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From Our Director
Thomas M. Badger, Ph.D. |
Thank you for your interest in the work and research of Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center.
ACNC was conceived by Dr. Robert Fiser, then chairman of the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). Dr. Fiser, who is now retired, is extremely innovative and was a creative and motivating leader whose primary focus was the health concerns of children and their families. With a medical and research specialty in pediatric endocrinology, he had a deep knowledge base in metabolism and nutrition. He felt that a better understanding of early nutrition and the effects of dietary factors on development would help strengthen child health and prevent diseases later in life. He recruited me to work with him and Senator Dale Bumpers, who was then chairman of the Senate Agricultural Appropriations Committee, to develop Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center.
ACNC is the newest and smallest of six Human Nutrition Research Centers (HNRCs) funded through the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service. It is the only Center that is not housed in a federal building. In fact, the more than 50,000 square foot building was built one level at a time and funded 100% by private donations from Arkansans. It is located on the campus of Arkansas Children’s Hospital (ACH), which is the sixth largest children’s hospital in the United States, and has ties to the university of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
ACNC focuses on research that can be translated between labs, animals and humans and then translated into everyday life. The vast majority of research is conducted in clinical, basic and applied areas. The ACNC, like most other HNRCs, has full clinical research capabilities with a six bed live-in unit, an outpatient unit, a nutrition laboratory, animals facilities, as well as basic research laboratories.
We look forward to providing you with more information that describes our research in the areas of very early nutrition and how early dietary and nutritional interventions may improve child development and health, and prevent diseases later in life.
