The new facility will provide a venue for the NMHI’s cutting-edge research, healthcare education and training, and state-of-the-science clinical and community-based programs.
Texas Tech University's Nutrition & Metabolic Health Initiative (NMHI) hosted a ribbon-cutting today (Jan. 16) for its spacious new facility on the first floor of the Texas Tech Plaza building, at the corner of University Avenue and 19th Street.
The new location, facilities and equipment will provide a venue to continue to fulfill the NMHI mission to combat obesity and metabolic diseases with cutting-edge research, healthcare education and training, and state-of-the-science clinical and community-based programs.
"The new physical location is convenient for our clinical patients as well as research subjects and collaborators, and it provides excellent facilities to grow our world-class initiative," said Dr. Martin Binks, director of the NMHI. "We are very excited to have the NMHI in this wonderful new location. The relocation represents the next step in the multiphase expansion of NMHI, whose ultimate goal is to improve the health of adults and children by advancing knowledge, training the next generations of healthcare providers and providing direct clinical care to the local community."
Since its inception, the numbers of faculty, staff and internal and external collaborators associated with NMHI have grown rapidly. The volume of externally funded research studies running at NMHI continues to climb; collaborative relationships within the Department of Nutritional Sciences and with departments across the university, the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and in the local community continue to expand; and educational opportunities for students are flourishing.
The nearly 10,000-square-foot facility provides a highly functional and attractive home for these activities. In addition, it is home to the Weight Management Clinic at NMHI and its many weight loss, nutrition counseling and health-promotion services. The facility also boasts state-of-the-science metabolic testing, body composition testing and other health-assessment tools. Provided by nutritional sciences faculty including Allison Childress, Shannon Galyean, Dr. Nikhil Dhurandhar and Binks, along with undergraduate and graduate student trainees, these services are available to patients from the local community.
Dhurandhar, chair of the Department of Nutritional Sciences, is very pleased with the move.
"We are excited that NMHI has reached this milestone in its evolution as a flagship program for our department," he said. "We are grateful for the support of our college and the university in providing this facility and also for including us in their respective strategic plans. NMHI has a bright future at Texas Tech University in contributing to its research, teaching and service mission."
