Nutrition/Infection Program Announcement Partly Sponsored By ODS
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
Research on the relationship between nutrition and infection is being sought by the National Institutes of Health, according to a program announcement released Aug. 29.
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Research on the relationship between nutrition and infection is being sought by the National Institutes of Health, according to a program announcement released Aug. 29. The announcement invites "grant applications to investigate basic, epidemiological and clinical research on nutrition (including dietary supplements) and infection." "Mechanistic studies aimed at understanding the molecular and cellular connections between nutrition and infections, immunity and inflammation are especially needed," the announcement notes. Researchers are encouraged to draw on expertise from the fields of nutrition, microbiology and immunology to explore these connections. Sponsored by the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, and Office of Dietary Supplements, the program responds, in part, to an NIH workshop on "Nutrition and Oral Infectious Disease" held in Boston last November. Data addressed in the workshop suggested that poor nutritional status can influence the incidence and severity of infectious disease. Furthermore, clinical studies show there is a "strong association between nutritional impairment and the development of chronic diseases...such as cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes," the announcement says. However, "very little is known about the mechanisms" by which nutrition-related immunosuppression leads to greater susceptibility to infection. Therefore, NIH suggests research address the role of "newer concepts such as the direct effects of nutrients on the genetic composition of microbes." Examples of research topics include examinations of the "direct effect of nutrients on pathogen virulence" and of the "effects of dietary intervention with specific nutrients on the immune system." Research will be supported through R01 and R21 grants and NIH will accept applications through Sept. 1, 2004. Proposed R01 applications should not exceed five years and R21 applications should not exceed two years. R21 budget requests should not go over $100,000 in direct costs per year. |