Working to prevent and treat obesity and diabetes with transformative research conducted by top scientists in the field.

Our Research

DORI brings together a diverse group of researchers spanning over 15 divisions and departments across the University of Southern California to bring new discoveries in obesity and diabetes prevention and treatment.

Education & Enrichment

Located in the heart of Los Angeles, we support diabetes & obesity research in underserved populations disproportionately affected by these diseases. Our goal is to reduce the burden of obesity and diabetes in our community.

DORI Symposium

Check out the latest in diabetes research from this year’s DORI Symposium; featuring doctors, scientists and researchers from top universities and research institutes across the globe.

Neuroscience & Appetite Regulation

Complications

Maternal-Child

Behavior &
Intervention

Beta-Cell Biology & Type I Diabetes

Nutrition & Environment

Health Disparities

The Diabetes & Obesity Research Institute (DORI) is a multi-disciplinary collaborative of investigators at the University of Southern California seeking to link basic, clinical, and public health research to advance the understanding of obesity and its relationship to diabetes.

Featured Research Projects

The State of Obesity & Diabetes

The number of people with diabetes rose from 108 million in 1980 to 422 million in 2014.

In 2019, 1.9 billion adults worldwide were overweight, with 650 million obese; meaning 39% of adults were overweight and 13% were obese globally.

Between 2000 and 2016, there was a 5% increase in premature mortality from diabetes.

In 2017, over 4 million people died as a result of being overweight or obese, according to the global burden of disease.

Diabetes is a major cause of blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, stroke & lower limb amputation.

From 1975 to 2016, the prevalence of overweight or obese children and adolescents aged 5–19 years increased more than four-fold from 4% to 18% globally.

In 2016, an estimated 1.6 million deaths were directly caused by diabetes. Another 2.2 million deaths were attributable to high blood glucose in 2012.

We should probably list the sources of these facts here. Last updated May 2021.

Childhood Diabetes & Obesity

About 210,000 Americans under age 20 are estimated to have diagnosed diabetes.
In 2014-2015, the annual incidence of diagnosed diabetes in youth was estimated at 18,200 with type 1 diabetes and 5,800 with type 2 diabetes.
Childhood obesity increased nationally from 14% in 2000 to 17.2% in 2014
Obesity rates highest in Hispanic (21.9%) & Black (19.5%) children compared to White (14.7%) & Asian (8.6%) children

Adult Diabetes & Obesity

In 2018, 34.2 million Americans, or 10.5% of the population, had diabetes.
1.5 million Americans are diagnosed with diabetes every year.
Of the 34.2 million adults with diabetes, 26.8 million are diagnosed, and 7.3 million are undiagnosed.
The percentage of Americans age 65 and older remains high, at 26.8%, or 14.3 million seniors (diagnosed & undiagnosed with diabetes).
National prevalence of Adult Obesity is at 38%.
Highest in Black (48%) & Hispanic (42%) adults compared to White (36%) & Asian (13%) adults