Co-directors of Prevention Research Center: Karen Glanz and Kevin Volpp |
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September 30, 2014, Volume 61, No. 07 |
A five-year, $4,350,000 grant from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention establishes a Prevention Research Center (PRC) at the University of Pennsylvania. The PRC will conduct innovative public health and disease management research aimed at preventing chronic disease and reducing health disparities in Southeastern Pennsylvania and will be co-directed by Karen Glanz and Kevin Volpp.
Dr. Glanz is the George A. Weiss University Professor, professor of epidemiology and nursing at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. She is also director of the Center for Health Behavior Research, an institution-wide collaborative effort dedicated to conducting health behavior research, fostering advances in measurement of health behaviors, advancing the use of health behavior theory and promoting collaboration among faculty, fellows and students at the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Volpp is the founding director of the Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics (Almanac November 1, 2011) and a professor of medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine and Health Care Management at the Wharton School.
Among other initiatives, the PRC will conduct a workplace weight loss study to evaluate environmental change strategies and incentives for decreasing obesity and preventing cardiovascular disease in employees of the City of Philadelphia, Independence Blue Cross and the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority.
The PRC will strengthen public and private sector community partnerships; improve understanding of how behavioral economics and public health strategies can reduce health risks and improve health in social-environmental contexts; and extend collaborative training, education and communication in high-risk and underserved populations in Southeastern Pennsylvania.
“This grant is a unique opportunity to create a hub for interdisciplinary chronic disease prevention research, training and dissemination here at Penn,” said Dr. Glanz. “This Center greatly extends our commitment at reducing disparities and improving the health of those in our communities.”
The PRC team is dedicated to promoting well-being, health equity, research translation and development and evaluation of population-based and sustainable community health and clinical interventions. Faculty members from the Perelman School of Medicine, School of Nursing, Annenberg School for Communication, the Wharton School and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia are among the leadership of the new Center.
“While using the latest behavioral economics techniques and technologies to target conditions such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and poor diet here in the Philadelphia region, and blending them with accepted public health strategies, we’re creating a sustainable model that can be replicated by other institutions,” said Dr. Volpp. “Fostering communication, creating valuable connections and sharing tools and research to other communities helps amplify this progress.”
The CDC awarded a total of $19.5 million to 26 academic institutions in 25 states, for the first of five years of funding, to support development and evaluation of practical public health prevention interventions. Further information, a map of all centers and their research description may be found at: www.cdc.gov/prc/center-descriptions/index.htm |