Chronic Diseases Related to Obesity

Su-Hsin Chang, PhD, assistant professor of surgery, has received a two-year, R21 grant from the National Institutes of Health. The grant, Modeling the Co-existence of Chronic Diseases Related to Obesity, will use a quantitative modeling approach to study obesity, the coexistence of obesity-related chronic diseases, and mortality in the United States in terms of life expectancy and lifetime healthcare. The lifetime health and economic consequences of obesity in the context of multiple obesity-related chronic diseases are understudied and of critical importance considering the prevalence of obesity and multimorbidity in the United States. Dr. Chang and colleagues plan to investigate life years lost and lifetime healthcare costs associated with these multiple obesity-related chronic diseases. Graham Colditz, MD, DrPH, Niess-Gain Professor of Surgery, is a co-investigator.