Nicolas Stettler, MD, MSCE
| Office Location | North 1559, CHOP |
| Office Phone | 215-590-1686 |
| nstettle@upenn.edu | |
| Personal Website | http://www.chop.edu/consumer/pat_care_fam_serv/staff_profile_page.jsp?id=47929 |
Faculty Information | |
| CCEB Appointment | Senior Scholar, Epidemiology |
| Primary Faculty Appointment | Associate Professor of Pediatrics, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition, University of Pennsylvania SOM/CHOP |
| DBE Appointment | Associate Professor of Epidemiology |
Research Statement
I am a pediatrician trained in nutrition, tropical medicine and epidemiology. My research focus centers on the epidemiology and prevention of obesity and related cardiovascular risk factors. I am particularly interested in the causes and consequences of obesity over the lifecourse. To understand these risk factors, I work on observational data from several populations: a group of African Americans from Philadelphia, pediatric patients of community health centers, school children from the Seychelles (Indian Ocean) and from Switzerland, as well as children with Down syndrome. My team is starting the implementation of a NIH-funded randomized trial, the “Smart Step” study, aimed at preventing pediatric obesity through a behavioral intervention delivered by trained physicians and nurses in 24 primary care practices. I also study the nutritional status of children with chronic disease, and the factors associated with malnutrition in African children. I am a senior scholar at the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
In order to investigate the determinants of obesity and other chronic diseases present in childhood, I mainly use the tools provided by epidemiology, such as longitudinal cohort studies of children and randomized trials. I also use the tools necessary to determine the nutritional status and body composition of children, such as anthropometry, DXA, and selected blood tests. The measurement of energy balance is done in my studies by indirect calorimetry, doubly labeled water and dietary intake assessment.
Courses Taught
Instructor, EP 560: Issues in Research Protocol Development
Instructor, MD309: Clinical Evaluative Sciences I
Selected Publications
Stettler N, Elliott MR, Kallan MJ, Auerbach SB, Kumanyika SK. High prevalence of overweight among pediatric users of community health centers. Pediatrics 116(3):381-8, 2005.
Stettler N, Stallings V, Troxel AB, Jing Z, Schinnar R, Nelson SE, Ziegler EE, Strom BL. Weight gain in the first week of life and overweight in adulthood: a cohort study of European American subjects fed infant formula. Circulation111:1897-1903, 2005.
O'Neill KL, Shults J, Stallings VA, Stettler N. Child-feeding practices in children with down syndrome and their siblings. Journal of Pediatrics 146:234-238, 2005.
Stettler, N., Zemel, B.M., Kumanyika, S., Stallings, V.A.: Infant weight gain and childhood overweight status in a multicenter, cohort study. Pediatrics 109:194-199, 2002.
Goma Epidemiology Group: Public health impact of Rwandan refugee crisis: what happened in Goma, Zaire, in July, 1994? Lancet 345:339-344, 1995.
