EXPLORING THE LINKS BETWEEN WEIGHT AND HEALTH: The REGISTRY OF WEIGHT AND RELATED DISORDERS (REWARD) PROJECT

CLIENT: ROCHE LABORATORIES INC.

CATEGORY: Collaborative Project

BACKGROUND

The United States and the rest of the industrialized world are undergoing an exploding epidemic of obesity. Depending on the criteria used, between a 20 and 35 percent of the adult population in the United States is currently considered obese. Over half of the adult population is overweight. Obesity is a strong and independent risk factor for coronary heart disease. Obesity also is associated with a variety of other risk factors for heart disease including Type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia and hypertension. In addition, obesity is associated with a variety of other co-morbid conditions including gallbladder disease, sleep apnea, osteoarthritis, certain cancers and, in women, infertility.

Roche Laboratories Inc. decided to establish a national registry to look at the natural history of weight and related disorders. Roche Laboratory turned to Rippe Lifestyle Institute to serve as the international coordinating center for this project, which will ultimately enroll 200,000 individuals, most who will be either overweight or obese, and follow them for a minimum of three years.

RLI'S RESPONSE

In September 1999 Rippe Lifestyle Institute established the REWARD Coordinating Center (RCC) to manage the REWARD Project. The REWARD Coordinating Center staff members were responsible for coordinating a variety of aspects of the REWARD Project. The RCC served as the main coordinating site between the registry sponsor and a variety of other entities involved in the project including InfoMedics, Boston University and a 22-member advisory board. RCC, in consultation with senior executives from Roche Laboratories, coordinated recruitment for a pilot study and recruitment of physicians and their patients for the full Project. In consultation with the principal investigator of the project, Dr. Peter Wilson of the Framingham Heart Study, and a number of advisory board members, RCC helped coordinate science and create data collection forms for the project.