# Nebraska Center for the Prevention of Obesity Diseases through Dietary Molecules

> **NIH NIH P30** · UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA LINCOLN · 2024 · $1,173,321

## Abstract

Obesity and its co-morbidities are major threats to the health of Americans. In less than 20 years, the prevalence
of obesity increased from 30.5% to 42.4%, and the prevalence of severe obesity increased from 4.7% to 9.2%.
The mission of the Nebraska Center for the Prevention of Obesity Diseases through Dietary Molecules (NPOD)
is to prevent, treat and cure obesity and co-morbidities with bioactive food compounds. The focus on bioactive
food compounds is a unique niche in obesity research and has afforded NPOD with tools to ameliorate obesity
and co-morbidities through consumer-friendly, economically feasible adjustments to their diets with a negligible
effect on taste. In Phases 1 and 2, NPOD has delivered on NIGMS expectations. NPOD has increased its
member base 4.9-fold to 59 faculty in 26 departments (representing 571 trainees) at University of Nebraska-
Lincoln (UNL; lead institution), University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC; strategic partner), and University
of Nebraska Omaha. This growth was achieved through nine tenure-leading faculty appointments, recruiting
faculty not previously engaged in obesity research, and providing a home for obesity researchers who previously
worked in isolation. To date, NPOD members have secured nearly $195 million in external research funding, a
nearly 36:1 return on institutional investment. UNL and UNMC have contributed nearly 3500 square feet and
$5.5 million to NPOD in Phases 1 and 2 with additional institutional commitments in Phase 3 and the three years
following. Most of the new space was leveraged to develop a new Research Core (Biomedical and Obesity
Research Core, BORC), which provides state-of-the art services for research on obesity and bioactive food
compounds unique in Nebraska. BORC has fulfilled 1400 service requests per year that generated $266,335 in
annual revenue. NPOD is poised to continue its strong trajectory toward sustainability in Phase 3 and beyond
through five pillars of NPOD sustainability: institutional commitments, F&A costs, philanthropy, program project
grants, and NIDDK funding through the Nutrition and Obesity Research Center (NORC) mechanism. NPOD's
pursuit of sustainability will be guided by the following Specific Aims. Specific Aim 1: Implement NPOD's
succession plan to achieve sustainability through preparing former Research Project Leaders and a new hire
to serve as future Center Director. Specific Aim 2: Lead BORC into long-term sustainability by attracting new
users, particularly external users, through continued alignment of services offered with user needs and
strengthened promotional activities. Specific Aim 3: Increase NPOD's critical mass of investigators
conducting clinically important research through the Center's Pilot Grants Program and a new faculty hire in
a tenure leading appointment and expertise in electronic health records. Specific Aim 4: Increase NPOD's
revenue by prioritizing pilot grant applications with a high likelihood of leading to large-sc...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10934437
- **Project number:** 1P30GM154608-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA LINCOLN
- **Principal Investigator:** JANOS ZEMPLENI
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $1,173,321
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-06-15 → 2029-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10934437

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10934437, Nebraska Center for the Prevention of Obesity Diseases through Dietary Molecules (1P30GM154608-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10934437. Licensed CC0.

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