USDA plugs $25m into nutrition research facility
Davis, California, is a sign of federal commitment to fighting
obesity and chronic disease through nutrition research.
The 49,000-square-foot Western Human Nutrition Research Center (WHNRC) is housed on two acres of the University of California-Davis campus and will house the US Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service (ARS).
Public research facilities such as this one could bring positive spin-off effects for the supplement and functional food industry, as the government aims to stem national health problems at their cause.
Nearly one third of US population is obese, according to National Institute of Health statistics, and obese individuals have a 50 to 100 percent increased risk of death from all causes - most of this increased risk is due to cardiovascular causes.
The WHNRC expertise spans nutrition, exercise physiology, chemistry, immunology and specializes in exploring new and healthful ways to fight obesity.
The research center's 85 scientists, technicians and other specialists were previously housed in temporary facilities. The center is part of a nationwide network of human nutrition research centers operated by ARS.
"The scientists of WHNRC also conduct pioneering studies to discover how nutrients and nutrient-like compounds in foods and beverages can help prevent chronic diseases that are among the leading causes of death in America," said Gale Buchanan, USDA Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics. "That list includes heart disease, stroke and certain kinds of cancer."
The center's research team has increasingly focussed on nutrigenomics, the emerging field which benefits from still-unfolding discoveries in human genome research. Nutrigenomics studies bring the promise of discovering how genes influence the body's ability to absorb and use essential nutrients.
The ARS Western Human Nutrition Research Center was established at thePresidio of San Francisco in 1980. The staff relocated to Davis in 1999.
