Conservative estimates show that upwards of $110 million in grants
that support the objectives of the Healthy Foods, Healthy Lives initiative
have been awarded to faculty members since the inception of the initiative
in October 2002. This achievement emphasizes the quality of faculty members’ research and their ability to successfully pursue research funding opportunities –
it also emphasizes the breadth of University work that has been more intentionally integrated through the presidential initiative.
The initiative has significantly leveraged funds, given that the University investment in the initiative to date is $1,275,000 recurring and $93,000 nonrecurring. Grants awards are supported by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Homeland Security, National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the American Heart Association, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the McKnight Foundation, the Sloan Foundation, and others.
Key successes include:
o Food Agro-security center award. The University’s National Center for Food Protection and Defense was established in April 2004 as one of three Homeland Security Centers of Excellence with a three-year, $15 million grant.
o Obesity ‘consortium.’ Includes the long-standing Minnesota Obesity
Center, a collaboration of the University and the Minneapolis Veterans Hospital, and the University’s new Obesity Prevention Center, which has received $40 million in new extramural funding through eight grants since its inception in 2004.
o Food Safety Research and Response Network. Faculty members are part of a multi-institution, multidisciplinary team investigating prevalent food-related illness pathogens under a $5 million USDA grant.
o Sequencing genome of model legume. The University received a $10.8
million National Science Foundation award in 2003 to sequence the genome of Medicago truncatula, a model for soybeans, mung beans, chickpeas, cowpeas and lentils that constitute the major source of protein for people throughout the developing world. Legumes include phytoestrogens and isoflavones that have been linked to many health benefits.
o National site for animal disease research. A 2004 USDA grant of $8.8
million over four years supports research on Johne’s disease in cattle and Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome in swine. Research will support safe, high-quality and economical production of milk and pork.
o Other awards include:
§ Link between environmental factors and obesity – a walkability investigation.
§ School- and family-based interventions for obesity prevention among kindergarten and 1st grade children on two South Dakota reservations.
§ Healthful constituents in various foods including soy, mushrooms, watercress, kale, whole grains and others.
§ Effect of nutritional labeling on fast food choices.
§ Potential to treat HIV-1 with propolis, a substance produced by bees as they build hives.
§ Effects of dietary fat on the liver.
§ Access to healthful foods in inner city neighborhoods.
§ Food choices and behavior and the relationship to obesity in pre-menopausal women.
§ School lunch program revisions to encourage healthy foods and healthy students.
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