Nutrition and Health
Research projects in the Nutrition and Health portfolio aim to provide the industry partners with leads for the development of new healthy foods with regard to major health concerns. Furthermore, the research aims to develop new concepts and techniques that the industry partners can apply in their own R&D and can support further development of functional foods and its components.
In Nutrigenomics the aim is to discover and validate molecular biomarkers for the early detection of metabolic stress. This will enable the development of novel food components for dietary management and prevention of metabolic stress, and ultimately metabolic syndrome.
The research focus is especially directed at obesity and metabolic syndrome, including vascular complications, and gut health; especially intestinal barrier function and inflammation. This relates to the present two dominant competences Obesity/Metabolic Syndrome and Gut Health. The embedding of the Nutrigenomics Consortium fits this focus and reinforces competences at a molecular level.