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Science Platforms > Health Promoting Foods Faculty and Research Scientists Indika Edirisinghe (from University of Rochester, NY) will be joining NCFST March 31, 2008 Health Promoting Foods Mission: Support the availability of safe food with health promoting properties from farm to fork The NCFST platform for Health Promoting Foods is designed to enable dialog on scientific goals for supporting claims between industry and the FDA Center for Food Safety and Nutrition (CFSAN). The existing NCFST (Center) relationship with CFSAN and industry will facilitate collaborative research on pre-competitive issues to support shared interests in developing safe foods that promote health. The Center expertise and collaboration may also be engaged in proprietary projects. The Center has an existing business model with flexible intellectual property (IP) and publication policy for privately funded projects. Nutrition Research – a multi-disciplinary, integrative approach for delivery of health promoting foods to improve public health Human Research Capability: Located on the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) campus at Research Park is the National Center for Food Safety and Technology (NCFST) Clinical Nutrition Research Center. The research center is a 5,000 square foot facility designed and dedicated for the purpose of conducting outpatient clinical research trials. The research center is resourced with appropriate clinical, laboratory and food service support for executing nutrition-related clinical trials. Facilities include accommodations for on-site subject screening and training, a metabolic kitchen for test food preparation and distribution, multiple private examination and consultation rooms as well as stations adapted for phlebotomy or catheter implantation and management. There are rooms dedicated and equipped for vitals assessment, flow-mediated dilation assessment, anthropometrics, among a number of other assessments. Two consumption rooms have been designed; one for group dining and another (separate) room for food intake, appetite and sensory evaluation. The latter is a dedicated room equipped with individual feeding stations and is light and temperature controlled. The facility also contains a separate room for specimen processing and storage and analysis of fresh sample specimens (eg., platelet function assays, RNA isolation, etc.). Analytical Lab Capability: The primary biochemical research laboratory for nutrition is located at the NCFST main facility just west of main campus in Summit-Argo, IL. The research laboratory is equipped with basic and specialized equipment to conduct an array of assays pertinent to clinical efficacy. The research lab has specific expertise and capability in measuring oxidative stress and inflammatory markers in human specimen, endothelial and platelet function in in vitro and ex vivo models, assays for gut hormone profiles (CCK, GLP-1, Ghrelin, PYY, etc.), tissue analysis, simulated digestive tract and rheological testing for food property - gut function relationships, to name a few. Collaboration with our Chemistry Department provides for bio- accessibility and -availability studies of essential and non-essential food components in mixed- and single-/minimal- ingredient preparations. The chemistry laboratories are well-equipped with a state-of-the-art UPLC-MS-MS, LC-MS-MS and several HPLC systems and GC-MS instruments. Collaboration with our Microbiology Department provides for extensive food safety evaluation and assurance of products aimed for human consumption trials. Collaboration among nutrition, microbiology and food processing will deliver science validating new or optimized product formulations, new preservation methods or alternative food processing strategies aimed to deliver better flavor, texture and nutritive quality. The Center is well-equipped with microbiological rooms, environmental chambers and sanctioned BSL-2 laboratories. In Dec. 2008, the Center will also have available a BSL-3 pilot plant and laboratory. Collaboration with the Plant Sciences Department at the University of California, Davis provides unique opportunity to align traditional breeding and innovative growing practices with processing strategy and clinical sciences to deliver foods with properties and availability of nutrients that confer protection from disease and promote overall health in humans. The Pilot Plant area consists of a 12,000 sq. ft. main floor with a high bay through the middle. The pilot plant has a range of thermal processing capabilities for in-container processed products including still, rotary and an agitated steam/air systems (Lubeca, FMC and Hisaka retorts) for cans and plastic containers. Software for process verification and modeling complements the hardware capabilities. In addition, the pilot plant contains High Pressure Processing capabilities, including units for conducting kinetic inactivation studies in small or large volumes at a range of temperatures and pressure from 4°C - 130°C and up to pressures of130,000 psi. Additional technologies include innovative uses for microwave pasteurization, cold plasma, and high-powered ultrasonics. Current Projects include:
For additional information contact: |
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