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A University of Colorado professor who launched a global campaign to fight obesity accepted $550,000 from the Coca-Cola Co., traveled the world at company expense on speaking engagements and solicited a job at the soft-drink giant for his son. James Hill, a nutrition expert who directs the Anschutz Health and Wellness Center, also obtained Coca-Cola's help to run conferences for journalists that sought to "balance" an obesity debate focused on sugary drinks and featured a speaker who disparaged soda taxes. The Coca-Cola connection highlights the secrecy surrounding much of the corporate money pouring into CU's prestigious Anschutz medical campus. In addition to the money it paid directly to Hill, not through the university, Coca-Cola donated $1 million to CU Anschutz to help Hill spread his message through a group called the Global Energy Balance Network. That was classified as a private gift to the university's foundation, protected by state law from disclosure unless the donor consents. The CU foundation has accepted $50.7 million in such gifts from a thousand corporations in the past five fiscal years, a small amount of which may be directed to research. On the research front, CU Anschutz has spent $183 million from corporate and other nongovernment sponsors since 2011. The university says these amounts pale in comparison with the money coming from federal agencies, which account for 73 percent of CU Anschutz's research dollars. University officials also emphasize that research projects, unlike the Coke gift, must pass a strict series of protocols to determine their public health potential. The university discloses the amounts paid by research sponsors, but confidentiality clauses commonly protect the nature of their work. A review of CU Anschutz records by The Denver Post found those sponsors included a cigarette maker and a company whose experimental drug, which was not related to the CU research, may have hastened the deaths of ovarian cancer patients. The Post also found that distinctions between philanthropy, public health research and corporate interests can get blurred. For example, Hill's research on diet and nutrition attracted Coca-Cola's interest long before the company made a philanthropic donation to his global project. He also serves as the principal investigator in a study that examines beef as a sole source of red meat protein in a diet. That research is co-sponsored by the National Cattlemen's Beef Association, according to a clinical trials database. The university returned the $1 million gift from Coca-Cola. It says senior leaders made that decision because the company "was redirecting the dialogue" from a scientific discussion about the causes of obesity. On Nov. 30, Hill announced that the Global Energy Balance Network was disbanding. Its collapse came three months after The New York Times reported the previously undisclosed gift. University officials classified Coke's gift as "unrestricted," with no limitations on how it was to be used. Yet the money was given "for the purpose of funding" the network, they said. Coke said it paid Hill $550,000 separately starting in 2010 for various purposes. "This reflects work with Dr. Hill prior to the establishment of Global Energy Balance Network. These funds paid for honoraria, travel, education activities and research on weight management," company spokesman Ben Sheid ler said. During that time, Hill traveled at the company's invitation to Mexico, Grenada, England, Australia and New Zealand, according to e-mail records. Coke also paid for his wife's trip to Australia and New Zealand. In 2013, Hill asked a Coca-Cola vice president if she could find a job for his youngest son. "I am totally biased but this kid is something special. He is very interested in spending a couple of years in D.C. doing something related to international affairs/politics," Hill wrote in an e-mail to Rhona Applebaum, then the company's chief science officer. "I know you spend a fair amount of time in DC and work with your staff there. Does Coca Cola ever have any positions (interns maybe) for something like this." "I will make this happen!" Applebaum replied. "When is he available? Does he have a CV?" After Hill supplied a résumé, she added, "So we are looking at September for him to start? If nothing becomes available via Dept of State, etc?" Applebaum has retired from Coca-Cola, and the company is not replacing her, Sheidler said. Hill declined to be interviewed but responded to questions by e-mail. Hill said Coca-Cola's support allowed him "to present research to other scientists and to encourage physical activity and responsible eating habits." He said he no longer makes presentations at Coca-Cola's request, he reported income from the company in compliance with university guidelines, and his son did not take a job with Coca-Cola. He gave nine lectures during his trip to Australia and New Zealand, including a presentation at a major university, he said, and Coca-Cola paid for his wife's travels in lieu of an honorarium. Colorado Ethics Watch director Luis Toro said Hill's trips may conflict with a state law limiting corporate gifts to public employees. "The most problematic thing here is the travel," he said. "That is the biggest red flag." Richard Traystman, vice chancellor for research at CU Anschutz, draws a sharp distinction between gifts from corporations such as the Coke money, and corporate-sponsored research. Every research proposal must be approved by a large review committee, he said, and a group of scientists evaluates its effects on patients halfway through the research. "Is it meritorious? Is it appropriate? Is it really good science, which is what we want," he said. CU Anschutz's research ranges from Alzheimer's disease and heart attacks to cystic fibrosis in children. Corporate-sponsored grants amount to just 10 percent of the research funds coming to CU Anschutz, which gets most of its money from the National Institutes for Health and other federal agencies, Traystman said. Drug companies may request confidentiality for competitive reasons at any research institution, but completed studies rarely go unpublished, Traystman said. "Industry plays an important role," he said. "The only role? Not close." To probe the nature of CU Anschutz's research activities, The Post requested project records concerning five sponsors. The university replied that three of the five — Telik Inc., Pinnacol Assurance and drug company Amgen — were protected by confidentiality agreements.
