Drs. Sharon Tucker, Lucas Carr, Thomas Scholz and Vanessa Curtis have been awarded a 2014 UI Children's Hospital Stead Excellence Grant for their project titled “Strengthening the Cardio Metabolic Clinic Program for Child/Adolescent Weight Loss with Innovative Behavioral Strategies,” which aims to develop an effective behavioral weight loss program for obese children being treated at the UI Children’s Hospital Cardio-Metabolic Clinic (CMC). 

This project represents an innovative partnership of four faculty combining their distinctive expertise to address the challenge of pediatric obesity and its consequences. Dr. Tucker is Director of Nursing Research, Evidence-Based Practice & Quality at UIHC with expertise in investigating strategies for promoting health and wellness and preventing disease and illness. Dr. Carr is Assistant Professor of Health and Human Physiology in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences with expertise in technology-based approaches to reducing sedentary behaviors, and socioenvironmental influences of physical activity and sedentary behaviors. Dr. Scholz is Director of Community Relations in the Department of Pediatrics with expertise in fetal and postnatal development of energy producing reactions in the heart. And Dr. Curtis is Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics with expertise in Endocrinology and Diabetes.

The UI Children’s Hospital CMC was established in 2011 to treat medical conditions of obese children. There is strong evidence to suggest effectively designed lifestyle interventions delivered through primary care are feasible and can lead to improvements in weight and cardio-metabolic outcomes amongst obese children and adolescents.