US-EC cooperation in the area of obesity and nutritional sciences research

Transcription

1 US-EC cooperation in the area of obesity and nutritional sciences research 21th meeting of the EC-US Task Force on Biotechnology Research 24 June 2011 Washington D.C., U.S. Isabelle de Froidmont-Görtz European Commission, DG Research Directorate E Biotechnologies, Agriculture, Food, Unit E3 Food Health- Well-being Van S. Hubbard National Institutes of Health U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

2 Why research in malnutrition? World facing contradictory major nutritional problems : 900 M undernourished people and 300 M obese Undernutrition is number one risk to health worlwide 1/7 people do not get enough food to be healthy and active Obesity is a major public health concern in developed and developing countries Life style (diet and activity) related diseases such as obesity are a risk factor for many serious illnesses => prevention and better understanding of the socio-economic determinants Impact on economic growth and sustainable development

3 Socio-economic determinants of obesity Multi-factorial aspects influencing Food Choice and consequently health 3 consumer public policies education nutrition labelling food availability prices life style income disparities gender Food Choice genetic predisposition emotions cultural factors food accessibility Uninformed food choice and/or unbalanced diet may negatively influence human health High public health and social costs Sound scientific basis needed to: - enable clear communication towards consumer - to identify tools to improve advice towards policy makers

4 Symposium at 6th annual meeting of ISBNPA: Neuroimaging and its potential application to the study of food intake (June 2008, OSLO, NO)

5 Supplement to Annals of Behavioral Medicine:August 09

6 2009 Workshop EC-US workshop "Early life programming of obesity - A satellite congress of ECO May 2009 in Noordwijkerhout, NL

7 Workshop on new technologies and innovations to tackle obesity - Brussels, 16 November 2010 Objectives Highlight existing strategies and the current state of the art in obesity research in Europe and US Identify major research gaps and how international collaboration can help to address societal challenge at the global level to improve health and reduce prevalence of obesity and associated chronic non-communicable diseases Consider the strengths and possible barriers of the application of new technologies and innovations for new food development

8 Workshop Organisation 3 sessions Session 1: Setting the strategies Session 2: Impact of childhood nutrition on obesity risk Session 3: Converging technologies, innovations to tackle obesity

9 Future research To explore the foetal programming as a major long-term impact factor for obesity and diet related diseases. To analyze the long term effects of chemical toxicants on diet related diseases. To develop knowledge on systemic inflammatory cytokines and inflammatory cell infiltration associated with obesity in adipose tissue. To define a "healthy gut microbiome, its ability to utilize or metabolize macronutrients, influence energy expenditure as well as study the lifestyle factors influencing it. To develop and investigate genotype-specific diets in weight loss/ maintenance => personalised nutrition. To emphasize research on social determinants of life style (diet and activity) related diseases to help address social and health disparities. To study the effect of behaviour change from the perinatal period, including role of mother& father regarding habits and taste/determinants and process of decision making by families. 9

10 Main outcomes of past activities Main outcomes of past activities Publications of topics identified during the workshops Facilitate and encourage the EC-US collaborations of scientists Interactions with research funding agencies and other institutions (NIH, USDA, NSF, JIFCAN, University of Maryland, IFPRI, World Bank) to stimulate greater interaction on research initiatives and collaborations and to foster dialogue upon obesity and nutritional sciences

11 Example of FP7 Obesity Projects NEURO FAST : The Integrated Neurobiology of Food Intake, Addiction and Stress (6 M ) EARLY NUTRITION: Long term impact of early nutrition on later health (9 M ) FULL4HEALTH: Understanding food-gut-brain mechanisms across the lifespan in the regulation of hunger and satiety (9M ) HAB-EAT: Determining factors and critical periods in food habit formation and breaking in early childhood: a multidisciplinary approach (3M ) I.FAMILY: Determinants of eating behaviour in European children, adolescents and their parents (6M )

12 12 WORK PROGRAMME 2012 ACTIVITY 2.2 Eco-innovation, Food industry, prevention diet-related diseases and disorders EFFECT OF LIFESTYLE ON HEALTH BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS IMPACT OF LABELLING ON BEHAVIOUR PERSONALISED NUTRITION SAFETY AND QUALITY OF SEAFOOD FOOD ALLERGY MICROBIOLOGICALLY SAFE WATER Consumer Nutrition Food processing Food quality and safety Total food chain and Environment

13 Gap Analysis Research in nutrition and health Study mechanisms underlying development of diet-related diseases Develop new and optimise existing tools & technologies Support the setting of open access data banks harmonise methodologies for data collection, entry and data handling Better understand effect of nutrition and lifestyle factors (physical activity, depression, stress, addiction, sleep, etc.) on mental and physical health and well-being

14 Main directions of research in Food and Health Consumers Nutrition Determinants of food choice Communication and education strategies Neurobiology of eating behaviour Prevention of diet-related disorders Foods with human nutritional and health benefits New tools and concepts in nutrition science Nutrition ecology / sustainable eating habits

15 Converging technologies and multi-disciplinary approaches 15 Omics: nutrigenomics, metabolomics,proteomics : mol. interaction and metabolic pathways Bioinformatics : Building coherent models for physiology Micro-nanotechnologies: structure, device (biosensors), materials (packaging) (Neuro)-imaging Tech: rewarding/satiety/addiction. MRI, SCANER, PET

16 Planned activities Share plans for the development of respective initiatives Exchange of information for opportunities of international collaboration to encourage US and EC investigators to have dialogue and develop collaborations Identify new and cutting edge common research topics Coordinate calls and announce them on respective US and EC funding web pages Co-organise or participate in the organisation of workshops with added value for transatlantic cooperation Exploiration of synergies with other task force groups such as system biology 16

17 Potential successful interactions Following review of projects submited in response of the FP7 initiative on Long-term effects of early nutrition on later health, 5 U.S partner institutions have been identified as partners of approximately 30 European institutions. Final decision on the funding of the U.S. partners is awaiting review by NIH. A follow-up study to a prior clinical study entitled Hperglycemia and Adverse Pregnancy Outcome (HAPO), which included a number of European sites, has been submitted. The goal is to access the effect of the range of maternal glucose during pregnancy on maternal glucose tolerance and childhood adiposity (all levels below the diagnostic level for overt diabetes). 17

18 Future activities Workshop in collaboration with European Association of Study on Obesity, The Obesity Society (North America), Commission Dir E and F Objective : to establish a roadmap for obesity research (under discussion) 18