KU-Lawrence On-Campus Laboratory

The Energy Balance Laboratory (EBL) is a major component of the Center for Physical Activity and Weight Management (CPAWM).

The EBL is a $2 million facility completed in 2000 and has been updated several times. This state-of-the-art, dedicated research facility occupies approximately 10,000 square feet. It is specifically designed to measure energy intake and energy expenditure for both in-patient and out-patient investigations. The first floor contains a large reception area for subject registration and intake procedures. The EBL Director has a 230 square feet office located behind the reception area. A 1,600 square feet exercise area is dedicated to research investigations and has extensive audio and video entertainment packages to aid subject compliance. The exercise facility contains treadmills, steppers, stationary bicycles, and resistance exercise. Located adjacent to the reception and exercise areas are handicap accessible lockers and showers for men and women. Five exam rooms of ~120 square feet are available for medical exams and other procedures such as DEXA, resting metabolism, exercise testing, anthropometry, interviews, etc. All exam rooms contain a sink and cabinets for storage and can be modified to accommodate a variety of studies. A 340-square-foot biochemistry laboratory is located adjacent to the exam rooms and is equipped for blood and muscle chemistry.

The second floor contains six offices for faculty and staff that are ~160 square feet and a large office of 247 square feet for doctoral students, postdoctoral fellows, visiting scholars, etc. All offices have PC desktop computers described below. Also on the second floor is a modern 425 sq. ft. conference room that has telephone and video conference capability, as well as a dedicated computer and video projector for presentations.

A whole-room indirect calorimeter occupies 450 square feet with all necessary support instruments. It is completely automated and interfaced with a PC workstation for real-time data collection. Adjacent to the calorimeter is a dormitory equipped with a sink, toilet, shower, and entertainment center for overnight stays. A metabolic kitchen occupies 800 square feet and is used for feeding studies and to provide diets for subjects using the calorimeter. The kitchen contains multiple stove top/oven units and microwave units for food preparation and refrigerators and freezers for food storage.

A separately keyed, dedicated, 250-square-foot room contains six dedicated desktop computers for data entry, data processing, report writing, and creating data presentations. All hard copy data are archived in this room and the room is locked. Approximately 800 square feet are available for storage of supplies at various sites throughout the EBL. 

KU-Lawrence Off-Campus Clinical Research Facility

The Lawrence facility has ~7,500 square feet with a large reception area, five offices, three exam rooms, three meeting rooms for group sessions, a kitchen for food preparation, and several storage rooms. A 1,000 sq. ft. exercise area is dedicated to research investigations and has extensive audio and video entertainment packages to aid subject compliance. The exercise facility contains treadmills, steppers, stationary bicycles, and resistance exercise. Located adjacent to the exercise areas are handicap accessible lockers and showers for men and women.

A primary role for this site includes the Kansas Weight Management Program (KWMP), which is an ongoing clinical research program that provides service to overweight and obese individuals and explores new paradigms for weight loss and maintenance.

KU-Lawrence On-Campus Cafeteria

The EBL occupies approximately 300 square feet in the main KU cafeteria (Ekdalh Dinning Commons) for controlled or ad libitum feeding trials. Dietary intake is measured using digital image plate waste methodology and recalls. All necessary support items are stored on-site, i.e., food models, serving utensils, computers, etc. Two laptop computers are used for data entry. Digital cameras are used to obtain permanent records of food intake. The images are stored on secure EBL servers for future analysis using Nutritional Data System for Research software.  

KUMC On-Campus Laboratory

The KUMC on-campus laboratory is a separate clinical research facility within the Kirmayer Fitness Center at KUMC.

This 7500 square foot facility was completed in the Spring of 2012.  Like the KU-Lawrence off-campus clinical research facility described above, this facility blends research and KWMP.

There is an 800 square foot waiting room, 6 offices, a suite for project coordinators, supervised exercise area for both endurance and resistance training, 4 exam rooms (~120 square feet each), DEXA, indirect calorimetry, biochemistry, kitchen, conference/meeting room, showers and lockers. 

Exercise equipment includes treadmills, steppers, stationary bicycles, and resistance exercise machines. The exercise area has extensive audio and video entertainment packages to aid subject compliance.

Located adjacent to the exercise area are handicap accessible lockers and showers for men and women. It was constructed specifically for weight management and energy balance studies. With the exception of the calorimeter, this facility has the same capacities as the EBL (described above). 

KUMC Endowment Building

In January 2016 we obtained 2,000 square feet of space in the Foundation Building located just south (~50 yards) of the KUMC on-campus laboratory described above. It contains 6 offices, a large cubicle area with 8 work stations, a small kitchen, and a large conference/meeting room. CPAWM personnel occupy offices and we conduct individual counseling and group meetings for KWMP and other research projects in this space.

Computer

The CPAWM owns and operates a networked infrastructure of servers and workstations for research purposes. IT personnel are on staff to perform maintenance and upgrades on technology resources.  Three Dell PowerEdge servers are maintained at a restricted-access campus data center.  The datacenter environment and hosting platform is protected from power interruption and is compliant with HIPAA, PCI, FERPA, SOX, FACTA, and GLBA.

Network links to the servers are protected by a HIPAA-compliant firewall and intrusion protection system. All servers are completely backed up each week and have an incremental backup performed every night. Access to server file and print resources is controlled by Windows security through Active Directory user accounts and group membership. Account activation and group membership changes are completed only with approval from the research director. Accounts and groups are audited quarterly.

All servers and workstations are set to automatically download and install Windows updates and security patches. All servers and workstations are also protected by campus antivirus software which updates automatically on a daily basis. All offices are equipped with modern Dell workstations with internet, campus network, and server resource access. Network printers are available on-site for printing needs.

Office

All offices have adequate storage, filing, phone, etc. Photocopy support, telephone, internet access, email, and fax services are provided at the CPAWM clinic sites. All offices have desktop or laptop computers as described above.

Equipment

CPAWM has over $2 million invested in research equipment (whole-room calorimeter, metabolic carts, DEXA etc.). 

Standard Clinic Exam Room

The standard clinic exam room will have 2 chairs, one for the participant and one for the clinician, an examination table, blood pressure machine, wall-mounted electronic medical record, and a circumference tape. Each clinic has a calibrated scale located within the exam rooms.