Research & Clinical Programs

“We’re unveiling a new product here,” Executive Director Dr. James Hill told Health Policy Solutions. “We want a continuous pipeline of solutions. The real solutions to obesity haven’t yet been thought of. We need the thinking that helps us come up with better, more creative solutions and they have to be economically viable. We want to transform people’s lives at homes, schools and workplaces.”

A major asset for the Colorado Center for Health and Wellness is an organizational structure that links over 100 researchers at the University of Colorado. The investigators are working all the way from molecular genetics to community translation. This provides the opportunity to develop knowledge, evaluate it and incorporate it into community programs in a seamless fashion.

“Our vision is to create a culture of wellness where the default options are the healthy options,” Executive Director Dr. James Hill told Health Policy Solutions. “Now the easiest choices are the unhealthy choices.” Hill wants the center to discover and test prevention models that work, then to export those ideas across the globe. More than 100 researchers will be working to find answers on how to combat the stubborn obesity epidemic and to inspire dramatic change among individuals and in broader communities.

The Colorado Center for Health and Wellness, part of the University of Colorado School of Medicine, is set to become a beacon for health promotion and disease prevention throughout Colorado, the nation and the world by taking a research-based, multidisciplinary approach to stop the growing girth of the nation.

Clinical services, programs and products

The Colorado Center will offer clinical programs that engage people to optimize their health and prevent chronic disease. The programs, integrating fitness, nutrition, weight management and integrative medicine, will be science based and translate research findings into state-of-the-art curriculum, services and products to facilitate healthier lifestyles.

Currently we are developing programs focused on:

Latest projects

Learn about the research conducted by members of the CU Health and Wellness faculty and staff.

Associate Director Daniel Bessesen, MDauthored a report, recently published by the American Diabetes Association, that finds a correlation between obesity in a pregnant woman – even on a controlled diet – and greater body fat in the infant.Diabetes Journals:
Continuous Glucose Profiles in Obese and Normal-Weight Pregnant Women on a Controlled DietObjective:

We sought to define 24-h glycemia in normal-weight and obese pregnant women using continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) while they consumed a habitual and controlled diet both early and late in pregnancy.
Executive Director Dr. James O. Hill and a colleague, who are trying to get people to move throughout the day, created a new motivational fitness tracker. This pair of scientists on the Anschutz Medical Campus have developed fitness technology based on metabolic movement research aimed at getting people out of their chairs.The Denver Post:
Scientists at Denver’s Anschutz Medical Campus develop companion for staying fitInsider magazine:

Fit Companion prototype A “fit companion” comes to a shoe near you