Pennington Biomedical Research Center
Encyclopedia
The Pennington Biomedical Research Center, located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
, is a campus of the Louisiana State University System
and conducts both clinical and basic research. According to its website, its mission is to promote healthier lives through research and education in nutrition and preventive medicine. It is the largest academically based nutrition research center in the world, with the greatest number of obesity researchers on faculty. The Center’s nearly 600 employees occupy several buildings on the 234 acre (0.94696524 km²) campus. The center was designed by the Baton Rouge architect
John Desmond
.
proclaimed the official opening of the Center in 1988. Dr George Bray, a renowned obesity researcher, was recruited to be the first executive director of the center and under his leadership the center reached its present status in the scientific world.
Today, the Pennington Biomedical Research Center houses almost 600 employees, 14 research laboratories, 17 core service laboratories, an inpatient and outpatient clinic, two metabolic chambers, a research kitchen, an administrative area, more than $20 million in technologically advanced equipment, and a team of over 80 scientists and physicians with specialties such as molecular biology, genomics and proteomics, neuroanatomy, exercise physiology, biochemistry, psychology, endocrinology, biostatistics and electrophysiology.
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Baton Rouge is the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located in East Baton Rouge Parish and is the second-largest city in the state.Baton Rouge is a major industrial, petrochemical, medical, and research center of the American South...
, is a campus of the Louisiana State University System
Louisiana State University System
The Louisiana State University System is budgetarily the largest public university system in Louisiana. John V. Lombardi is the system's president...
and conducts both clinical and basic research. According to its website, its mission is to promote healthier lives through research and education in nutrition and preventive medicine. It is the largest academically based nutrition research center in the world, with the greatest number of obesity researchers on faculty. The Center’s nearly 600 employees occupy several buildings on the 234 acre (0.94696524 km²) campus. The center was designed by the Baton Rouge architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
John Desmond
John Desmond
John Jacob Desmond was an American architect in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who designed such public buildings as the Baton Rouge River Center, the Louisiana State University Student Union, Bluebonnet Swamp Interpretive Center, Louisiana Arts and Sciences Center, Louisiana State Archives, the...
.
Research Priorities
The comprehensive research program at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center focuses on ten research program areas: Epidemiology and Prevention, Physical Activity and Health, Cancer, Diabetes, Obesity, Neurodegeneration, Genomics and Molecular Genetics, Stem Cell and Developmental Biology, Neurobiology, and Nutrient Sensing and Signaling. Researchers in these divisions rely on the latest molecular, physiological, clinical, behavioral, and bioinformatics technologies with the ultimate goal of preventing common diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, and cancer.History
In 1980, Baton Rouge oilman and philanthropist C.B. "Doc" Pennington and his wife, Irene, provided $125 million to fund construction of the nutritional research center. With a U.S. Department of Defense contract and funding from the Louisiana Public Facilities Authority, Governor Buddy RoemerBuddy Roemer
Charles Elson "Buddy" Roemer III is an American politician who served as the 52nd Governor of Louisiana, from 1988 to 1992. He was elected as a Democrat but switched to the Republican Party on March 11, 1991...
proclaimed the official opening of the Center in 1988. Dr George Bray, a renowned obesity researcher, was recruited to be the first executive director of the center and under his leadership the center reached its present status in the scientific world.
Today, the Pennington Biomedical Research Center houses almost 600 employees, 14 research laboratories, 17 core service laboratories, an inpatient and outpatient clinic, two metabolic chambers, a research kitchen, an administrative area, more than $20 million in technologically advanced equipment, and a team of over 80 scientists and physicians with specialties such as molecular biology, genomics and proteomics, neuroanatomy, exercise physiology, biochemistry, psychology, endocrinology, biostatistics and electrophysiology.