Department of Nutrition
University Partner Information for NCRC (in no particular order)
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) Center for Research Excellence in Bioactive Food Components(CBFC)
The UNCG Center will be housed in the UNC Nutrition Research Building at the North Carolina Research Campus (NCRC) in Kannapolis, NC and is a satellite to the UNCG Department of Nutrition, School of Human Environmental Sciences on the UNCG main campus. The focus of research to be conducted in this Center will be cellular and molecular mechanisms of action of bioactive food components, to understand molecular targets for these dietary components and expand our fundamental understanding of their benefits to human health and wellness, healthy aging, and prevention of diseases such as cancer. The specific bioactive food components to be studied will be determined based on the interests and research of the Scientists in the Center, and the research teams they will develop. The bioactives to be studied may include components of blueberries, raspberries, and other berries (flavonoids like anthocyanins that may act as antioxidants), tomatoes (lycopene that may have anticancer properties), or red wine (resveratrol that may influence heart health). For more information, see www.uncg.edu/ntr/ncrc.
The Charlotte Research Institute
The Charlotte Research Institute is the portal for business-university technology partnerships at UNC Charlotte. Building on the internationally known results of its research centers in Bioinformatics, Precision Metrology, eBusiness Technology, and Optoelectronics, CRI supports new research ventures, university partnerships with regional and national enterprises, and spin-off companies created from UNC Charlotte research results. The CRI research vision will continue to grow as emerging research initiatives, such as bioinformatics, biomedical engineering systems, and translational research, develop at UNC Charlotte. With its research centers housed in three new custom-designed buildings on the Charlotte Research Institute Campus, CRI helps companies initiate new partnerships at UNC Charlotte and offers a variety of opportunities to engage talented faculty and make use of specialized facilities that are available only at UNC Charlotte. Dr. Robert G. Wilhelm serves as Executive Director. www.charlotteresearchinstitute.org
UNC Charlotte Bioinformatics Research Center
The Bioinformatics Research Center has also taken a leadership role in developing Bioinformatics programs in collaboration with the developers of the North Carolina Research Campus, a billion-dollar, 350-acre research park that will be home to the research programs of a large number of private biotechnology companies as well as university and medical research programs. The BRC will develop a Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics at the North Carolina Research Campus at Kannapolis, eventually hiring several faculty with research interests at both locations. This will be a research, educational and service Center with a focus on the development of novel analytical methods for knowledge discovery in large biological datasets. Research at the Center will enable basic and applied researchers to ask and answer complex questions in molecular and population biology, to manage and navigate the vast data sets that are generated by modern molecular biology methods, and to translate the results into practical benefits through understanding of the interacting effects of health, nutrition, development, and behavior. Dr. Lawrence Mays serves as Director for Bioinformatics. www.bioinformatics.uncc.edu
The Nutrition Research Institute
The Nutrition Research Institute (NRI) is part of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Public Health. The NRI will use cutting edge genomic, proteomic and metabolomic biotechnology to develop innovative approaches to understanding the role of diet and activity in normal brain development, in the prevention of cancer and in the prevention and treatment of obesity and eating disorders. Specifically, the NRI will: 1. Use genomic, proteomic and metabolomic methods to characterize humans in a manner not previously possible by identifying characteristics that predispose individuals to increased requirements for specific nutrients that are known to be associated with brain development and function, protection against cancer, and maintenance of normal body weight; 2. Conduct focused research in model systems to understand the potential mechanisms and significance of these individual differences in metabolism; and 3. Use this new understanding of human metabolic individuality to develop highly targeted solutions that will include clinical and community-based interventions with the goal of optimizing brain development and function, as well as preventing cancer, obesity, and the many consequences of obesity (e.g., diabetes). For additional information on the NRI, visit www.uncnri.org.
The Center of Excellence for Post Harvest Technologies (COEPHT)
The Center of Excellence for Post Harvest Technologies (COEPHT) at the North Carolina Research Campus (NCRC), Kannapolis, North Carolina, is a research unit of the School of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (SAES), North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University, Greensboro, North Carolina. Post harvest technologies refer to interdisciplinary “Science Techniques” applied to agricultural produce after harvest for protection, conservation, processing, packaging, storing, distribution, marketing, and utilization to meet the food and nutritional requirements of consumers in relation to their needs. Post harvest technologies stimulate agricultural production, prevent post harvest losses, improve nutrition and add value to the product, thereby, opening new marketing opportunities and generating new jobs while stimulating growth in agribusiness and other related economic sectors. The process of developing post harvest technologies requires an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research approach, which includes scientific knowledge and creativity, technological innovation, commercial entrepreneurship and stakeholder inputs. The primary focus of the Center is to provide an infrastructure for multidisciplinary research programs focusing on post harvest technologies for agricultural crops and to play a lead role in developing appropriate, need-based and cost effective post harvest technologies to address related food science, nutrition, and health issues. These issues include processing and preservation, storage stability, safety and quality, composition, recovery and identification of bioactive compounds for health applications, product development, consumer research and value-added processing.
North Carolina State University (NC State Fruit and Vegetable Science Institute, FVSI)
At the NC Research Campus, NC State is extending its outstanding programs bridging basic life science research to real world agricultural applications by establishing the world's first institute dedicated to the use of genomics, bioinformatics, and systems biology to enhance plant breeding. The major focus of the NC State Institute for Fruit and Vegetable Science Institute at Kannapolis will be to increase the yield of vegetable crops in diverse growth environments, while at the same time improving nutritional quality. Our crop scientists will continue to train the next generation of plant breeders, working with geneticists who have been responsible for development of many of the most basic biological and statistical tools for mapping genes that influence horticulturally important traits. Plant pathologists will work with geneticists to devise genetic systems for avoidance of plant diseases and insects, reducing farmers' dependence on pesticides. They will be aided by state-of-the art facilities for determination of the structures of the proteins that mediate growth, resistance, and nutrient production, and for molecular imaging of cellular function. NC State has one of the nation's first degree programs in functional genomics, and an international reputation for excellence in bioinformatics in addition to the largest group of plant breeders at any university today. Finally, the Center will employ outstanding food scientists with expertise in food preservation, processing and packaging methods to complete the journey from basic research to healthy meals on the table and in children's lunchboxes.
North Carolina Central University
NCCU's Nutrition Research Program at Kannapolis will seek to complement and strengthen the metabolomics and genomics focus of the UNC Partner programs that will be conducting research in the UNC Center for Excellence in Nutrition building. NCCU’s program will utilize Transgenic Zebrafish and rodent Cancer models to assess the effects of nutritional requirements on brain development, cardiovascular disease, obesity, neurological disorders and cancer. The program will also utilize these models to investigate the potential chemopreventive action of dietary compounds or functional foods. The NCCU investigators at the NCRC will hold faculty appointments in the Julius L. Chambers Biomedical/Biotechnology Research Institute, allowing close collaboration with NCCU researchers in neuroscience, cancer biology, and cardiovascular biology. http://ariel.acc.nccu.edu/Academics/BBRI
Duke University: The Measurement to Understand Reclassification of Disease Of Cabarrus/Kannapolis Study (The M.U.R.D.O.C.K. Study)
Centered in Kannapolis, NC, under the leadership of Dr. Robert Califf, The M.U.R.D.O.C.K. Study is expected to rewrite the textbook of medicine by reclassifying health and disease using genomic technologies and electronic health records. Our current understanding of disease is based upon crude characterizations of clinical characteristics, radiographs and laboratory testing that has evolved over generations. To segment diseases more effectively, The M.U.R.D.O.C.K. Study will combine modern clinical research methodology, which has established statistical and operational standards, with dramatically more effective characterizations of genes, proteins and metabolites as well as imaging.
Using electronic health records, this improved classification will lead to demonstrable improvements in population health by elucidating the best prevention and treatment strategies for individuals and for groups of people with similar characteristics. Using the tools assembled by the David H. Murdock Research Institute Core Lab, The M.U.R.D.O.C.K. Study will generate exquisitely detailed data on individual patients that will engage the best minds in biomedical informatics and biostatistics to detect subtleties in disease that may have profound implications for prevention and medical management.
In a unique collaboration with local healthcare providers in the City of Kannapolis and greater Cabarrus and Rowan County communities, The M.U.R.D.O.C.K. Study will propose novel hypotheses and test them in clinical trials, pushing the envelope of biomedical informatics to aggregate molecular, clinical and epidemiologic data. With this deeper insight we will lead the way in comprehensively reclassifying major diseases into subpopulations with discrete risk profiles. This reclassification will delineate new strategies to manage patients as individuals and, in the process, alter the health profile of populations.
Duke University is 100% committed to collaborating with the local community and academic partners at the North Carolina Research Campus in this effort.
The Appalachian State University Human Performance Lab
Appalachian State University (ASU) will operate a Human Performance Laboratory and Exercise Biochemistry Laboratory fully equipped with 10 treadmill and 10 cycle ergometers, 5 metabolic devices, and supporting instruments to measure human metabolic responses to varying exercise workloads under specified nutritional conditions. The ASU Human Performance Laboratory will investigate the influence of unique plant molecules (e.g, flavonoids such as quercetin, luteolin, and epigallocatechin 3-gallate or EGCG) on age-related loss of muscle mass (sarcopenia), muscle mitochondrial biogenesis, and exercise-induced changes in immune function, oxidative stress, and inflammation. Flavonoids and other food components will also be tested using subjects from the general community to determine influences on disease risk factors, upper respiratory tract infection, and immune function. ASU Human Performance Laboratory personnel will include an exercise science technician, biochemist, and two junior and one senior faculty researchers, with supporting graduate students.