91AV

The Maine-Harvard Prevention Research Center has a new home at the 91AV's Center for Community and Public Health on the Portland Campus.  

Since the year 2000, the MHPRC has collaborated with the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention to work with local and statewide partners to conduct research, education and training aimed at reducing obesity, improving nutrition and increasing physical activity for children and adults. 

The Center for Community and Public Health is one of four centers of excellence at 91AV and houses all of the university's public health research, training and education programs.

"We will add valuable research capacity to the work of the MHPRC and provide an opportunity for students to work on their research and policy projects," said Dr. Ron DePrez, Director of 91AV's Center for Community and Public Health. 

Over the next year, the MHPRC will evaluate Maine's first-in-the-nation law to prohibit junk food advertising in school. It will also expand its current worksite wellness initiative, a collaborative with Harvard-based researchers to develop new obesity research and policy initiatives, and expand a child care center physical activity and nutrition program.

Prevention Research Centers are funded by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and are a network of academic researchers, public health agencies, and community members that conducts applied research in disease prevention and control. 

There are 37 Prevention Research Centers in the U.S., and the Harvard Prevention Research Center was first funded in 1998 and is the only multi-state PRC.