Press Releases | In the Press ATKINS FOUNDATION BEQUESTS $10 MILLION TO UC BERKELEY'S CENTER FOR WEIGHT AND HEALTH JENKINTOWN, Pa. - Jan. 31, 2007 -- The Dr. Robert C. and Veronica Atkins Foundation has pledged $10 million to the Center for Weight and Health at the University of California, Berkeley, to support nutrition research and obesity prevention programs. In recognition of the unrestricted bequest, which was recently announced at the 2007 California Childhood Obesity Conference in Anaheim, Ca, the center will be renamed the Dr. Robert C. and Veronica Atkins Center for Weight and Health. Founded in 1999, the center is one of the few in the U.S. dedicated to the prevention of pediatric obesity. It is currently home to some 30 active research projects, including a community intervention program to lower Type 2 diabetes risk among overweight, low-income, African-American children; evaluation of state laws taking effect this year that phase out sodas and sweetened beverages in public schools; and a prospective study evaluating the relation of the timing of food intake to weight among teenage girls. The center, which does not conduct research evaluating diet plans, brings together experts from multiple disciplines in recognition of the complex mix of contributors to the obesity epidemic. Center researchers emphasize that solutions must involve many sectors of society, including food production and distribution, community safety and design, the health care system, schools and the media. It was the center's focus on practical applications to obesity prevention that was particularly appealing to the Atkins Foundation. "The researchers at the center are out in the trenches, in the community, working hands-on to help people have healthier lifestyles," said Abby Bloch, Ph.D., R.D., executive director of programs and research at the Foundation, one of the nation's few grant making organizations funding evidence-based and clinical research examining the role of nutrition and metabolism role in disease prevention and health management. "The investigators' commitment to this area of research and the translational application into the community are very much on target with the mission and goal of the foundation," said Dr. Bloch. The Atkins Foundation's pledge will ensure the continuation of the center's long-term programs whose goal is to help reverse the nation's childhood obesity epidemic. "Obesity, especially childhood obesity, is the major health problem facing our society today. Clearly, the foundation recognizes the power of the synergy between top-ranked programs in nutrition and public health as providing the total package for addressing this critically important health issue in our society, said Paul Ludden, dean of UC Berkeley's College of Natural Resources. The center is co-directed by Pat Crawford, adjunct professor of nutrition at the College of Natural Resources and the School of Public Health, and May Wang, adjunct assistant professor of community health and human development at the School of Public Health. Present at the dedication, Veronica Atkins, widow of Dr. Robert C. Atkins and foundation chair, remarked that, "the opening of the center at UC Berkeley is a tribute to my husband's belief in the power of influencing public health outcomes, particularly in the battle against obesity. On behalf of the Atkins Foundation, I am proud to partner with a center as active and accomplished as Berkeley's, and excited to support the ongoing advances of its outstanding investigators." UC Berkeley's Center for Weight and Health is the second Atkins Foundation-funded Center of Excellence. In 2005, the Foundation awarded a $5 million grant to establish the Veronica and Robert C. Atkins Center for Excellence in Obesity Medicine at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. ### The Dr. Robert C. and Veronica Atkins Foundation was established with a $40 million gift in 2003, following the death of Dr. Atkins. It awards grants to support independent, evidence-based and clinical research examining the role of metabolism and nutrition in obesity, Type II diabetes, cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's disease and other major health issues confronting our society today. Seeking to positively impact disease prevention and health management worldwide, the Foundation also supports educational programs, public health advocacy initiatives and endowed professorships. The Atkins Foundation is unaffiliated with and operates independently of Atkins Nutritionals, Inc. It is governed by a board of directors as a supporting organization of National Philanthropic Trust, an independent public charity that manages more than $1 billion in charitable assets and has disbursed more than $540 million in grants to charities around the globe.   The Dr. Robert C. and Veronica Atkins Foundation c/o National Philanthropic Trust, 165 Township Line Road, Suite 150, Jenkintown, PA 19046-3593