In an effort to better connect the dots linking healthy nutrition, learning and memory, Abbott Nutrition and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) recently announced a joint multi-disciplinary nutrition and cognition research center called The Center for Nutrition, Learning, and Memory. The facility, located on the Urbana campus, will lead directed and solicited research on the impact of nutrition on learning and memory in the human brain.
 
In an interview with Nutraceuticals World, Robert Miller, PhD, Abbott Nutrition’s divisional vice president of research and development and scientific affairs, said the partnership was a natural extension that built on more than 20 years of scientific partnership between Abbott and the University. Previous joint developments between the two entities led to the foundational patented technologies for the nutritional supplement Jevity and Glucerna product families for diabetes.
 
This new, more formal partnership will combine Abbott Nutrition’s clinical nutrition science competencies (including patents, exclusive agreements and capabilities and researchers) with UIUC’s neuroscience, imaging and nutrition technologies and researchers from a broad range of disciplines. Specifically, the Center will utilize the Urbana campus’ Institute for Genomic Biology and Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, in addition to the University’s Division of Nutritional Sciences and Neuroscience Program.
 
“Enhancing learning and memory through nutrition could have truly transformative effects on childhood development and resisting the effects of aging and disease,” said Illinois Professor Neal Cohen, PhD, director of the Neuroscience Program, and a director of the new Center.
 
The goal of the union, according to Dr. Miller, is to cultivate nutrition science discoveries capable of being translated into future product development and therapies. “It is hoped the Center will take the field of nutritional science research into new territory with a focus on multi-disciplinary research and resources, including leading-edge brain imaging and supercomputing technologies, which have rarely been applied to nutrition science research,” he said. “We expect this collaboration will result in the eventual development of innovative nutritional products that have the potential to impact healthcare and improve quality of life across the lifespan.”
 
The Center’s first order of business was a call for research proposals, which closed on January 6. “The goal of the research competition is to fund novel, multi-disciplinary research that explores the effects of nutritional enhancement on learning and memory, as well as the development of nutritional compounds to enhance learning and memory at different stages within the lifespan,” Dr. Miller explained. “Abbott is making a multi-year, multi-million dollar investment into this program; the grants will be distributed on a competitive basis through an annual call for proposals. However, final funding will be driven by the amount and quality of the proposals submitted.”
 
He added that funding would be awarded in two funding brackets, both of which have proposed terms of one to three years: up to $200,000 (direct and indirect costs) per year for “more modest and/or preliminary” projects, and up to $1 million (direct and indirect costs) per year for “more ambitious and integrative” projects. Abbott would also retain the right to exclusively license any technology that is developed or discovered through research funded by the program.
 
When asked if there were any specifics conditions or consumer age groups he expected the Center to address with future research efforts, Dr. Miller said he anticipated there to be a broad scope related to nutrition’s impact on learning and memory, as well as the development of nutritional compounds to enhance learning and memory at different stages across the lifespan. “The lifetime impact of early cognitive development, the desire for a more productive life and the wish to extend cognitive function longer frame the lifelong challenge,” he said. “Outcomes from the research competition will be the building blocks leading to new nutritional products or ingredients designed to address consumer interest for functional foods and to address learning, memory and brain health.”
 
All research proposals must be submitted through UIUC faculty. For those who wish to be involved from a global perspective but are not members of the UIUC campus, the executive committee can help facilitate partnerships with researchers from UIUC. For additional information about the program, follow this link.