A CTSA-sponsored program for clinical research coordination: networking, education, and mentoring.

Upon receipt of the National Institutes of Health Clinical and Translational Science Award, the University of Iowa's Institute for Clinical and Translational Science committed to develop an infrastructure for research professionals. Three goals were established: (1) identification of research professionals within the University of Iowa, (2) development of an educational series, including orientation and continuing education, and (3) development of a mentoring system. The purpose of this paper is to describe the process of development, initiation, and outcomes of a successful networking, educational, and mentoring system crafted for research professionals at the University of Iowa.

Development of the Iowa bone nutrient food frequency questionnaire based on data from the US Department of Agriculture Continuing Survey of the Food Intake by Individuals.

An easily administered food frequency questionnaire (FFQ)/dietary screener was developed for current (adult) and retrospective (adolescent) intakes of nutrients important for bone development and maintenance. This tool quantified serving sizes and nutrients from foods using gender and age specific techniques. Nutrients of interest were calcium, vitamin D, caffeine and alcohol, and 15 categories of foods were selected for inclusion based on frequency of intake and nutrient density.

Physical activity and femoral neck bone strength during childhood: the Iowa Bone Development Study.

Structural adaptations of bone to changing mechanical loads have recently been documented during adolescence. However, little is known about how bone adapts structurally during the earlier years. Using a longitudinal observational design spanning 6 years of growth (age range 4 to 12 years), we investigated associations between everyday physical activity and hip geometry in a cohort of healthy Midwestern children (n=468).

Adherence to the AICR cancer prevention recommendations and subsequent morbidity and mortality in the Iowa Women's Health Study cohort.

In 1997, the American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) published 14 recommendations related to diet for individuals to reduce cancer incidence on a global basis; smoking was also discouraged. We operationalized these into nine recommendations that are particularly relevant to western populations in a cohort of 29,564 women ages 55 to 69 years at baseline in 1986 who had no history of cancer or heart disease. The cohort was followed through 1998 for cancer incidence (n = 4,379), cancer mortality (n = 1,434), cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality (n = 1,124), and total mortality (n = 3,398).