Dr. Emily Flanagan Awarded Up to $3.55 Million NIH Grant to Study Infant Energy Balance and Early-Life Growth

August 31, 2026 · Baton Rouge, LA

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Five-year R01 grant will support first-of-its-kind study examining how energy intake and expenditure influence infant growth and future obesity risk

Dr. Emily Flanagan, Assistant Professor and Director of the Developmental Physiology Laboratory at LSU’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center, has been awarded a prestigious National Institutes of Health R01 grant totaling up to $3.55 million to investigate how energy intake and expenditure influence infant growth during the first year of life.

The five-year grant from the NIH’s National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases will support Flanagan’s project, “Characterization of Infant Energy Balance to Optimize Early Life Growth.” The study will examine the fundamental drivers of infant growth and could help improve how energy needs are estimated during a critical period of development.

One in four children in the United States enters kindergarten with overweight or obesity, and evidence supports that growth during a child’s first year influences this risk. Yet relatively little is known about the factors that determine energy balance during infancy, and current recommendations for infant energy requirements are based on limited and decades-old data.

Dr. Flanagan’s preliminary research found substantial errors in predicted energy requirements among infants ages 1 to 3 months, averaging 10%, which translates to early rapid weight gain and adiposity increases. These inaccuracies could contribute to unintended overfeeding during a period when metabolism and growth are being established.

“Infancy is a critical period for establishing lifelong metabolic health, but we still have major gaps in our understanding of infant energy requirements and what drives differences in growth,” Dr. Flanagan said. “This study will allow us to measure energy expenditure and intake directly; how developmental, behavioral, and biological factors influence this; and follow changes throughout the first year of life. We encourage families in the area to watch for the study to open and consider participating. Your involvement will help us better understand infant physiology, growth and nutrition, and develop new strategies to improve health across the lifespan.”

Dr. Flanagan and her team will follow 100 healthy infants from 1 to 12 months of age, conducting detailed assessments at 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months. The researchers will use gold-standard methods adapted specifically for infants to measure energy intake and total daily energy expenditure in real-world settings.

The study will also examine sedentary and physical activity energy expenditure, as well as physiological, behavioral and developmental factors that may influence growth. Researchers will measure biomarkers including thyroid hormone T3, leptin and epinephrine, while also tracking feeding patterns, type of milk, introduction of complementary foods, physical activity and gross motor milestones.

The longitudinal design will allow researchers to identify periods when infants may be particularly vulnerable to accelerated growth. For example, the study could reveal whether changes in growth are associated with developmental milestones, the introduction of solid foods, feeding patterns or periods of reduced physical activity.

Dr. Flanagan conducts a translational research program focused on infant physiology, nutrition and growth. Her research examines how energy intake and expenditure during early life, as well as maternal and postnatal factors, influence growth patterns and future risk of obesity and metabolic disease.

“This R01 award recognizes Dr. Flanagan’s innovative approach to understanding the earliest origins of obesity and metabolic disease,” said Dr. Jennifer Rood, Interim Senior Vice Chancellor and Executive Director of Pennington Biomedical. “By developing a more precise understanding of infant energy balance, this research has the potential to improve our knowledge of healthy growth and identify early opportunities to prevent obesity. I congratulate Dr. Flanagan on this important achievement.”

The study is expected to generate one of the most comprehensive datasets to date on infant energy balance and its physiological and behavioral drivers. Findings could help refine energy-intake standards for infants and identify critical periods when interventions may be most effective in promoting healthy growth.

Families interested in participating in this type of research, or in other studies focused on pregnancy, infant health and a variety of other health topics, can visit www.pbrc.edu/clinicaltrials to learn more and watch for future opportunities to participate.

The project, funded under NIH Award No. R01DK148893, is scheduled to continue through April 30, 2031. The initial award to Pennington Biomedical is $731,916, with total funding of up to $3.55 million contingent upon available funding and satisfactory research progress.