Acknowledgments

The workshop would not have been possible without the commitment and co-sponsorship of numerous National Institutes of Health (NIH) partners. This effort was led by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS), with invaluable support from the NCI Division of Nutritional Sciences, the NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR), and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI). Other participating institutes included the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disorders (NIDDK), the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), and the National Institute on Aging (NIA). We would like to express our gratitude to them. In particular, we thank Robert Croyle, PhD, Director, DCCPS, National Cancer Institute; Deborah Olster, PhD, OBSSR, NIH; and John Milner, PhD, NCI, Division of Nutritional Sciences. In his remarks to the workshop participants, Dr. Croyle gave an overview of NCI's activities in getting together groups like this to bridge ongoing activities in different domains. Dr. Milner spoke about the consumer's interest in the application of the kind of research reviewed during the workshop. Dr. Olster detailed the interest of her office in stimulating behavior science research, including, although not limited to, physical activity and nutrition. Many colleagues contributed to the program as session moderators. We are grateful to Alan Shuldiner, PhD, University of Maryland Medical School, and Robert Karp, PhD, NIDDK, for moderating “Gene-Environment Interactions and Regulation”; Charles Rotimi, PhD, Director, Center for Research on Genomics and Global Health (NIH), and James Hagberg, PhD, University of Maryland, for moderating “Gene-Physical Activity: Animal Studies and Genetics of Obesity”; John Milner, PhD, NCI, and Nancy Butte, PhD, Baylor College of Medicine, for moderating “Gene-Nutrition and Gene-Physical Activity: Human Studies”; Vivian Ota Wang, PhD, OBSSR, NIH, and Teri Manolio, MD, PhD, NHGRI, for moderating “Study Designs and Genomic Technologies”; and Hannia Campos, PhD, Harvard School of Public Health, for moderating “Implications for Prevention and Treatment.” Our appreciation goes to the speakers and discussants. We were able to count on a stellar panel of scientists, as evidenced by the papers provided in this special issue of Obesity. To all of them, we extend our thanks. We also express our thanks to the representatives of other components of the NIH who shared information and provided advice in the course of the development of the program. Finally, a great deal of financial support is required for an event like this. We are grateful for the sponsorship of the NCI. We also express our gratitude to the Pennington Biomedical Research Center and Foundation and to the National Dairy Council, which sponsored an event for the speakers and provided food for the workshop participants.