Kevin Hall

Enter the Metabolic Chamber, Learn Your Energy

Metabolic chamber, NIH NIDDK

Many scientists at the NIH used the metabolic chamber—a room constructed as a scientific instrument in which volunteers could live—to study how our bodies use air, food, and water under different conditions. Would you have volunteered for a study? Today's NIH Intramural investigators have even more advanced technologies to learn about energy expenditure's affects on obesity.

Fighting Obesity Every Which Way We Can

The solution to obesity seems simple on the surface—fewer calories in, more calories out—but for those who have tried to lose weight, it's usually not an easy task, partly because weight is the product of many interrelated factors: environment, family history and genetics, behavior, metabolism, and others. Investigators at the NIH Intramural Research Program (IRP) are studying all of those aspects and more to further understand the disease and better inform public health initiatives.