{"id":32238,"date":"2026-08-26T15:25:53","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T20:25:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ahs.uic.edu\/inside-ahs\/?post_type=news&#038;p=32238"},"modified":"2026-08-26T15:25:53","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T20:25:53","slug":"nih-highlighted-topic-advancing-nutrition-research-to-inform-regulatory-practice","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/ahs.uic.edu\/inside-ahs\/news-stories\/nih-highlighted-topic-advancing-nutrition-research-to-inform-regulatory-practice\/","title":{"rendered":"NIH Highlighted Topic: Advancing Nutrition Research to Inform Regulatory Practice"},"template":"","news_categories":[17,18],"news_tags":[],"class_list":["post-32238","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry","news_categories-grants","news_categories-research"],"acf":{"intro_text_subtitle":"","hide_subtitle":false,"intro_text_body":"<p>With diet-related chronic diseases continually rising, it is imperative that the NIH invest in gold standard science to advance our understanding of their root causes. Part of this effort includes cross-governmental efforts. As an example, the NIH and FDA are partnering on a comprehensive nutrition research agenda aimed at safeguarding the health of all Americans.<\/p>\n<p>Priority research areas include but are not limited to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ultra-processed foods\n<ul>\n<li>Characteristics of highly processed foods (e.g., ingredients, specific additives, processing steps, food matrix alterations, etc.) are most predictive of adverse health outcomes<\/li>\n<li>Mechanisms by which foods classified as ultra-processed adversely affect health<\/li>\n<li>Attributes other than processing or formulation, such as energy density or palatability, might be used to characterize a food as ultra-processed<\/li>\n<li>How certain food additives might affect metabolic health<\/li>\n<li>Determining if there are objective biomarkers of exposure to highly processed foods that are linked to negative health outcomes<\/li>\n<li>How highly-processed foods might affect satiety hormones, appetite regulation, and energy homeostasis compared to minimally processed alternatives<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Early life nutrition and feeding practices\n<ul>\n<li>Role of maternal and infant dietary exposures on health outcomes (including cognitive, neurodevelopmental, microbiome and metabolic) across the lifespan<\/li>\n<li>How standardized approaches for evaluating the function and safety of bioactive infant formula ingredients might be developed<\/li>\n<li>What differences, if any, in physiological and biochemical outcomes are seen between formula-fed and breast-fed infants<\/li>\n<li>Role of Human Milk Oligosaccharides on the gut microbiome, immune system development, and neurocognitive development<\/li>\n<li>Mechanisms underlying severe intestinal inflammatory disease in preterm and term infants that connect biological pathways to disease progression<\/li>\n<li>Variability in human milk composition and volume between mother-infant dyads during different phases of lactation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Nutrition and toxicology\n<ul>\n<li>Exposure of infants and young children to heavy metals and other contaminants and the sources of those exposures<\/li>\n<li>How ratios of nutrients to heavy metals relate to internal biomarkers of exposures and health endpoints<\/li>\n<li>Bioavailability of contaminants in foods and how nutritional deficiencies might impact bioavailability<\/li>\n<li>Whether there are moderating effects of nutrients in food that may impact the influence of heavy metals on child health<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>See more information <a href=\"https:\/\/grants.nih.gov\/funding\/find-a-fit-for-your-research\/highlighted-topics\/48\">here,<\/a> including participating NIH Institutes\/Centers and their specific interests relating to the Highlighted Topic.<\/p>\n<p>Apply to a\u00a0highlighted topic\u00a0through an appropriate <a class=\"x_x_x_OWAAutoLink\" title=\"https:\/\/grants.nih.gov\/funding\/nih-guide-for-grants-and-contracts\/parent-announcements\" href=\"https:\/\/grants.nih.gov\/funding\/nih-guide-for-grants-and-contracts\/parent-announcements\">NIH Parent Funding Announcement<\/a>\u00a0or another broad NIH opportunity available on <a class=\"x_x_x_new-domain x_x_x_OWAAutoLink\" title=\"https:\/\/grants.gov\/\" href=\"https:\/\/grants.gov\/\">Grants.gov<\/a>. Learn how to interpret and use <a class=\"x_x_x_OWAAutoLink\" title=\"https:\/\/grants.nih.gov\/funding\/find-a-fit-for-your-research\/highlighted-topics\" href=\"https:\/\/grants.nih.gov\/funding\/find-a-fit-for-your-research\/highlighted-topics\">Highlighted Topics<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Please contact <a href=\"mailto:kcielo@uic.edu\">Dr. Karen Cielo<\/a>,\u00a0Director of Research Development, if you are interested in applying or would like to discuss the opportunity.<\/p>\n","intro_text_excerpt":"","content_author":"Karen Cielo","content_sticky":false,"intro_text_include_image":false,"news_include_thumbnail":false,"components":false,"SEO_meta_description":"","intro_text_image":false,"intro_text_image_alt_text":"","intro_text_image_caption":"","intro_text_image_attribution":""},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ahs.uic.edu\/inside-ahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/32238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ahs.uic.edu\/inside-ahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ahs.uic.edu\/inside-ahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ahs.uic.edu\/inside-ahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/32238\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32239,"href":"https:\/\/ahs.uic.edu\/inside-ahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/32238\/revisions\/32239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ahs.uic.edu\/inside-ahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news_categories","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ahs.uic.edu\/inside-ahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_categories?post=32238"},{"taxonomy":"news_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ahs.uic.edu\/inside-ahs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news_tags?post=32238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}