Conducting Epidemiological Research and Clinical Trials in a Lifestyle Medicine Program

Cardiometabolic diseases, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, and a variety of cardiovascular diseases constitute a global pandemic. The prevalence of cardiometabolic diseases and associated medical costs have increased dramatically in recent years, bringing greater health care burden to communities, families, and individuals. Therefore, identifying the strategies for disease prevention, particularly those that are safe, cost-effective, and readily accessible, is of both public health and clinical significance. This chapter provides the detailed logistics, principles, and methods of building academic resources, including infrastructure, that are essential for conducting epidemiological research and clinical trials in an academic health science center, with a special focus on lifestyle medicine. For illustration, substantive work studying the roles of dietary factors in relation to cardiometabolic health outcomes and comprehensive lifestyle medicine are presented in the context of projects conducted at two academic research institutions: University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and Brown University.