A leading researcher in the field of childhood obesity, including exploring how the body regulates where excess fat is deposited, how increased body fat affects health and how it is regulated during growth and development across different segments of the population, will give a presentation titled “The Sugar ‘Maize’: Sugar, High Fructose Corn Syrup, Obesity and Metabolic Risk: From Genes to Policy” on Feb. 6 from 12:20-1:30 p.m. in Room 104 of Conner Hall.
Michael Goran, a professor of preventive medicine, physiology and biophysics, and pediatrics, is director of both the Childhood Obesity Research Center and the Center for Transdisciplinary Research on Energetics and Cancer at the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. He is also co-director of the USC Diabetes and Obesity Research Institute and holds an endowed chair in childhood obesity and diabetes.
Goran’s research has focused on issues surrounding childhood obesity. As the primary investigator on grants funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, he is exploring the metabolic factors linking obesity to the increased risk of disease during growth and development and using this information as a basis for developing new behavioral and community approaches for prevention and reducing risk.
Goran is particularly interested in ethnic disparities in obesity and obesity-related diseases.
Goran is currently heading a USC initiative on obesity that is focused on bringing together faculty from across all disciplines and campuses. In addition to having published nearly 200 peer-reviewed journal articles, Goran also was the developer and executive producer of an interactive computer game that promotes physical activity in children. He is the co-editor of the Handbook of Pediatric Obesity, published in 2006.
