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Research Findings from the Cornell University EnHANCE Cohort Study
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The EnHANCE Cohort Study (Engaging Health, Agriculture and Nutrition through the Cornell Experience) is an initiative of the Division of Nutritional Sciences. The goal of EnHANCE is to understand how the transition to the college environment affects changes in diet, weight and metabolism. The cohort study, which was based on a random sample of the Class of 2015, led to 3 research publications and provides pilot data to support further research efforts.
EnHANCE participants completed web-based surveys and 4 in-person visits to collect information about diet, eating habits, lifestyle, physical activity, physical measurements, and markers of metabolism measured in blood samples.
The EnHANCE study was led by Dr. Cassano and a talented and dedicated team including undergraduate research assistants. The study comprised the dissertation research of Katie C. Hootman, Ph.D., M.S., R.D.N. Project Coordinator Kristin Guertin, M.P.H., Ph.D., was a key collaborator during the active data collection phase of the study, from July 2011 to June 2012.
The major research findings are published in three journal articles, as follows:
- KC Hootman, KA Guertin, PA Cassano. Longitudinal Changes in Anthropometry and Body Composition in University Freshmen. J Am Coll Health. 2017 Jan 13:0. doi: 10.1080/07448481.2017.1280498. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 28085641.
- KC Hootman*, JP Trezzi*, L Kraemer, LS Burwell, X Dong, KA Guertin, C Jaeger, PJ Stover, K Hiller** and PA Cassano**(2017). Metabolomic Marker Erythritol Associated with Central Adiposity Gain in Young Adults as a Pentose-Phosphate-Pathway By-Product. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2017; 114(21):E4233-E4240. *equal contributions as first authors; **equal contributions as senior authors
- KC Hootman, KA Guertin and PA Cassano. Behavioral measures of eating in relation to body habitus in college freshmen (2018) Appetite. 2018 Jan 5. pii: S0195-6663(17)30042-9. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2018.01.003. [Epub ahead of print].