The BCC Nutrition Working Group continues to have monthly conference calls, sponsored by NCI. Minutes from the calls are circulated to the workgroup, and are posted to the website for interested BCC members. 

Three funding supplements, affectionately labeled "Phase II of the Diet Validation Study," are in process at NCI.  Program contacts for the seven funded sites across NIH will be working with Linda Nebeling, NCI to facilitate the continuation of funds.

The BCC Nutrition Working Group is working with Becky Costello, Office of Dietary Supplements, to develop a funding supplement to the sveen sites involved with the Diet Validation Study.  This funding supplement will fund data analyses on vitamin supplement use across the various intervention sites.  More details to follow.

Two citations of interest:

Thompson, F. E., Subar, A. F., Smith, A. F., Midthune, D., Radimer, K. L., Kahle, L. L., Kipnis, V.  (2002). Fruit and vegetable assessment: Performance of 2 new short instruments and a food frequency questionnaire. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 102, 1764-1772 

 Horacek, T. M., White, A., Betts, N. M., Hoerr, S., Georgiou, C., Nitzke, S., Ma, J., Greene, G.  (2002). Self-efficacy, perceived benefits, and weight satisfaction discriminate among states of change for fruit and vegetable intakes for young men and women. Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 102, 1466-1470.
   

Those remaining BCC sites who are still interested in participating should submit their data (as per the previously distributed guidelines) to Claudio Nigg.

Proposals Due: February 28, 2003

Prescription for Health is a five-year initiative funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in collaboration with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Under this initiative, primary care practice-based research networks (PBRNs) will develop creative, practical strategies for promoting healthy behaviors among patients in their practices that can be easily adopted by other primary care practices.

Prescription for Health seeks to identify cues, tools, techniques and incentives that can help primary care clinicians aid their patients in addressing at least two of the four identified risk behaviors: 1) sedentary lifestyle, 2) unhealthy diet, 3) tobacco use and addiction, and 4) risky use of alcohol.

This program combines expertise about health behavior change strategies, the delivery of primary care, systematic approaches to changing clinical practice and the diffusion of innovation. In this first round of funding, Prescription for Health will fund eligible PBRNs to conduct 16-month “innovation grants” of up to $125,000 each to develop and pilot new models and tools for integrating effective health behavior change interventions into routine primary care.

For more information on application procedures, please click on the topic subhead above.

The primary purposes of the Mind-body and Health Research Infrastructure Program are to provide resources to support and advance research that will improve the understanding of mind-body interactions and health, facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration among investigators conducting health-related mind-body research, and promote innovative approaches to mind-body and health research questions. An additional goal is to facilitate interaction among scientists in locations throughout the United States in order to contribute to the integration and coordination of mind-body and health research.
 

MIND-BODY INTERACTIONS AND HEALTH:
EXPLORATORY / DEVELOPMENTAL RESEARCH PROGRAM (R21)

Release Date: January 09, 2003
Letter of Intent Receipt Date: June 16, 2003
Application Receipt Date: July 16, 2003

This award retains some of the characteristics of traditional P30 and P50 grants. It will provide infrastructure to support a portfolio of mind-body and health research housed in or coordinated by a center or other research unit at an institution; however, it is designed to move beyond the traditional center grant mechanism to allow institutions to pursue aggressively scientific opportunities in mind-body and health research and to facilitate partnerships among diverse scientists and institutions. The Infrastructure Award permits a streamlined format that allows more flexible use of funds to address not only the core support needs of existing projects, but also the development of new directions and approaches to mind-body and health research and the translation of research findings into practice. It asks applicant institutions to design and propose infrastructure programs that will serve to advance the interdisciplinary reach, innovation, and impact of their research programs, in addition to serving the existing needs of researchers. It also allows and encourages the development of infrastructure that broadly serves the field of mind-body and health research.

For detailed information on the RFA, please click on the topic subhead above. 

Trans-NIH RFA Announcement:

MIND-BODY INTERACTIONS AND HEALTH:
RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAM (R24)

Release Date: January 09, 2003
Letter of Intent Receipt Date: June 16, 2003
Application Receipt Date: July 16, 2003

This award is intended to support the improvement of research units that have high potential for advancing mind-body and health research. The award provides such units the opportunity to further develop the mechanisms and resources required to support and facilitate significant new contributions to the field and to build a substantial interdisciplinary portfolio of mind-body and health research.

For detailed information on the RFA, please click on the topic subhead above.

ACADEMIC RESEARCH ENHANCEMENT AWARD

Release Date: January 09, 2003

The National Institutes of Health is continuing to make a special effort to stimulate research in educational institutions that provide baccalaureate or advanced training for a significant number of the Nation's research scientists but that have not been major recipients of NIH support. Since FY 1985, Congressional appropriations for the NIH have included funds for this initiative, which NIH has implemented through the Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA) program. Based on the expectation that funds will continue to be available each year, the NIH invites applications for AREA grants (R15) through a standing, an ongoing Program Announcement.

AREA funds are intended to support new and continuing health-related research projects proposed by faculty members of eligible schools and components of domestic institutions. The AREA will enable qualified scientists to receive support for small-scale research projects. These grants are intended to create a research opportunity for scientists and institutions otherwise unlikely to participate extensively in NIH programs to support the Nation's biomedical and behavioral research effort.

For detailed information on the RFA, please click on the topic subhead above.

Associate/Full Professor Tenure-Track Position
Department of Preventive Medicine
University of Tennessee Health Science Center

The Department of Preventive Medicine is seeking two faculty members for fully-funded state-supported positions at the Assistant or Associate Professor level. Candidates should have a strong foundation in behavioral epidemiology, behavioral medicine or health promotion with demonstrated experience in applying these methods in health behavior research.  We are particularly interested in candidates with applied research in the areas of physical activity and nutrition. 

Requirements for the position include a doctorate in epidemiology or a related discipline with demonstrated training in epidemiology. The primary requirements of the position include teaching epidemiology and health behavior courses in the Master of Science in Epidemiology program and scholarly activity in a field of epidemiology or public health.  Collaboration with local community partners and university research centers will be encouraged.

The consumer health information initiative comprises three related actions: 1) Issuing guidance on qualified health claims for conventional foods and dietary supplements. 2) Strengthening enforcement of dietary supplement rules. 3) Establishing an FDA Task Force on Consumer Health Information for Better Nutrition.

Consumer Health Information for Better Nutrition is designed to foster two complementary goals concerning the labeling of food and dietary supplements: 1) to encourage makers of conventional foods and dietary supplements to make accurate, science-based claims about the health benefits of their products; and 2) to help eliminate bogus labeling claims by taking on those dietary supplement marketers who make false or misleading claims.

 For additional details about this new initiative, please click on the item subhead above.