Goals and Initiatives from the ODS Strategic Plan for 2004 - 2009

Goal 1: Expand the evaluation of the role of dietary supplements in disease prevention and in reduction of risk factors associated with disease.

Initiatives Proposed -

• Expand research that advances assessment of the potential roles of dietary supplements in disease prevention and risk reduction as identified in DSHEA and in the original ODS strategic plan.
• Stimulate and support evidence-based evaluations of the role of dietary supplements, including evaluation of the safety and efficacy of supplement use in the prevention and reduction of risks for chronic diseases.
• Place greater emphasis on identifying opportunities for NIH interdisciplinary research on dietary supplements where interests and opportunities exist in the programmatic goals of several NIH ICs. For example, collaborate with ICs in clinical trials designed to evaluate the role of dietary supplements in disease prevention and risk reduction, with due regard for safety and efficacy as appropriate.
• Encourage investigators submitting research applications to NIH in response to initiatives to include studies that can add to the knowledge base concerning the roles of dietary supplements in various disease states.
• Expand the cadre of research scientists qualified by training and career development to undertake investigations on dietary supplements with particular emphasis on young investigators, minorities, and women, including those with expertise and interests in dietary supplements and those in related disciplines.
• Explore and foster new approaches to the study of dietary supplements in various activities and conditions resulting from disabilities and disease conditions.
• Foster research that focuses on beneficial and adverse interactions of dietary supplements with foods, drugs, and other dietary supplements in healthy persons and those with selected conditions where these interactions may affect disease prevention and risk reduction.

Goal 2: Foster research that evaluates the role of dietary supplements in maintaining and improving optimal physical and mental health and performance.

Initiatives Proposed -

• Stimulate and support evidence-based evaluations of the role of dietary supplements in maintenance of optimal health, well-being, and physical and mental performance with appropriate attention to both safety and efficacy.
• Place greater emphasis on identifying opportunities for NIH interdisciplinary research on dietary supplements where interests and opportunities exist in the programmatic goals of several NIH ICs. For example, collaborate with ICs in clinical trials designed to test the role of dietary supplements in maintaining optimal health and performance including both beneficial and adverse effects where appropriate.
• Encourage investigators submitting research applications to NIH in response to initiatives to include studies that can add to the knowledge base concerning the beneficial and other effects of dietary supplements on optimal health and performance.
• Explore and foster new approaches to the study of dietary supplements in various activities and conditions consistent with optimal health, well-being, and physical and mental performance.
• Foster research that focuses on beneficial and adverse interactions of dietary supplements with foods, drugs, and other dietary supplements in healthy persons and those with selected diseases where these interactions may affect disease prevention and risk reduction.

Goal 3: Stimulate and support research to further understanding of the biochemical and cellular effects of dietary supplements on biological systems and their physiological impact across the life cycle.

Initiatives Proposed -

• Stimulate additional research on how dietary supplements moderate, alter, or enhance metabolic, physiological, and psychological processes associated with maintenance or lack of optimal health and performance during the life cycle.
• Encourage greater collaboration on research within NIH on identifying and exploring the possible roles of dietary supplements and their bioactive ingredients on cellular, tissue, and organ metabolic changes that characterize various diseases and disorders and optimal health throughout the life cycle.
• Expand emphasis on the application of new and emerging technologies such as genomics and proteomics to identify specific actions of selected dietary supplements on subcellular and cellular systems as well as on tissues and organ systems in order to enhance knowledge of how these substances produce or influence harmful biochemical, physiological, and psychological effects.
• Explore approaches to the study of bioactive substances, particularly complex mixtures, that may help us to understand the mechanisms by which dietary supplements derived from plants and animals exert biological activities.

Goal 4: Promote and support the development and improvement of methodologies appropriate to the scientific study of dietary supplement ingredients.

Initiatives Proposed -

• Support partnerships between dietary supplement research centers and interested ICs that will increase emphasis on chemical and biological characterization as well as biological effects of selected dietary supplement ingredients.
• Expand the development of valid, reliable analytical techniques for identifying specific dietary supplements and their bioactive ingredients to meet the needs of investigators studying the role of dietary supplements in health and disease.
• Produce and make available standardized reference materials appropriate for basic, preclinical, and clinical studies on the biological effects of dietary supplements in health and disease.
• Facilitate research on validation of the accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of unique biomarkers of dietary supplement effects on known endpoints and their surrogates associated with specific chronic diseases, optimal health, and improved performance.
• Explore and develop guidelines on appropriate methods for determining the biological effects of dietary supplements in preclinical studies, including animal model systems, and clinical studies focused on efficacy or safety, including studies that address interactions with other ingested substances and lifestyle factors affecting health and disease development.
• Stimulate further development and promote the use of paradigms for investigating the efficacy and safety of dietary supplements, including evidence-based evaluation of available information, standardized and known product composition, and appropriate preclinical studies as the basis for initiation of clinical trials.
• Expand emphasis on and continue to promote development of new and improved data collection techniques and epidemiological and survey methodologies that provide a valid, reliable scientific basis for identifying needs for analytical methods, determining the composition of dietary supplements, and determining patterns of dietary supplement use in various population groups identified by demographic factors.
• Collaborate with appropriate groups on surveys that assess dietary supplement use in order to estimate prevalence, frequency, duration, and type of use with the underlying goal of determining the relationships of usage patterns to health and disease risks.
• Improve measurement of dietary supplement and nutrient intakes and incorporate these improved measures into clinical studies to enhance the measurement of effects.

Goal 5: Expand and conduct outreach efforts that inform and educate the public, health care providers, and scientists about the benefits and risks of dietary supplements.

Initiatives Proposed -

• Serve as a key informational resource to DHHS and other federal agencies on issues related to dietary supplements as stated in DSHEA.
• Promote the transfer and translation of information about dietary supplements from ODS to NIH and other federal agencies and encourage the use of this information by academia, industry, and other segments of the ODS constituency.
• Sponsor evidence-based reviews of the effectiveness and safety of dietary supplements and provide guidance to the scientific community, the media, and the public.
• Ensure that evidence-based scientific information is integrated into ODS health communications and education programs directed to the public at large.
• Encourage similar efforts with public- and private-sector partners(with particular attention to media representatives) to increase the availability of scientifically valid information critical to helping the public make decisions about the use of dietary supplements in health care.
• Increase the information available to health care providers and investigators in other disciplines to improve their understanding of and research on the roles of dietary supplements in health care delivery.
• Facilitate ease of access to ODS information and databases by all interested persons and organizations, with due regard for scientific peer review of validity and accuracy; educational, language, and cultural differences; and protection of privacy where appropriate. ODS anticipates that its efforts in this and related initiatives can be a model for the international ODS constituency.
• Assess public- and private-sector use of current ODS databases in order to enhance accessibility and utility of the information obtained.
• Improve ODS communication approaches to identify optimally effective tools and techniques for reaching the various segments of the ODS constituency and disseminating research findings to ODS public- and private-sector partners.