Clinical Research
The Human Nutrition Program is directed by Dr. Jan Breslow. The goal of the Program is to help elucidate the role that specific nutrients have in the prevention and control of chronic disease and the role that human nutrition plays in relation to a genetic predisposition to disease. This is accomplished by planning and conducting rigorous clinical trials at The Rockefeller University's GCRC. The Human Nutrition Program has put together a multi-disciplinary team which includes scientists and clinicians skilled in nutrition, biochemistry, genetics, cardiology, gastroenterology, pediatrics, neurology, oncology and nursing. The group meets regularly to monitor and discuss results of ongoing studies and to design new protocols for future studies. Choosing the most meaningful hard endpoint measurements in these nutritional research studies is stressed by the group. Currently the public is bombarded by conflicting and confusing nutrition research through the media, often causing them to make potentially inappropriate changes in their eating habits. Additionally, there is a proliferation of "nutraceuticals" and "functional foods" in the marketplace, many of which have not yet been proven to be effective in chronic disease prevention. The pharmaceutical industries have successfully developed this market category focused on promoting bioactive ingredients that are designed to deliver a presumed disease-preventive benefit in the form of foods and food products. Using well-defined biomarkers and hard endpoints in meticulously designed and controlled study protocols, our group has the unique capability to confront these issues. We welcome clinicians and scientists to utilize our expertise in clinical metabolic studies in an effort to understand nutrition in relation to disease prevention and control.
