The Mid-Atlantic NORC is a center funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) in 2005. NORC's mission is to foster multidisciplinary research approaches to understanding the impact of nutrition on risk for chronic disease and translating this knowledge into effective clinical treatments and prevention efforts. The Mid-Atlantic NORC is a collaborative effort between University of Maryland at Baltimore, University of Maryland at College Park, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, USDA Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center and Geisinger.