve rigorous, objective measures of free-living energy expenditure and
energy intake, and multi-disciplinary collaborations to comprehensively assess potential biologic, behavioral,
psychosocial, and environmental predictors of treatment response. Collectively, these studies provide a
framework and wealth of data for trainees to perform hypothesis-driven patient-oriented research (POR). I am
deeply committed to mentoring the next generation of innovative, collaborative clinical researchers to reduce
obesity and cardiometabolic disease risk. I have 8 years of mentoring experience supporting new and early-
stage clinical investigators in POR (undergraduate, graduate, and medical students; MD and PhD post-doctoral
research fellows; and junior faculty). My mentees have an excellent record of publication productivity, NIH grant
funding, successful career transitions, and retention in academic medicine. The K24 Mid-Career Investigator
Award will provide dedicated time for me to deliver focused mentorship to junior clinical investigators of
exceptional potential and capitalize on the outstanding mentoring, research, and training resources of our
campus. I will pursue leadership and administrative training, as well as develop multidisciplinary collaborations
to enhance my knowledge and skills in sleep/circadian physiology and qualitative methodology to extend the
breadth and reach of my obesity treatment POR program. I have assembled an experienced team of senior
clinical researchers with extensive mentorship experience and leadership roles in clinical and research training
programs on campus to serve as a K24 Advisory Committee to guide me during the K24 award period. My
specific aims are to 1) Mentor junior clinical investigators to create a pipeline of well-trained patient-oriented
researchers focused on obesity, nutrition, PA, and sleep, and 2) Build and enhance my collaborative research
program designed to rigorously evaluate strategies involving alterations of the timing or pattern of behaviors
(diet, PA, and sleep) to de...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10904768
- **Project number:** 5K24HL169755-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER
- **Principal Investigator:** VICTORIA A CATENACCI
- **Activity code:** K24 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $126,058
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-08-10 → 2028-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10904768

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10904768, Training the Next Generation of Innovative and Collaborative Patient-Oriented Researchers to Reduce Obesity and Improve Cardiometabolic Health (5K24HL169755-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10904768. Licensed CC0.

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