Goran Lab: About the Lab

The Goran lab aims to understand the role of nutrition in the development of childhood obesity and associated outcomes such as type 2 diabetes and fatty liver disease—as well as the links between early diet and gut microbiome development and brain development—and how these factors might be different among Latinos.

Fat accumulation during infancy places children at a higher risk of developing diabetes, heart disease and fatty liver disease later in life. In particular, prior studies show that increased exposure to added sugars in the diet during infancy can have major adverse effects on development. Our research examines how novel dietary interventions may reverse this relationship.

Research Projects and Funding

We receive funding for our projects from several organizations. Our current and recently funded projects include:

Home intervention for reducing sugary drinks and obesity in Hispanic women and infants

  • Funder: National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)
  • Funding period: Funded through 2023

This study will determine whether reducing sugary beverage consumption during the post-partum period and infancy is effective for improving obesity and metabolic outcomes in Hispanic mothers and infants. This information will support public health/policy efforts using a life-course/family approach for reducing obesity and metabolic risk in this high-risk population, starting in early life, and incorporation of these strategies into existing federally supported home visit programs.

Impact of sugars and human milk oligosaccharides on infant microbiome, obesity and brain development

  • Funder: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
  • Funding period: Funded through 2025

This is an ongoing longitudinal cohort study that has been following several hundred Latino mothers and their children since birth. In the current funding period, we are examining the impact of early feeding and breast milk oligosaccharides on obesity, the gut microbiome and brain development using magnetic resonance imaging at age 6 years.

Southern California Center for Latino Health

  • Funder: National Institute of Minority Health Disparities (NIMHD)
  • Funding period: Funded through 2026

Southern California consists of 10 contiguous Counties and is home to 10.8 million Latinos (representing 45.2% of the population) who are disproportionally affected by multiple and co-occurring chronic diseases, namely obesity, type 2 diabetes, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, and dyslipidemia. This disparity begins to develop early in life, occurs within families, is magnified by inter-generational transmission, and is driven by multi-level factors including diet, cultural values, social determinants, economic factors, and environmental conditions like access to healthy foods and chemical exposures such as air pollution.

Our overall goal is to understand how the complex interplay between these factors contribute to multiple chronic disease disparities in Latinos across the life course, and to develop and evaluate the acceptance, delivery, and clinical efficacy of family-based, culturally sensitive solutions.The center supports three main projects, an Administrative Core, a Methods and Data Core, a Community Engagement Core and an Investigator Development Core.

Early Life Social, Environmental and Nutritional Determinants of Disease

  • Funder: National Institute of Minority Health Disparities (NIMHD)
  • Funding period: Funded through 2026

Nutrigenetic intervention to reduce liver fat in Hispanics

  • Funder: National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)
  • Funding period: Funding ended in 2021

This funding supported a randomized clinical trial to examine the effects of dietary sugar reduction and PNPLA3 genotype on liver fat reduction in Latino teens with obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease.

Learn more about our research.