Karen C. Johnson, MD, MPH, of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) has received a $2.3 million grant to build on earlier studies to determine if lifestyle interventions focused on weight loss through reduced calorie consumption and increased physical activity can meaningfully improve the lives of older individuals with type 2 diabetes over an extended period as they age. Johnson, the Endowed Professor of Women’s Health in the Department of Preventive Medicine in the College of Medicine at UTHSC, received the grant from the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases. The new funds will support a project titled “Look AHEAD Extension Study,” building on research done under the previous Look AHEAD (Action for Health in Diabetes) Study. Helmut Steinberg, MD, professor in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism in the UTHSC College of Medicine, is the co-investigator for the project.

Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), the University of Miami and Meharry Medical College were recently awarded a five-year, $11.6 million grant to launch a new center that will enable research using precision medicine to eradicate health disparities, specifically those among African-Americans and Latinos.

Neighborhood Health has received a grant from the Department of Health and Human Services, which awarded more than $4 million in funding to 5 health centers in Tennessee.  Neighborhood Health’s grant was for $600,446 and will fund renovation of unfinished space at Neighborhood Health at Cleveland Park. The build-out will include dental services with one dentist and one hygienist. Additionally, Delta Dental’s Smile 180 Foundation has awarded Neighborhood Health $150,000 in funding for equipment at the location.