The Pennington Biomedical Research Center is rolling out a new wellness program for the public that will provide clients with access to Pennington’s research expertise and advanced state-of-the-art technology to assist them with weight loss, wellness and sustained weight management. The Elite Health and Wellness Program, as it is called, runs for 24 weeks and has two levels of services: one costing $4,000; the other, $6,000.
The program is the first of its kind for Pennington and represents a new business model for the research institution, which has struggled for years to develop a sustainable funding stream and monetize the R&D that comes from its researchers.
“Research institutions everywhere are struggling to figure out how to really complement their other sources of research funding, like grants,” says David Winwood, chief business development officer at Pennington. “We do well in that but it is a tight market so we feel this is one area where we can open up and bring in some other opportunities.”
Louisiana is a particularly fertile market for the program. Just Thursday, a new study showed the adult obesity rate in the state was 34.9% last year, the fourth-highest among all states. And a study earlier this year ranked Baton Rouge as having the highest obesity rate—also at 34.9%—among the nation’s 100 largest metro areas.
Pennington’s primary area of expertise is in diabetes and obesity research, so marketing that expertise to a needy population seemed like a no-brainer.
“We have years of clinical trials experience and we’re one of the best known in the world,” Winwood says. “This is making the capabilities we’ve discovered over the year available to an audience that is likely to see the value of it.”
The program is administered by an in-house team of weight loss, wellness and health experts, who measure and monitor a variety of diagnostics such as aerobic fitness, joint strength, response to sugar, and oxygen consumption rate as well as more basic health measures such as cholesterol and blood pressure.
“A lot of people are interested in the program,” says Robert Leonhard, Elite Health and Wellness program manager. “I’m hearing from people who are not only interested in losing weight but in improving their health.”
Pennington quietly piloted the program two months ago and already several clients are enrolled. It is currently accepting more participants and eventually hopes to have as many as 40 in the program.
If all goes well, the Elite Health and Wellness Program could be the first of other revenue-generating programs at Pennington.
“We’ll be very interested in looking at what else can we do that would leverage our expertise and capability beyond that of a research provider and into a service provider in the community,” Winwood says.
—Stephanie Riegel
