Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) is one of four centers receiving a $15 million, four-year research award from the American Heart Association to provide cutting-edge research on obesity as part of its sixth Strategically Focused Research Network (SFRN). Researchers will team with Johns Hopkins University, New York University Medical Center and the University of Alabama at Birmingham to study different aspects of the common health problem that increases risk for heart disease, stroke and other serious issues.

Nearly 70 percent of U.S. adults are overweight or obese, with total health care costs attributable to obesity estimated to reach $957 billion by 2030.