About Penny

Vice Chancellor for Research & Carla Smith Chamblee Distinguished Professor of Global Nutrition, UNC-Chapel Hill

Grant Support

Current Research Grants

  • Epigenomic Landscape of Individual- and Neighborhood-Level Social Disadvantages and Cardiovascular Health Disparity (R01AG081244). PI: Hou, Subcontract PI: Gordon-Larsen. 07/01/2022-06/30/2026. Direct Costs: $2,721,739.
  • Polygenic Risk Scores for Diverse Populations - Bridging Research and Clinical Care (R01 HL151152). MPI: Kooperberg, North, Gignoux, Co-Investigator: Gordon-Larsen. 08/31/20-07/01/2024. Direct Costs: $224,339.
  • Leveraging multi-omics approaches to examine metabolic challenges of obesity in relation to cardiovascular diseases (R01HL143885). National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. MPI: Gordon-Larsen (Contact), North, Avery, Sumner. 04/01/2019 – 03/31/2023. Direct Costs: $6,155,986.
  • Monitoring Social Change: Health and Human Capital from Childhood to Adulthood (R01HD030880-25). Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. MPI: Gordon Larsen, Popkin. 06/01/20-05/31/25. Direct Costs: $2,062,857.
  • Monitoring Social Change: Monitoring Social Change: Dynamics of Aging And Cognitive Function (R01AG065357). National Institute of Aging. MPI: Gordon Larsen, Popkin. 04/01/20-01/31/25. Direct Costs: $2,515,995.

Current Training Grants

  • Global Cardiometabolic Disease Training (T32HL1299691-10). National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Principal Investigators (Multiple PI): Linda S Adair, Penny Gordon-Larsen. 09/01/2015-08/31/2025. Direct Costs: $1,113,000
  • Genetic Epidemiology of Heart, Lung, and Blood Traits (GenHLB) (T32HL129982) National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Trainer: Penny Gordon-Larsen. Principal Investigator: Kari North. 05/01/2016-5/31/2026.

Under Review or Pending Funding

  • Leveraging integrative multi-omics to understand mechanistic pathways for severe obesity and its clinical significance in disproportionately burdened Hispanic/Latino populations (R01DK137429).  Multiple Principal Investigators: Gordon-Larsen (contact), North, & Below.
  • Emerging novel and cardiometabolic risk factors and progression of liver disease in a population at high risk for liver cancer. R01CAXXXX Multiple Principal Investigators: Fisher-Hoch, North, & Below.
  • A Mixed-methods Study of Malnutrition Among Adolescent Girls in Kibera F31XXX. Principal Investigator: Sieger, Co-Investigator Gordon-Larsen.

Completed Funding

  • Transition to a Western diet and cardiometabolic risk: Biomarkers derived from the microbiome (R01DK104371). National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Principal Investigator: Gordon-Larsen. 09/01/2015- 12/31/2019 (NCE). Direct Costs: $2,499,213.
  • Exome Variants Underlying Weight Gain from Adolescence to Adulthood (R01HD057194). Competing Continuation. National Institutes of Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Principal Investigator: Gordon-Larsen. 4/01/2014-3/31/2019). Direct Costs: $2,499,169.
  • North Carolina Translational and Clinical Science Institute (UL1TR002489) National Center for Advancing Translational Science. Co-Investigator: Penny Gordon-Larsen, Principal Investigator: John Buse 03/30/18-03/14/22
  • UNC Creativity Hub Heterogeneity in Obesity: Transdisciplinary Approaches for Precision Research and Treatment. UNC Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research Creativity Hubs Pilot Award. 07/01/18-06/30/21. Gordon-Larsen PI, $500,000.
  • Interdisciplinary Nutrition Sciences Symposium: Synergizing Animal and Human Obesity Research (R13CA254454). National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute. Principal Investigator: Gordon-Larsen, Hursting. 09/09/2020- 08/31/2021. Direct Costs: $10,000.
  • Interdisciplinary Nutrition Sciences Symposium: Synergizing Animal and Human Obesity Research (R13DK122823). National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Principal Investigator: Gordon-Larsen. 07/01/2019- 06/30/2020. Direct Costs: $16,500.
  • Interventions for Preventing and Managing Chronic Illness (T32-NR007091). National Institute of Nursing Research. Trainer: Penny Gordon-Larsen. Principal Investigator: Sheila Judge Santacroce. 07/01/2016-06/30/2021. Direct Costs: $477,880.
  • Big Data to Knowledge Training Program (1T32CA201159-01). National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute. Trainer: Penny Gordon-Larsen. Principal Investigators: Michael Kosorok, Mark Forest. 05/01/2015-04/30/2020. Direct Costs: $316,018.
  • Environmental Changes and Health Outcomes across 25 Years: Four US Cities (R01- HL114091). National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Principal Investigator: Gordon-Larsen. 09/01/2011-6/30/15. Direct Costs: $1,127,250.
  • Obesity and Metabolic Risk Disparities: Underlying Food Environment Factors (R01HL104580). National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Principal Investigator: Gordon-Larsen. 10/01/2010-9/30/2015. Direct Costs: $1,521,002.
  • Monitoring Social Change: Health, Reproduction, Aging (R01HD030880-20). Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Co-Investigator: Gordon Larsen. Principal Investigator: Popkin. 8/1/13 – 6/30/17. Direct Costs: $14,080,588.
  • Emergence of Cardiometabolic Risk across the Lifecycle in China (R01HL108427). National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Principal Investigator: Gordon-Larsen. 03/01/2012 – 02/28/2016. Direct Costs: $1,897.952.
  • Mentored Junior Faculty Development Award. Principal Investigator: Katie Meyer. Mentor: Gordon-Larsen. Direct Costs: $7,500.
  • Accelerating Trans-disciplinary Collaborative Clinical Care Locally and Globally to Improve Diabetes Outcomes. Gillings Innovation Lab (Gillings Family Foundation). Principal Investigator: Gordon-Larsen. 02/01/15-05/31/18. Direct Costs: $100,000.
  • A Home-Based Nutrient Challenge for Mechanistic Study in a Population-Based Cohort: A Pilot Study (KR591406). National Institutes of Health, Clinical and Translational Science Awards program. Principal Investigator: Katie Meyer; Role: co-Investigator. Direct Costs: $2,000.
  • Choline, Trimethylamine N-oxide and Atherosclerosis in a Prospective Cohort. American Egg Board. Principal Investigator: Katie Meyer; Role: co-Investigator. Direct Costs: $109,913.
  • Microbiome and Metabolome in Urbanizing China. Translational Team Science Award. Gillings and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, through Grant Award Number UL1TR001111. Gordon-Larsen. 09/01/2015- 12/31/2017. Direct Costs: $200,213.
  • Mentored Career Development Award: Pathways from Environmental Changes to CVD Risk Factors: Mediating Effects of Diet, Physical Activity, and BMI. American Heart Association. Principal Investigator: Samantha Attard. Mentor: Gordon-Larsen. 07/01/2014 – 06/30/2015. Direct Costs: $25,000.
  • Gene-Environment Interactions and Weight Gain (R01HD057194). National Institutes of Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Principal Investigator: Gordon-Larsen. 07/01/2008-06/30/2013. Direct Costs: $2,634,828
  • Heterogeneity in Cardiometabolic Risk with Obesity: Who Is at Risk? (R21DK089306). National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Principal Investigator: Gordon-Larsen. 7/15/2010-4/30/2012. Direct Costs: $300,000.
  • Genetic Architecture of Voluntary Exercise in Mice (1R01DK076050). National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Co-Investigator: Gordon-Larsen. Principal Investigator: Pomp. 7/01/2007-6/30/2010. Direct Costs: $864,320.
  • Dynamically Integrating Macro and Micro Processes (R21ES016729). National Institutes of Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Co-Investigator: Gordon-Larsen. Principal Investigator: Entwisle. 1/01/2007-12/31/2011. Direct Costs: $ 1,149,885.
  • Measurement and Bias in the Built Environment and Physical Activity Relationship in Adolescent and Adult Populations. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Predoctoral Fellowship. Mentor/Sponsor: Gordon-Larsen. Principal Investigator: Boone. 9/01/2007-8/31/2009. Direct Costs: $21,728.
  • Environmental Exposures and Diabetes: Toenail Arsenic as a Novel Biomarker (Ramses #141865). National Institute of Health. Principal Investigator: Mendez. 07/01/2014-06/30/2015. Direct Costs for Year 1: $125,000.
  • Gene-Environment Determinants of Obesity and Metabolic Risk across the Lifecourse (R01DK103552). National Institute of Health, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Principal Investigator: North. 07/01/2014 – 06/30/2018. Direct Costs: $2,117,022.
  • Reproductive Epidemiology Training Grant (T32-HD052468). National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Trainer: Gordon-Larsen. Principal Investigator: Anna Maria Siega-Riz.  07/01/2008-06/30/2013. Direct Costs: $171,534.
  • Interdisciplinary Training in Maternal and Child Obesity (T32-HD057824). National Institutes of Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Trainer: Gordon-Larsen. Principal Investigator: Popkin. 4/01/2007-3/31/2013. Direct Costs: $1,259,160.
  • Nutrition Training Grant (1T32-DK007686). National Institutes of Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Trainer: Gordon- Larsen. Principal Investigator: Stevens. 7/01/2008-3/31/2013. Direct Costs: $1,541,741.
  • Pre-conference Workshop: The Obesity Society. How to study the environmental determinants of obesity using Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-derived data. Active Living Research, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Principal Investigator: Gordon-Larsen. 04/01/2007-10/31/2007. $5,000.
  • Biology Core, National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, Wave IV (P01- HD031921-11). National Institutes of Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Co-Investigator: Gordon-Larsen. Principal Investigator: Harris. 9/01/2005-8/31/2009. Direct Costs: $ 38,124,680.
  • Diet, Activity, Obesity & the Built Environment (R01CA121152). Response to RFA “Obesity and the Built Environment.” National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute. Co-Investigator: Gordon-Larsen. Principal Investigator: Popkin. 7/01/2005-6/30/2010. Direct Costs: $1,668,551.
  • An Interdisciplinary Strategy for Obesity [NIH Roadmap] (P20RR020649). National Institutes of Health, National Center for Research Resources. Co-Investigator and Cluster Head, Macro and Community Environment Cluster: Gordon-Larsen. Principal Investigator: Popkin. 7/01/2005-6/30/2006. Direct Costs: $386,164.
  • Determinants and Consequences of Alcohol Consumption (R01AA12162)/Duke University Subcontract via NIH. National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Subcontract Principal Investigator: Gordon-Larsen. Project. Principal Investigator: Sloan. 12/01/2004-11/30/2008. Direct Costs: $72,678.
  • Obesity, Physical Activity, and the Built Environment: A Validation Study (K07AG001015 and P30-AG024376). Pilot Funding from the National Institutes of Health, through the Demography and Economics of Aging Research (DEAR). Principal Investigators: Popkin and Gordon-Larsen. 10/01/2004-9/31/2005. Direct Costs: $70,405.
  • Young Adult Environmental and Physical Activity Dynamics (R01CA109831). National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute. Co-Investigator: Gordon-Larsen. Principal Investigator: Popkin. 9/17/2004-8/31/2009. Direct Costs: $1,149,981.
  • Sociodemographic Status, Inactivity, and Obesity: Health Disparity across the Transition to Adulthood. Minority Predoctoral Fellowship Program (F31-HD049334). National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Mentor/Sponsor: Gordon-Larsen. Principal Investigator: Scharoun. 9/01/20048/31/2007. Direct Costs: $62,316.
  • Environmental Determinants of Physical Activity and Obesity (P30ES10126). The UNCCH Center for Environmental Health and Susceptibility (CEHS) Enrichment Program, Pilot Program. National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Principal Investigator: Gordon-Larsen. 8/01/2004-7/31/2005. Direct Costs: $15,000.
  • Investigating Patterns in the Community Environment as a Predictor of Adolescent Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior Patterns. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Active Living Research New Investigator Dissertation Award. Mentor/Sponsor: Gordon- Larsen. Principal Investigator: Nelson. 5/01/2004-4/30/2006. Direct Costs: $19,968.
  • Physical Environment Dynamics, Inequality and Obesity (R01HD041375). National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Co-Investigator: Gordon-Larsen. Principal Investigator: Popkin. 6/01/2003-5/31/2007. Direct Costs: $876,225.
  • Obesity and the Environment: The Transition to Adulthood (K01HD044263). National Institutes of Health, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Principal Investigator: Gordon-Larsen. 5/01/2003-4/30/2008. Direct Costs: $477,519.
  • UNC Clinical Nutrition Research Center Pilot and Feasibility Grant (DK56350). Database Development: Physical Environment and Obesity. National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Principal Investigator: Gordon-Larsen. 9/01/2002-9/29/2004. Direct Costs: $50,000.
  • Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health Scholars Program (K12HD01441). Environmental Determinants of Physical Activity and Overweight. National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. BIRCWH Principal Investigator Scholar: Gordon-Larsen. Project Principal Investigator: Eugene Orringer. 8/01/2002-4/30/2003. Direct Costs: $52,500.
  • Environmental Determinants of Physical Activity and Obesity. Institute of Nutrition Pilot Study Grant. Principal Investigator: Gordon-Larsen. 7/01/2002-6/30/2003. Direct Costs: $5,000.
  • Environmental Impact on Obesity/Activity (SIP 5-00). Project Title: Environmental Determinants of Obesity, Physical Activity and Nutrition. Centers for Disease Control, Special Interest Project. Co-Investigator: Gordon-Larsen. Principal Investigator: Barry M. Popkin. 10/01/2000-9/30/2002. Direct Costs: $205,924.
  • Beyond Race: Explaining Inequality Manifested as Obesity (R01HD39183). National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Co- Investigator: Gordon-Larsen. Principal Investigator: Barry M. Popkin. 9/28/20009/30/2004. Direct Costs: $540,000.
  • Obesity Prevention Intervention for African-American Girls (R01HL65131). National Institutes of Health, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Co-Investigator: Gordon- Larsen. Principal Investigator: Ammerman. 9/30/1999-9/29/2002. Direct Costs: $520,000.