Cardiovascular Epidemiology and Prevention
The mission of this CoE is to investigate the impact on subclinical cardiovascular disease, physical functioning and quality of life of body composition as determined by MRI imaging, diet, physical activity, biomarkers, and genetic factors. We will focus on healthy persons, those with type 2 diabetes, those with chronic kidney disease, and those with peripheral arterial disease.
Center for Wireless and Population Health Systems
Our research focuses on how the health of individuals, families, communities, social networks, and populations can be improved through the creative use of wireless and networked technologies and ubiquitous computing. We also study how to promote health and prevent disease and disability through systems-level interventions in clinical and community settings. Our collaborators come from the UCSD School of Medicine, UCSD’s Division of Social Sciences, the Jacobs School of Engineering, the San Diego Supercomputer Center and San Diego State University. Included are scientists with backgrounds in clinical and preventive medicine, computer science and engineering, social networks, political science, clinical and experimental psychology, electrical engineering, health behavior, systems science, behavioral genetics, exercise and nutrition science, Public Health, and evolutionary biology.
We are housed within the UCSD Division of
Calit2: The California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology. Health issues addressed in recent research have included pediatric and adult obesity and their comorbidities, depression, improving outcomes in cancer survivors, successful aging, the use of games to promote improved health behaviors, and the dynamics of health-related states within social networks.
Center research is supported through public and private sources, including the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Science Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the American Cancer Society, and Nokia Research.
CWPHS Website
Energy Balance, Obesity and Cancer Prevention
The mission of this CoE is to enhance knowledge regarding the association of energetics and obesity with cancer carcinogenesis, from the cell to the community; contribute to understanding the link between obesity and cancer and based on relevant health behavior theories; provide insight about interventions with broad population impact for prevention and control of disease; leverage the newly funded program project in Energetics and Breast Cancer: Obesity, Inflammation, Insulin Resistance and Risk to consolidate a national reputation in energetics and cancer prevention.
Health Behavior Change in Underserved and Vulnerable Populations
The mission of this CoE is to build and advance the science of health behavior change to reduce or eliminate health disparities among underserved and vulnerable populations. The CoE will bring together UCSD researchers and community collaborators to facilitate scholarly exchange, obtain funding for large program projects and influential research, establish and operate a training program for the next generation of investigators, and promote community/academic partnerships for research and dissemination.
Research and Intervention in Tobacco Control
The mission of this CoE is to create synergy among UCSD researchers investigating etiology of tobacco use, neurobiology of nicotine dependence, population patterns of tobacco use behavior, interventions to help tobacco users quit, and analysis of tobacco control policies. We emphasize the translation of research to real-world interventions to prevent tobacco use uptake, to help current users quit, and to stimulate changes in tobacco control policies.
Research and Training in Integrative Health
This CoE serves as the hub for research excellence and collaboration in integrative health within UCSD and across the greater San Diego region. The Center is advancing research excellence in integrative health to transform how medicine is practiced, supporting education and mentorship in integrative health research for students as well as healthcare professionals, and helping to guide the creation of new models of clinical care, combining the best of traditional medicine and evidence-based integrative therapies. The overarching goal is to advance the investigation of integrative health approaches and the integration of effective approaches in health care.
Website: https://healthsciences.ucsd.edu/som/fmph/research/centers/integrativehealth/
Women's Health
The Department of Family Medicine and Public Health has launched a new Center of Excellence in Women's Health. The Department has been fortunate to recruit an outstanding leader for this center, Dr. Andrea La Croix, one of the principal investigators of the Women’s Health Initiative Study and former Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Washington and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Dr. Lacroix is a member of the Division of Epidemiology.
This CoE’s mission is broad and includes mandates to improve women’s health across a lifespan ranging from reproductive and gynecologic issues to chronic diseases of aging. Of particular interest will be to study conditions where there are significant biological differences between the sexes in rates of susceptibility, symptoms and response to treatment.