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Kansas City's Center for Children’s Healthy Lifestyles & Nutrition seeks to
become a leading voice in the local, regional and national movement to
prevent and treat childhood obesity. As a research center, our primary
goal is to contribute new knowledge regarding pediatric obesity and
nutrition ranging in scope from its biological origins to its societal
impact. Research currently conducted in the Center includes
evidence-based, comprehensive studies of the assessment of behavior,
nutrition and physical activity interventions on prevention and
treatment, the development and analysis of public policy pertaining to
pediatric obesity, the development of programs to engage communities,
and the provision of leadership regarding education related to obesity
prevention and treatment. Future directions for research will include
relevant genomics pertaining to obesity and its association with
secondary disease processes and the impact of chronic over- and
under-nutrition on drug disposition and action. We are committed to
reaching all children in our area, especially those in underserved,
ethnic minority, low-income communities, and in assisting others to do
so.
Kansas City's Center for Children’s Healthy Lifestyles & Nutrition represents an
extension of the committed collaboration in the area of pediatric
obesity research between two neighboring institutions who serve the
health needs of children across the bi-state region of Missouri and
Kansas. Supported by a state-of-the-art facility, researchers at the
University of Kansas Medical Center and the Children’s Mercy Hospital
lead a wide range of childhood obesity treatment and prevention
initiatives designed to benefit children, families and communities. The
Center is poised to serve as a leader for pediatric obesity research in
the Midwest and as a centralized resource for community members,
academic and business leaders who are interested in arresting the
current rates of childhood obesity and moving forward to ensure the
healthy lifestyles and nutrition of all children.
Leadership
Ann Davis, PhD, MPH, ABPP
Center Co-Director
Dr. Ann Davis
is a pediatric psychologist who is passionate about the intersection
between behavioral principles and eating/nutrition. The core of her work focuses on
pediatric obesity in urban and rural children, and is treatment outcome focused. She
is also interested in behavioral principles as they apply to young children who do
not eat enough to sustain a healthy weight.
Gregory L. Kearns, Pharm.D., Ph.D.
Center Co-Director
Dr. Greg Kearns
is the Marion Merrell Dow/Missouri Endowed Professor of Pediatric Medical Research &
Chairman of the Department of Medical Research as well as Associate Chairman of the
Department of Pediatrics at Children’s Mercy Hospital (CMH). He is also Director of
the Pediatric Pharmacology Research Unit and Pediatric Clinical Pharmacology fellowship
program at CMH. Dr. Kearns’ research interests focus on the impact of ontogeny,
pharmacogenomics and nutritional status on drug disposition.
Meredith Dreyer, PhD
Center Associate Director
Dr. Meredith Dreyer
is a pediatric psychologist at Children’s Mercy Hospitals and
Clinics and assistant professor of pediatrics at the University of Missouri-Kansas
City School of Medicine. She works primarily in the treatment and prevention of
childhood obesity, with a special emphasis on the challenges that are encountered
among parents of young children and those with special needs such as Autism Spectrum
Disorders or Down Syndrome.
Sarah Hampl, MD
Center Medical Director
Dr. Sarah Hampl
is the Medical Director of Weight Management Services at Children’s
Mercy Hospitals and Clinics and a member of the Section of General Pediatrics. She
is an associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City
School of Medicine. Dr. Hampl works in the areas of childhood obesity treatment,
prevention, healthcare professional education and community and statewide advocacy.
University of Kansas Medical Center/University of Kansas Faculty
Leon Greene, PhD
Dr. Leon Greene
is a faculty member in the Health, Sport, and Exercise Sciences
Department at the University of Kansas. During the last 10 years, he has been
involved with research projects involving school age children that studied nutrition
and physical activity intervention programs as well as examining the relationship of
physical activity to academic achievement. He has trained a number of educators on
how to use physical activity to deliver academic lessons.
Debra Sullivan, PhD
Dr. Debra Sullivan
is Department Chair of Dietetics and Nutrition at the University of Kansas Medical
Center and the Midwest Dairy Council Professor in Clinical Nutrition. Her research
focuses on prevention and treatment of obesity and its co-morbid conditions. She also
maintains a nutrition assessment laboratory in order to conduct measurement of dietary
intake and body composition.
Graduate Research Staff
Ed Morris is a doctoral student in the Clinical Child Psychology Program at the University of Kansas.
His interests include child assessment and the study/implementation of interventions for children and
families struggling with externalizing disorders, abuse and neglect. At the Center for Children’s
Healthy Lifestyles & Nutrition, Ed plans to examine the relationship between parenting practices and
pediatric obesity.
Cathleen Odar is a graduate student in the Clinical Child Psychology doctoral program at the University
of Kansas. Her interests are in pediatric psychology, and she is currently completing her required
pre-dissertation project on the benefits of children with chronic illness attending summer camps designed
specifically for children with medical concerns. At the Center for Children’s Healthy Lifestyles & Nutrition,
Cathleen’s current work has involved research with children with special needs, such as examining
perceptions of the importance of healthy habits by parents of children with developmental concerns.
Cathleen also plans to examine eating behaviors in children with autism and how mealtime behaviors may
relate to child weight.
Marilyn Sampilo is a doctoral student in the Clinical Child Psychology Program at the University of Kansas
and a student in the Master of Public Health Program at the University of Kansas Medical Center. Her
research interests are focused on how socio-ecological systems impact health behavior, and ultimately,
health-related outcomes. She is particularly interested in health disparities among Latinos and cultural
factors which influence health behaviors and response to health promotion programs in this population.
Recent research investigations include examination of parents' level of acculturation as a predictor of
children's weight loss and peer and socio-emotional influences on children's level of physical activity.
Future research will examine qualitative feedback from Spanish-speaking participants in family-based,
behavioral pediatric obesity intervention programs for the purposes of enhancing current programming from
a cultural standpoint.
Children’s Mercy Hospital/University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine Faculty
Amy Beck, PhD
Dr. Amy Beck
is a clinical psychologist at Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics and an Assistant
Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine.
Dr. Beck primarily provides psychological services for families involved in
multidisciplinary weight management treatment. She is particularly interested in the
impact of psychosocial factors in the etiology and maintenance of pediatric obesity.
University of Missouri-Kansas City Faculty
Amanda Bruce, PhD
Dr. Amanda Bruce
uses functional neuroimaging (fMRI) to conduct research on how the
brain is involved in childhood obesity. She is also interested in the ability to delay
gratification and how this contributes to obesity.
Jennifer Lundgren, PhD
Dr. Jennifer Lundgren’s
primary area of research is on night eating syndrome (NES). She is
currently collaborating on a longitudinal family study of NES among children and parents
enrolled in QUALITY (QUebec Adiposity and Lifestyle InvesTigation in Youth), a study on
the prevention of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes in children and adolescents.
Staff
Children’s Mercy Hospital
Administrative Assistant
Renée VanErp
rvanerp@cmh.edu
Member Institutions
Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics
Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics, founded in 1897 with one bed, now serves as a
314-bed comprehensive pediatric medical center serving children from throughout western
Missouri, eastern Kansas and the Midwest. We are the only freestanding pediatric
hospital system between St. Louis and Denver, Omaha and Little Rock. Our institution
consists of two pediatric acute care hospitals, primary and specialty care clinics,
outreach clinics, and a transport program named 2007 Transport Program of the Year by
the Association of Air Medical Services. Throughout its 113-year history, the hospital
has been steadfast in its policy of providing care to all children, regardless of their
family’s ability to pay. On average, nearly half of all children served at the hospital
receive Medicaid or are uninsured. In FY 2009, Children’s Mercy provided pediatric
specialty care to more than 1,000 children every day, with a total of 14,621 inpatient
admissions, over 301,428 outpatient clinic visits, 137,255 emergency room /urgent care
center visits and 3,207 home health visits.
University of Kansas Medical Center
The University of Kansas Medical Center, an integral and unique component of the
University of Kansas and the Kansas Board of Regents system, is composed of the School
of Medicine, located in Kansas City and Wichita, the School of Nursing, the School of
Allied Health, the University of Kansas Hospital in Kansas City, and a Graduate School.
The KU Medical Center is a complex institution whose basic functions include research,
education, patient care, and community service involving multiple constituencies at
state and national levels.
The University of Kansas Medical Center is a major research institution primarily
serving the State of Kansas as well as the nation, and the world, and assumes leadership
in the discovery of new knowledge and the development of programs in research, education,
and patient care. The KU Medical Center recognizes the importance of meeting the wide range
of health care needs in Kansas – from the critical need for primary care in rural and other
underserved areas of the state, to the urgent need for highly specialized knowledge to
provide the latest preventive and treatment techniques available. As the major resources
in the Kansas Board of Regents system for preparing health care professionals, the
programs of the KU Medical Center must be comprehensive and maintain the high scholarship
and academic excellence on which the reputation of the University is based.
Current Projects
Poster & Presentations
Feeding Team
Dr. Davis is currently the PI for a multisite randomized controlled trial (NIH R21 HD066629)
assessing a multidisciplinary feeding protocol for the treatment of young children who
refuse to eat orally and are sustained by feedings via tube. Preliminary work suggests
this treatment protocol is effective (Davis AM, Bruce AS, Mangiaracina C, Schulz T, Hyman
P. (2009). Moving from Tube to Oral Feeding in Medically Fragile Nonverbal Toddlers.
Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology & Nutrition, 49, 233-236), but this new randomized
controlled trial is the next step in this line of work. Future directions will include a
dismantling of the protocol to determine which treatment components are necessary and which
are not, and effectiveness studies using the protocol with children who are treated at
typical medical sites rather than large tertiary care centers.
Healthy Hawks
Healthy Hawks is the pediatric obesity program for the University of Kansas Medical
Center Department of Pediatrics. Dr. Davis was the founder and currently serves as
director of this program. Current research
is focused on several areas, including a randomized controlled trial of a newly designed
treatment manual, improving methods of reaching and engaging the large Spanish speaking
population in Kansas City, and partnering with community agencies to deliver Healthy Hawks
at other locations (churches, schools, community centers, etc.).
Healthy Schools Project
Dr. Davis is currently investigating the best methods to treat pediatric obesity
among rural children and their families. She began with an investigation of the
differential rates of pediatric obesity among rural and urban children in the state
of Kansas (Davis AM, Boles RE, James RL, Sullivan DK, Donnelly JE, Swirczynski DL,
Goetz J. Health behaviors and weight status among urban and rural children. Rural
and Remote Health 8 (online), 2008: 810), and finding higher rates among rural
children, conducted a series of focus groups among parents of rural children to
learn more about how to tailor intervention to meet the specific needs of rural
families (Davis, A.M., James, R.L, Curtis, M., Daley, C.M., Felts, S. (2008).
Pediatric obesity attitudes, services, and information among rural parents: A
qualitative study. Obesity, 16(9):2133-2140). At the current time she is conducting
two randomized controlled trials to study 1) the use of interactive televideo as
compared to standard care for rural pediatric obesity (NIH K23 DK068221), and 2) the
use of interactive televideo compared to conference phone for rural pediatric obesity
(NIH R03 DK081016). The future direction for this research will be to engage in
state-wide or possibly multi-state interventions with the most effective intervention
modality.
National Initiative for Children’s Healthcare Quality’s Healthy Weight Collaborative
Deborah Markenson, director of Kansas City’s Childhood Obesity Collaborative—Weighing In, is
leading efforts to develop a coordinated approach to obesity prevention and early intervention for
Kansas City 2-5 year olds among primary care, public health and community organization settings.
Other partners in this collaborative are Children’s Mercy’s Primary Care Clinics, Children’s Mercy
Family Health Partners, KC Healthy Kids, Kansas City, MO Health Department and the Y of Greater
Kansas City. This collaborative is the DHHS Region VII representative to the National Initiative
for Children’s Healthcare Quality’s Healthy Weight Collaborative, funded by HRSA.
Promoting Health in Teens and Kids (PHIT Kids)
Drs. Hampl and Dreyer are Co-PIs to administer this group behaviorally-based, culturally
informed intervention for obese 9-17 year olds and their parents/caregivers, which began in
2006. The program, funded by the Healthcare Foundation of Greater Kansas City, with the support
of many community partners, consists of weekly visits during which evidence-based behavioral,
nutrition and physical activity topics are taught by trained health educators. This active treatment
phase is followed by monthly maintenance visits for a total of 2 years. The PHIT Kids program
was honored in 2008 by NICHQ for its commitment to meeting the needs for a culturally and
socioeconomically diverse population while achieving strong results. Current research initiatives
include a 12- vs. 24-week active treatment phase randomized controlled trial; comparison of
outcomes among group completers, noncompleters, PHIT Kids clinic-only and standard care obese
patients; analysis of parental interviews of children who left the group program prematurely
and parents of children considered to successfully complete this program; analysis of response
to treatment with quality of life; and comparisons of the Pediatric Symptom Checklist amongst
groups of PHIT Kids.
Special Needs Weight Management Program
Dr. Dreyer is the PI on this program. Funded by the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City,
this new initiative is one of the first in the country to provide a comprehensive intervention targeted
at children who are obese and have a special need such as an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASDs), Down Syndrome,
or physical disability. Research supporting the development for this clinic identified a significantly
higher rate of overweight and obesity among our population of children with ASDs (see presentations by
Dreyer et al. 2008, Egan et al. 2009, Garrison et al., 2010), particularly among the youngest children.
The multidisciplinary intervention program will feature standardized data collection but an individualized
treatment approach to meet the needs of the patient and family.
Weighing In on Childhood Obesity
This community-based research initiative, led by Deborah Markenson, MA,RD will expand the Weighing
In collaborative’s reach and effectiveness in addressing childhood obesity by compiling a community
asset map, defining priority needs, and compiling policy briefs on viable approaches to address the
most pressing childhood obesity issues in Jackson and Wyandotte Counties. Weighing In will provide
training and facilitate planning sessions so organizations address these priorities in a coordinated,
complimentary manner.
Zoom to Health
Dr. Dreyer is the PI for this program which is funded by the Kenneth and Evelyn Smith Clinical
Scholars Award and the PNC Foundation to provide parenting skills and nutrition education to parents
of overweight and obese 2-8 year olds. This 6-week intervention program aims to provide family-based
treatment to arrest the rapid weight gain during the critical early childhood period. Families are
served healthy meals, participate in fun physical activities, and children and parents receive age
appropriate education.
CHLN Annual Report
View our Annual Report.
Facilities
The Center for Children’s Healthy Lifestyles & Nutrition is based at the Donald Chisholm Center
at Children's Mercy Hospital, a 14,000 square foot facility designed to support clinical and bench
research, individual clinical and group educational interventions and house faculty and research
staff. The Center’s 800 square foot demonstration kitchen features four prep stations, each with a GE
Profile refrigerator and microwave. The kitchen contains four oven/stove/exhaust hood combinations and
two dishwashers. The 500 square foot wet lab features extensive countertop space, an exhaust hood
and a -80 degree freezer. Testing rooms contain an indirect calorimeter, treadmill and DEXA. Clinical
exam rooms and a waiting room are also available. The Center’s 2400 square foot exercise facility features
treadmills, stationary bicycles, elliptical trainers and weight machines, and has a large area
for group physical activity. Locker rooms, showers and laundry facilities are also available. The
Center provides conference room facilities for 10-50 attendees.
Address: 610 E. 22nd St., Kansas City, Missouri 64108
Current Job Postings
Endowed Chair CMH
The Children’s Mercy Hospital (CMH) in conjunction with its academic affiliate, the University of
Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) School of Medicine is seeking an experienced academician to direct and
expand our existing research program in Pediatric Obesity and Nutrition. The successful candidate will
hold the Jerry A. Smith Endowed Chair in Pediatrics and a professorial appointment in the UMKC School of
Medicine Department of Pediatrics. Additionally, he/she will serve as Co-Director of The Center for
Children’s Healthy Lifestyles & Nutrition; a joint program with the University of Kansas School of
Medicine that is solely devoted to research in pediatric obesity and related conditions. The Center,
constructed in 2008 and located on the CMH campus, is a 14,000 ft2 state-of-the-art facility which includes
a 3,050 ft2 exercise facility, 700 ft2 test kitchen and a 500 ft2 wet laboratory. This center supports
the activities of well established, multidisciplinary diagnostic and treatment/intervention programs in
pediatric obesity which are complimented by nationally recognized programs in provider education and community
advocacy.
The successful candidate will have either an MD (or DO), PhD or MD/PhD degree and hold a current
appointment at the level of associate or full professor at an accredited U.S. university (medical school
and/or graduate school). They will be nationally-recognized with evidence of current, independent
peer-reviewed Federal funding for obesity/nutrition-related research. The successful candidate will have
a well established academic record of accomplishments in the field as reflected by peer-reviewed publications,
national and international scientific presentations, evidence of effective cross-disciplinary collaborations
and experience as an educator. We seek a dynamic individual who will embrace the multi-disciplinary culture
of the Center, provide strong scientific and people leadership, and advance the Center to a position of
national prominence. For candidates who are physicians, preference will be given to individuals who have
completed residency training in pediatrics and/or a pediatric medical subspecialty, and to candidates from
under-represented minority populations.
Inquiries and/or letters of application (including a current C.V.) should be directed to
physicianjobs@cmh.edu
For more information:
Gregory L. Kearns, Pharm.D., Ph.D.
Chairman, Pediatric Obesity and Nutrition Research Search Committee
Department of Pediatrics
Children’s Mercy Hospital
2401 Gillham Road
Kansas City, MO 64108
Pediatric/Adolescent Assistant & Associate Professor
The University of Kansas Medical Center & Children’s Mercy Hospitals & Clinics
The Center for Children’s Healthy Lifestyles & Nutrition (www.chlnkc.org), a joint partnership between the University
of Kansas Medical Center (www.kumc.edu) and Children’s Mercy Hospitals & Clinics (www.childrensmercy.org), invites
applications for two tenure-track positions to begin fall 2012. One opening is at the Assistant level and one is at the
Associate level. Specific focus area is open, but previous research experience in pediatric/adolescent obesity or other
pediatric/adolescent nutrition or physical activity area is required. Preference will be given to those who can complement
our existing strengths and have demonstrated the ability for independent work. Ph.D. (or equivalent degree) and fellowship
hours (including all state licensure requirements) must be completed prior to start date (if appropriate). Desirable
qualifications include previous NIH funding as PI, previous work as part of a multidisciplinary pediatric/adolescent
obesity collaborative, and peer-reviewed published papers in the area of pediatric/adolescent obesity. Although the positions
are being offered through the Center for Children’s Healthy Lifestyles & Nutrition, tenure will be offered through the
University of Kansas Medical Center. Both institutions have a full complement of research resources and faculty, all of
which/whom will be fully available to successful candidates (KUMC Research Institute,
Frontiers Research,
KU Energy Balance Lab,
CMH Medical Research).
The review of applications will begin on January 1, 2012 and will continue until the positions are filled. Required
materials include a cover letter expressing interest, a CV, copies of recent publications, and three letters of recommendation.
We strongly encourage applications from minority and women candidates, and are an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
For more information:
Ann M. Davis, PhD, MPH, ABPP
Co-Director, Center for Children’s Healthy Lifestyles & Nutrition
610 E. 22nd Street
Kansas City, MO 64108
Helpful Links
About KC
Contact Us
Please use the following information to contact us:
Amy Fox, MA, CCRC
Manager Clinical Trial Administration
The Children's Mercy Hospital
(816) 802.1208
arfox@cmh.edu
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