Obesity Prevention Initiative
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Obesity Prevention Initiative
The Mailman Obesity Prevention Initiative provides leadership, organizational support, and coordination to foster new scientific approaches to population-level obesity research. Our goal is to discover evidence for effective societal approaches for obesity prevention. Our mission is to:
- Create interdisciplinary working groups to synthesize and evaluate the existing evidence base and identify inferences, knowledge gaps, and, most importantly, future directions to stop the epidemic
- Integrate the multiple factors of different scientific systems to identify and address the drivers, determinants, and solutions of energy imbalance and excess weight gain
- Develop what is necessary, what is sufficient, and what investments are needed to present a meaningful return on investment
- Sustain research and engage the community and policymakers within and beyond public health, forming coalitions that develop effective solutions
- Foster collaborative research, expand infrastructure, partner with outside organizations, and generate training opportunities
- Establish the Mailman School as a go-to knowledge hub—a center of excellence—and a leader in obesity prevention at the population level
Faculty and Staff
![](https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_200_16_9/public/media/images/2015-06/columbia_mailman_opi.jpg?itok=GALl7RaM 200w, https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_260_16_9/public/media/images/2015-06/columbia_mailman_opi.jpg?itok=NTqoAZWO 260w, https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_320_16_9/public/media/images/2015-06/columbia_mailman_opi.jpg?itok=6uDEKMu5 320w, https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_400_16_9/public/media/images/2015-06/columbia_mailman_opi.jpg?itok=wj3vtIEv 400w, https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_520_16_9/public/media/images/2015-06/columbia_mailman_opi.jpg?itok=H2xMsXOs 520w, https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_640_16_9/public/media/images/2015-06/columbia_mailman_opi.jpg?itok=SQiWSh5R 640w, https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_800_16_9/public/media/images/2015-06/columbia_mailman_opi.jpg?itok=CEA_DtmZ 800w, https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_1040_16_9/public/media/images/2015-06/columbia_mailman_opi.jpg?itok=dJttiibn 1040w, https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_1280_16_9/public/media/images/2015-06/columbia_mailman_opi.jpg?itok=3VbNhxvS 1280w, https://www.publichealth.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/styles/cola_media_1600_16_9/public/media/images/2015-06/columbia_mailman_opi.jpg?itok=UTdr6GRz 1600w)
Given our strengths in research and practice, we will lead efforts toward interdisciplinary, systems-oriented approaches to obesity prevention.
Research
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We have formed multidisciplinary working groups to study a number of issues pertinent to strengthening ties between research, policy, and practice.