About NORC

The NIH-funded research base on which the Pennington/Louisiana NORC was initially established includes basic, clinical and population research addressing the most prominent causes of morbidity and mortality in the United States related to nutritionally induced chronic diseases, many of them linked to obesity. The NORC’s platform includes three scientific Cores: a Molecular Mechanisms Core (genomics and cellular; spatial transcriptomics) very closely related to a Human Phenotyping Core (characterization of phenotypes predisposing to obesity and the metabolic syndrome and behavioral interventions to counteract those) and an Animal Models and Phenotyping Core (Generation of animal models and deep phenotyping of these animals).

Furthermore, the NORC supports clinical investigation addressing the etiology of nutritionally induced chronic diseases across the entire age span, from gestational and perinatal development through childhood and adolescence, to young and middle-aged adults up to elderly individuals.

The resources of the NORC assist investigators addressing the above issues within special populations examining effects of gender, racial and ethnic background within a context of cultural factors. The NORC  brings to the established research base at Pennington and across Louisiana a structured system to provide core services to:

  1. Promote the investigations around our chosen theme of nutrition and metabolic health through the lifespan, and
  2. Support the research base. The NORC is a mechanism to enable both Pennington and the NIDDK to maximize the effect of research funding.