Exploring a Vision Integrating Knowledge for Food and Health (2004) / Chapter Skim
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3 Integrative Research Infrastructure for Food, Agriculture, and Health
3 Integrative Research Infrastructure for Food, Agriculture, and Health
Pages 23-34
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From page 23... ...
They also described recent scientific breakthroughs that have opened up new opportunities in their work, and funding and policy obstacles that hinder progress. MODEL UNIVERSITY PROGRAMS IN FOOD-HEALTH INTEGRATION Programs at the three universities represented on the panel the University of Minnesota, Cornell University, and the University of Maryland modeled some of the ideals espoused throughout the workshop: close collaboration among agricultural, medical, and ecology schools at a land-grant university; a graduate nutrition program that draws on the expertise of 35 faculty in 22 fields at a 23
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From page 24... ...
Muscoplat added that the University of Minnesota is one of the few land grant research universities that in a single metropolitan location integrates the research strengths of its College of Agricultural, Food, and Environmental Sciences; College of Human Ecology; and the seven colleges within its Academic Health Center, and has a host of programs including partnerships with government and industry that integrate agriculture, nutrition, and health research to promote better public health. Those programs include a research center dedicated to microbial and plant genomics; a biotechnology research alliance with the Mayo Clinic and the state of Minnesota; a carcinogenesis prevention program focused on discovery of naturally occurring and synthetic chemopreventive agents; an obesity center; a center for studying how plants and plant products may be used to improve human health and nutrition; the Hormel Institute, which is recognized worldwide as a center for lipid research; the Center for Spirituality and Healing, which integrates medical and spiritual aspects of care; a partnership with six tribal colleges in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin to create culture-specific nutrition-education programs in conjunction with Native American colleges; and collaborative ventures with major food manufacturers and retailers, such as General Mills and Super Value.
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From page 25... ...
He added that research would be further facilitated if USDA truly embraced a much more balanced approach that recognizes food and nutrition in addition to agriculture and if NIH embraced a greater health-promotion agenda, rather than focusing on combating disease. Nutrition Education for Physicians: One Approach The typical student entering medical school has had very little exposure to agriculture, nutrition science, and many of the health-related struggles confronting their future patients.
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From page 26... ...
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From page 28... ...
FOOD-HEALTH INTEGRATION IN A PRIVATE ENTERPRISE Eric Gugger, Technical Manager of the Nutrition Science Group at the General Mills' Bell Institute of Health and Nutrition, provided an industry perspective on the types of nutrition-related research sponsored and funded by food companies, sometimes in partnership with universities and other entities. He also explained how consumer interest has led the food manufacturer to use health claims to help market its products.
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From page 29... ...
They do not want to pay more for health benefits, however, and are not interested in products targeted specifically to health benefits or that contain additional ingredients that produce health benefits. "Scientific research is the foundation of our health messages," Gugger said, noting that the company relies on published studies in addition to companyfunded research.
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From page 30... ...
A MODEL FOR INTEGRATING TWO DISCIPLINES John Linehan, Vice President for Biomedical Engineering Programs at the Whitaker Foundation, described how the private, nonprofit foundation served as a catalyst for the development of a new interdisciplinary field of study biomedical engineering that has since become a major discipline in many colleges and universities and has led to important breakthroughs in the study of genetics. The foundation efforts to promote biomedical engineering served as a springboard for discussion of the integration of such fields as agriculture and public health, and some participants later cited the foundation's achievements and methods as a possible model.
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From page 31... ...
One example is the 1998 creation of a new biomedical engineering department that bridges Georgia Institute of Technology's College of Engineering and Emory University's School of Medicine; it now has over 20 active faculty members. Linehan emphasized the catalytic role of new technologies that are driving bioengineering, in such fields as cell signaling, functional genomics, and highthroughput phenotyping.
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From page 32... ...
Preventive therapies that include nutrition strategies will be used increasingly as scientists gain further insight into singlenucleotide polymorphisms, haplotypes, and other epigenetic changes that will help us understand individual and population risks of diet-related diseases. Agricultural Production Policies Agricultural policies have inadvertently resulted in some adverse consequences for the United States, on public health, the ecosystem, world trade, and rural communities.
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From page 33... ...
Muscoplat pointed out that modifying human behavior with regard to diet and health has proved far more challenging than expected taste, convenience, abundance, and price all complicate lifestyle choices. He reminded listeners that low-fat diet recommendations intended to reduce heart disease and other dietrelated major diseases were put out 30 years ago, and that rates of obesity have since increased significantly.
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From page 34... ...
Linehan directed attendees to a symposium on promoting team research that BECON recently organized.3i Some audience members and panelists suggested that the National Academies had the opportunity to set examples of better integration of agriculture and nutrition. The National Academies' newly launched partnership with the Reck Foundation to push the frontiers of science through a joint program of focused symposia and seed grants may be a useful platform for advancing interdisciplinary food and health research, some participants offered.
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