Monica Wang to Receive Five-Year Mentored Research Award.

Monica Wang, an assistant professor in the Department of Community Health Sciences, was recently awarded a mentored research scientist development award through the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).

The study aims to target health disparities in childhood obesity through a culturally-tailored behavioral intervention designed to reduce purchase and consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages, a leading contributor to the obesity epidemic, among underserved families. This community-based study will be delivered through local Boys and Girls Clubs of America sites, a community setting that serves an ethnically diverse and predominantly low socioeconomic status population.

The purpose of the NIDDK Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (K01) is to provide support and protected time (three, four, or five years) for an intensive, supervised career development experience in the biomedical, behavioral, or clinical sciences leading to research independence. Her five-year award will provide Wang with training in developing behavioral interventions and conducting randomized controlled trials in community settings and will contribute to her long-term goal of designing and evaluating family-based obesity prevention programs that can be sustained and disseminated in community settings.

Wang joined the Department of Community Health Sciences in July 2014. Her research interests include addressing racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in obesity and obesity-related conditions through community-engaged research, as well as the design, implementation, evaluation, and dissemination of culturally- and linguistically-tailored interventions that promote healthy eating and physical activity among underserved children and families.