2025 News Feed

A medical professional speaking to an elder African America couple

Fourth Annual Senior Black American Health Fair Returns to Pennington Biomedical Saturday, April 12

Pennington Biomedical Research Center is gearing up to host the 4th annual Senior Black American Health Fair. Open to all residents in the Greater Baton Rouge region and beyond, the health fair will take place on Saturday, April 12, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the C.B. Pennington Jr. Conference Center Building, located at 6400 Perkins Road in Baton Rouge. The schedule for the day is filled with engaging activities, and participants are encouraged to dress in comfortable activewear.

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Photo of Dr. Hannah Cabré

Pennington Biomedical Q&A: Dr. Hannah Cabré

Hannah Cabré, PhD, RDN, has earned many laurels in her career, but is not one to rest on them and take them for granted. Always in pursuit of clarity and new discoveries in reproductive health, she is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Reproductive Endocrinology and Women’s Health Labatory at Pennington Biomedical Research Center. Under the mentorship of Dr. Leanne Redman and Dr. Eric Ravussin, she is a registered dietician and exercise physiologist, and she was recently named as the Center’s Postdoctoral Fellow of the Year, in part for her dedication to women’s health.

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Small Shifts

Pennington Biomedical Research Center’s April Small Shifts Focus: Office and Home Workouts

Pennington Biomedical Research Center is excited to announce that April's focus for the Small Shifts campaign is integrating brief office and home workouts into daily routines. The Small Shifts initiative is part of the Center's ongoing commitment to promoting manageable lifestyle changes that lead to long-term health and well-being.

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A stylized image of a brain

Pennington Biomedical Researchers Identify Neurons in Brain that Regulate Energy Levels and Body Temperature

Scientists at Pennington Biomedical Research Center have gained greater clarity in the brain regions and neurons that control metabolism, body temperature and energy use. Featured in the February edition of the journal Metabolism, Dr. Heike Münzberg-Gruening and a team of researchers discovered which chemicals influence the signals that control how much energy the body uses. In “Leptin Receptor Neurons in the dorsomedial hypothalamus require distinct neuronal subsets for thermogenesis and weight loss,” researchers laid out the pathways, chemicals, neurons and brain regions that are activated.

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A headshot of Dr. Yun Shen on a purple background with the words

Pennington Biomedical’s Dr. Yun Shen Awarded $250,000 to Explore AI for Hypertension Management in Type 2 Diabetes Care

Pennington Biomedical Research Center’s Dr. Yun Shen will lead a team to explore the use of AI for precision hypertension management in Type-2 diabetes care. The research is funded through an award of $250,000 from the Collaboration in Action Program, established by Championship Health Partners LSU and Our Lady of the Lake Health.

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PBRC

Pennington Biomedical Among AWI Awards to Advance the Welfare of Animals Used in Research

The Animal Welfare Institute, or AWI, is pleased to announce the 2024 winners of the Refinement Research Award, which funds research projects that develop or test novel refinement methods, and the Implementing Refinement Grant, which funds the purchase of equipment or training meant to improve the welfare of animals used in research.

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A split screen image with beans and starches in the left panel, and hearty meats and proteins in the right panel

Pennington Biomedical Researchers Uncover Role of Hormone in Influencing Brain Reward Pathway and Food Preferences

When faced with multiple food options and ultimately choosing one, the factors of that decision-making process may be more physiological than previously assumed. A group of scientists led by Pennington Biomedical Research Center’s Dr. Christopher Morrison recently discovered that the hormone fibroblast growth factor 21, or FGF21, plays an influential role in brain reward mechanisms like those involved in dietary choices.

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Exercise Bikes

Can Exercise Help Colon Cancer Survivors Live as Long as Matched Individuals in the General Population?

Physical activity may help colon cancer survivors achieve long-term survival rates similar to those of people in the general population, according to a recent study published by Wiley online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

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A stylized purple banner with five women socializing and the words

Pennington Biomedical’s Wellness Day for Women Celebrates 25 Years

The Irene W. Pennington Wellness Day for Women celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2025 as it returns to Pennington Biomedical on Saturday, March 8, from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. The event features a wide array of health screenings, services and other activities to participants from across the Capital region. Registration is open now and can be accessed on the Pennington Biomedical website.

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Greaux Healthy Provider Hub

New Toolkit Empowers Healthcare Providers with Evidence-Based Strategies for Childhood Obesity Prevention and Treatment

Greaux Healthy—a public service initiative powered by Pennington Biomedical Research Center, in partnership with the State of Louisiana—is proud to announce the release of the Childhood Obesity Prevention, Evaluation and Treatment Toolkit, a comprehensive resource designed to equip healthcare providers with practical, evidence-based guidance for preventing, evaluating, and treating childhood obesity and its related comorbidities.

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