Could the chemicals that provide berries with their rich color also prevent cardiovascular disease?

NUIP Associate Professor Anandh Velayutham and his research team found that feeding strawberries and blueberries to mice reduces their risk for heart disease. Remarkably, the team found that the metabolites of the molecules that make these fruits colorful , termed anthocyanins, have direct beneficial actions in blood vessels. This exciting discovery has important implications for heart and blood vessel health.   

 

The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NIH-R01 grant), the United State Department of Agriculture – National Institute of Food and Agriculture, and the Wild Blueberry Association of North America have provided Dr. Velayutham with more than $2M dollars to understand the molecular mechanisms underlying these effects. These studies will dissect the causal association between dietary berries, the gut microbiome and vascular health.  

 

“We are grateful for the support from the NIH and the USDA and excited to explore the unknown mechanisms involved in the cardiovascular benefits of berries", says Dr. Velayutham. "This research could establish a new paradigm and provide strong scientific rationale for recommending dietary intake of berries to improve cardiovascular health in the U.S. population and worldwide. ”

Assistant Professor Bhagirath (Bhagi) Chaurasia completed his PhD in Physiology and Genetics in the laboratory of Prof. Jens Bruning at the University of Cologne, Germany. His doctoral research, published in Cell, Nature Immunology, and Molecular and Cellular Biology , identified new signaling networks that integrate metabolism between macrophages and insulin target tissues.

Building upon these important discoveries, Bhagi joined Evotec (in Gottingen, Germany) to work on an ambitious academic-industry collaboration between Harvard University and Evotec entitled ‘’CureBeta,’’ which aimed to identify novel small molecule and biological targets to enhance beta cell replication.

Despite Bhagi's success in the biotech industry, his heart remained in academia and he joined the laboratory of Scott Summers at the Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore. His work during this final training stint was impressive and included high profile publications in Science and Cell Metabolism that conclusively revealed that ceramides are important drivers of cardiometabolic disease.

Bhagi is currently enrolled in the Vice President's Clinical and Translational (VPCAT) Research Scholars Program and has obtained funding from the NIH, USDA, and other agencies.

In 2019, NUIP added several new large grants to its already impressive funding base. With new NIH-R01 grants to Symons, Velayutham and Summers and additional support from the USDA (Velayutham and Chaurasia), the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (Summers and Holland), the PAC-12 (Martin), Community foundations of Utah (Metos), and Cigna Healthcare (Metos), NUIP added an additional $9M in funding to its ledgers. Extramural expenditures on research will easily exceed $3.5M in FY20.

In 2018, 100% of graduates (n=18) of our Coordinated Master’s Program (CMP) passed the Registration Examination for Dietitians on the first attempt! Nationally the numbers are much, much lower. Let's do it again this year!

NUIP faculty enthusiastically support undergraduate student research. Accomplishments by our trainees include the following:

These researchers contributed to numerous publications, including some as primary author....

...and presented at numerous scientific meetings. 

NUIP recognizes the extraordinary value of having diverse cultures, opinions, and ideas within our programs. Inclusion is essential for excellence! This year, our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Workgroup revised NUIP's graduate admissions criteria to incorporate a holistic review of candidates. The unit also partnered with the Office of Health Equity and Inclusion in hosting two Patient Voice Panels discussing access to healthcare entitled "Different Abilities" and "Pacific Islander Health."

Pictured. UUCCN and NUIP Associate Director Sarah Elizabeth Levitt receiving the College of Health Staff Inclusive Excellence Award

Food, Movement, and You teaches healthy eating and lifestyle habits to individuals facing homelessness, substance use disorders, and domestic violence. The program has partnered with The Road Home Midvale family homeless shelter, the House of Hope addiction treatment center, and the domestic violence emergency shelter at South Valley Services. Program staff hosted “Lunch and Learn” sessions for workers at the Midvale shelter and maintain an active collaboration to establish healthy food donation policies.

The UUCCN is achieving one of its major goals: linking community activities with policy-level advocacy. NUIP students are addressing gaps that prevent recovery centers from billing for nutrition services, despite common malnourishment issues and the clear benefits of good nutrition during recovery. Students met with Utah Representative Kim Coleman, who asked them to present their findings to the State Opioid Task Force.

During the 2018-2019 school year, Team Thrive helped 500 teenagers at three Utah high schools practice skills that reduce risk for diabetes. Health students participated in six behavioral change-focused lessons, teaming together to increase fruit and vegetable intake and the number of steps they take each day, while decreasing added sugar intake. They tracked their progress by sharing pictures of their foods/drinks and wearing Fitbits. Every student received peer-support via app/text connection with a U of U student and evaluated their progress by completing surveys and anthropometric measurements. Students that finished the sessions increased their fruit and vegetable intake, as measured by ramen spectroscopy, and their steps per day, as measured by accelerometry. Health teachers appreciated the practicality of the innovative new curriculum.

New research suggests that compounds that block the formation of lipids called ceramides could represent a novel class of drugs to prevent diabetes and metabolic syndrome. The approach shows promise in mice.

Article Link, Medical News Today, July 2019

NUIP Faculty members were heavily involved in the U of U's World Diabetes Day activities, which highlight the need for research and patient support to combat the diabetes epidemic.

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An initiative at the University of Utah Health has an ambitious aim: to become the leading diabetes and metabolism research center in the West and one day cure the disease that affects almost 10 percent of the U.S. population.

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Dr. Julie Metos, director of the UUCCN, has a theory:

It might have something to do with our politically divisive times.

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