University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus

What is the Colorado NORC?

About Us

The Colorado NORC has been advancing the science of nutrition and obesity since its inception as a Clinical Nutrition Research Unit in 1995 (NIH/NIDDK P30 DK 48520). Over the past 25 years, our research base has grown to over 110 regular faculty members and over 50 affiliated trainees, scientists, and educators.

The following recorded presentation from the Colorado NORC's 2023 Retreat provides an overview of the Colorado NORC from our Director, Paul MacLean, PhD.

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Our Mission

To advance the science of nutrition and obesity by facilitating interdisciplinary, collaborative, translational research and by fostering the development of the next generation of scientists in the Rocky Mountain region.

We pursue our mission by supporting the work of our research base with events and workshops that enhance the research and training environment and three research cores that facilitate the advancement of science of nutrition and obesity at basic, preclinical, and clinical levels.

Our Central Theme

The prevention and treatment of obesity and its metabolic complications across the lifespan, through better nutrition, lifestyle modifications, and medical treatments.

Contributing to that overall theme, we have researchers pursuing collaborative science in the following five areas: early life influences, women’s health, exercise and energy expenditure, regulation of metabolism, and interventions for better health and wellness. We use these five focus areas as hubs for interdisciplinary collaborative research, with basic, preclinical, clinical, and translation studies of nutrition and obesity.

Our Partners

Without the collaboration and support of the many centers, organizations and institutes on the CU Anschutz campus and beyond, the Colorado NORC would not be able to exist. Expand each section to learn more about these collaborations.

Who Are They?

The mission of the AHWC is to use science-based wellness strategies to improve the lives of individuals and communities. The center aims to elevate lifestyle approaches to prevention and management of chronic diseases within the School of Medicine.

What Services Do They Offer?

The AHWC provides a state-of-the-art fitness center with Technogym Wellness Collection Excite+ cardiovascular equipment. The building houses laboratories for conducting controlled feeding studies and a kitchen space (metabolic, demonstration, and commercial). There is also a wellness clinic providing fee for service clinical programs (e.g. weight management, exercise promotion, etc.) to the public.

NORC Collaboration Overview

The AHWC serves as the Colorado NORC’s administrative home. The NORC’s CIT core and the Clinical Translation Research Center’s (CTRC) nutrition core collaboratively work in this space to meet the needs of campus faculty and NORC members.

Learn more about the AHWC here.

Who Are They?

AMC is the largest academic health center in the Rocky Mountain region and a world-class medical destination at the forefront of transformative education, science, medicine, and healthcare.

What Services Do They Offer?

The AMC is home to the majority of the facilities and departments that the NORC collaborates with including the Department of Orthopedics, the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes, and the Department of Pediatrics, Section on Nutrition.

NORC Collaboration Overview

AMC’s RC1N and RC1S buildings house the labs for the NORC’s EBA and MCA Cores and the AHWC houses the majority of the resources for the CIT Core.

Learn more about the AMC here.

Who Are They?

The BDC is a major clinical and research facility, which is dedicated to the care of children and young adults with type 1 diabetes. The center is responsible for the care of over 3000 children with diabetes in the Rocky Mountain area, 25% of who are resident outside Colorado. A major mission of the BDC is basic and translational research towards understanding the causes of diabetes.

What Services Do They Offer?

The BDC brings exceptional resources in immunology, stem cell biology, and tissue biobanking, which are complementary to the NORC’s cores and programs.

NORC Collaboration Overview

25% of the NORC’s regular members have studies investigating the intersection of nutrition, obesity, and diabetes, and several NORC members have laboratories in the BDC.

Learn more about the BDC here.

Who Are They?

CoA is an interdisciplinary program whose purpose is to be a national leader in the development and dissemination of new information and methodologies of health care to promote better health for elderly persons.

What Services Do They Offer?

CoA is the home for CU's Division of Geriatrics.

NORC Collaboration Overview

Approximately 25% of the NORC's Regular Members have aging-related or lifespan studies. The Center on Aging provides an additional venue for NORC members to engage in interdisciplinary collaboration.

Learn more about CoA here.

Who Are They?

The CCTSI’s resources are distributed across the schools, campuses, and affiliated hospital that it serves. These include 5 Clinical Translational Research Centers (CTRCs) providing inpatient and outpatient clinical research resources at University of Colorado Hospital (UCH), Children’s Hospital Colorado (CHCO), National Jewish Health (NJH), and CU-Boulder with an additional mobile perinatal CTRC.

What Services Do They Offer?

Available CTRC resources include dedicated inpatient and outpatient research space and equipment, expert research nursing, Core laboratories, and nutrition services. These centers support a number of institutional training programs and Pilot & Feasibility programs.

NORC Collaboration Overview

The CCTSI coordinates their efforts with both the NORC’s EBA and CIT Cores. A large number of NORC's Regular and Affiliate Members benefit from the CCTSI’s collaborative efforts to support clinical and translational research on nutrition and obesity.

Learn more about the CCTSI here.

Who Are They?

The CAIANH seeks to promote the health and well-being of American Indians and Alaska Natives, of all ages, by pursuing research, training, continuing education, technical assistance, and information dissemination within a biopsychosocial framework that recognizes the unique cultural contexts of this special population.

What Services Do They Offer?

The center is located in the Nighthorse Campbell Native Health Building on CU-AMC. The CAIANH is home to the Center for American Indian and Alaska Native Diabetes Translation Research (CAIANDTR; P30DK092923), which is also funded by the NIDDK, as one of eight Diabetes Translation Research Centers to support and enhance diabetes type 2 translation research. CAIANDTR’s mission is to translate research of proven efficacy into practice in both clinical and community settings, with the goal of improving the diabetes-related health of Native people.

NORC Collaboration Overview

A growing number of NORC researchers are engaging in community outreach and health disparities research. CAIANH is helping us connect to underserved communities.

Learn more about CAIANH here.

Who Are They?

The mission of the Center for Women’s Health Research (CWHR) is to improve the health of women by pioneering rigorous research in women’s health, attracting and training new scientists dedicated to the study of women’s health and sex differences (focused on diabetes, cardiovascular disease and mental health as it impacts physical health), and providing information regarding women’s health care to the lay public and health care professionals

What Services Do They Offer?

Dr. Judith Regensteiner, Co-Founder and Director of the CWHR, is the primary investigator for the National Institutes of Health's Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health (BIRCWH) grant and the Doris Duke Foundation's Fund to Retain Clinical Scientists. the BIRCWH Scholar program supports junior investigators with a mentored K12 career development award and highly productive pilot program.

NORC Collaboration Overview

As 43% of the NORC research base reports having strong interests in women’s health and sex differences research, the NORC and CWHR are closely aligned in their research and educational objectives.

Learn more about CHWR here.

Who Are They?

OLAR is responsible for the daily husbandry and management of the animal care program for CU-AMC and is dedicated to the care and use of research animals.

What Services Do They Offer?

The CCM is located on the CU Anschutz campus and consists of two approximately 50,000 sq. foot vivariums connected by a common cage wash area. OLAR is responsible for managing 3 offsite satellites housing rodents and vivariums, and the veterinary staff is responsible for providing veterinary care to all facilities and satellites.

NORC Collaboration Overview

46% of the NORC Regular Members use laboratory animals in their research, and the NORC runs an animal satellite facility that is designed for metabolic phenotyping small animals in studies of nutrition and obesity. This center provides a wealth of facilities, expertise, and oversight, which helps the NORC research base achieve their research objectives.

Learn more about OLAR/CCM here.

Who Are They?

The University of Colorado Cancer Center is Colorado’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center and one of only four in the 10-state Rocky Mountain Region, creating a nexus of world-class doctors and researchers focused on discovering and delivering new ways to prevent and treat cancer.

What Services Do They Offer?

The center’s Shared Resources provide a wide variety of specialized resource support to Cancer Center members in order to promote cancer research and enable the exploitation of cancer research opportunities. Core facilities include: Animal Imaging, Biostatistics & Bioinformatics, Clinical Trials, Flow Cytometry, Functional Genomics, Genomics, Protein Production, Animal Radiation, Pharmacology, Structural Biology, Tissue Biobanking and Histology, Population Health Sciences, and Molecular Pathology.

NORC Collaboration Overview

11% of the NORC Regular Members have cancer-related research that have relevance to nutrition, obesity, or metabolism, and so are members of both centers. The NORC collaborates with the CU Cancer Center in the MCA Core operations, its’ Enrichment program and pilot & feasibility awards.

Learn more about UCCC here.

Who Are They?

The center is an entirely unique state-of-the-art facility for in-vivo studies in reproductive biology carried out using chronically catheterized pregnant sheep.

What Services Do They Offer?

The Perinatal Research Center has all the resources for delicate fetal and maternal surgery and maintenance of chronically catheterized animals throughout pregnancy. The center’s application of radioactive and stable isotopic tracers of nutrient substrates and ionic substances has provided a thorough and detailed experimental dissection of the principal physiological processes that govern placental and fetal metabolism and the regulation of fetal, umbilical, and uterine blood flow.

NORC Collaboration Overview

29% of the NORC Regular Members have perinatal, pediatric, and adolescent studies of early life influences, and a number of NORC Regular Members are housed in this center’s facilities.

Learn more about the PRC here.

Who Are They?

The LEAD center's mission is to conduct research into the lifecourse health consequences of early and later life exposures that increase the risk and accelerate the onset of adiposity (obesity) and diabetes.

What Services Do They Offer?

LEAD has developed a rich data and biosample repository from several longitudinal studies such for the SEARCH for Diabetes in youth multicenter study, or the local Colorado-Healthy Start pre-birth cohort. These resources are available to all investigators who are interested in developing manuscripts, pilot grants, training grants, research grants, and program projects.

NORC Collaboration Overview

Among NORC Regular Members, 27% have interests in early life influences that increase the risk for obesity, and 27% have interests in topics related to aging/lifespan. The NORC is currently partnering with the LEAD Center on a number of enrichment activities and building core capabilities.

Learn more about the LEAD center here.

View the Town Hall from Nov 2023 about the NORC and LEAD Center's collaboration: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eY70Jr3JU-U