NIH Nutrition Research Task Force
The National Institutes of Health Nutrition Research Task Force (NRTF) was established in October 2016 to coordinate and accelerate progress in nutrition research across the NIH.
NRTF Members
The NRTF is chaired by Dr. Griffin P. Rodgers, Director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). Co-chairs include
- Dr. Gary Gibbons, Director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
- Dr. Norman Sharpless, Director of the National Cancer Institute
- Dr. Diana W. Bianchi, Director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Dr. Christopher Lynch, Director of NIDDK’s Office of Nutrition Research, serves as the Task Force Executive Secretary.
NRTF participants include staff from Institutes, Centers, and Offices within NIH.
Developing the NIH-Wide Strategic Plan on Nutrition Research
The NRTF is guiding the development of the first NIH-wide 10-year strategic plan for nutrition research. The strategic plan will emphasizes cross-cutting, innovative opportunities to advance nutrition research across a wide range of areas, from basic science to experimental design to training.
Estimated Nutrition Research Funding, Fiscal Year (FY) 2019
The opportunities in the strategic plan will complement and enhance ongoing research efforts across NIH to improve health and to prevent or combat diseases and conditions affected by nutrition. The graph below shows estimated NIH nutrition research funding for FY 2019.
Funding Opportunities & Notices
The following Requests for Applications (RFAs) and Requests for Information (RFI) have been released to address possible focus areas of the strategic plan. Additional funding opportunities may be announced after the final strategic plan is released.
- PAR-20-133, Gastrointestinal (GI) and Microbiome Explorers: Development of Swallowable Smart Pills or Devices for Precision Nutrition, Microbiome and Digestive Disease Applications (R21/R33 Clinical Trial Required)
- PAR-20-134, Development of Wearable Smart Devices for Continuous Monitoring of Circulating Nutrients, Metabolites and Hormones (R21/R33 Clinical Trial Required)
- NOT-DK-20-001, Notice of Special Interest: Development of Swallowable Smart Pills or Devices for Precision Nutrition, Microbiome and Digestive Disease Applications
- NOT-DK-20-002, Notice of Special Interest: Small Business Development of Wearable Smart Devices for Continuous Monitoring of Circulating Nutrients, Metabolites and Hormones
- RFA-DK-19-017, The Physiology of the Weight Reduced State Clinical Trial Consortium (UG3/UH3 Clinical Trial Required)
- RFA-DK-19-018, The Physiology of the Weight Reduced State Data Coordinating Center (U24 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)
- RFA-DK-19-019, Food as Medicine: Food Insecurity and HIV-related Comorbidities, Coinfections, and Complications within the Mission of the NIDDK (R01 Clinical Trial Optional)
Plan Development Milestones
- Literature Review: Led by the Office of Nutrition Research, the NRTF conducted a survey of recent scientific literature to identify research gaps that had been captured by other federal agencies, professional societies, and researchers working across the field of nutrition.
- Online Crowdsourcing Website: In early stages of the strategic plan’s development, an online crowdsourcing platform was used to solicit information from members of the public regarding critical gaps and opportunities in nutrition research that could be addressed by research funded by the NIH. Letters inviting participation in the crowdsourcing effort were shared with more than 40 professional societies as well as with all individual researchers who had submitted a nutrition-related grant proposal to the NIH in the past 5 years. The NRTF thanks all the individuals and organizations who took the time to provide their suggestions.
- Nutrition Research Thought Leaders Panel: An external panel of 30 experts across diverse areas of nutrition science were invited to provide input on prioritizing research gaps and opportunities identified in the literature and crowdsourcing effort. Panel members are listed below.
| Thought Leaders Panel Members | Member Organization |
|---|---|
| Lindsay H. Allen, PhD | United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and University of California, Davis |
| David B. Allison, PhD | Indiana University |
| Cheryl A.M. Anderson, PhD, MPH, MS | University of California, San Diego |
| Rozalyn M. Anderson, PhD | University Wisconsin |
| David J. Baer, PhD | United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (ARS) |
| Teresa A. Davis, PhD | Baylor College of Medicine |
| Michael K. Georgieff, MD | University of Minnesota |
| Penny Gordon-Larsen, PhD | University North Carolina |
| James R. Hébert, ScD | University South Carolina |
| Frank Hu, M.D., PhD, MPH | Harvard University |
| Dushanka V. Kleinman, DDS, MScD | University of Maryland |
| David M. Klurfeld, PhD | United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service (ARS) |
| Nancy F. Krebs, MD, MS | University of Colorado |
| Bruce Y. Lee, MD, MBA | Johns Hopkins University |
| Danny Manor, PhD | Case Western Reserve University |
| Nilesh Mehta, MD | Harvard University |
| Julie A. Mennella, PhD | Monell Chemical Senses Ctr. |
| Simin N. Meydani, D.V.M., PhD | Tufts University |
| Christopher B. Newgard, PhD | Duke University |
| Diane M. O'Brien, Ph.D. | University of Alaska Fairbanks |
| Karen E. Peterson, DSc | University of Michigan |
| Ross L. Prentice, PhD | Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center |
| W. Sue Ritter, PhD | Washington State University |
| A. Catharine Ross, PhD | Pennsylvania State University |
| Cary R. Savage, PhD | University of Nebraska at Lincoln, Nebraska |
| Alison Steiber, PhD, RDN | Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics |
| Patrick J. Stover, PhD – Chair | Texas A&M University |
| Linda V Van Horn, PhD, RD | Northwestern University |
| Gary D. Wu, MD | University of Pennsylvania |
| Thomas R. Ziegler, MD | Emory University |
- External Speakers that addressed the NRTF: The following external speakers have discussed opportunities and gaps in nutrition research.
- Dennis Bier, M.D., Professor of Pediatrics and Nutrition, and director of the Children's Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine
- Susan T. Mayne, Ph.D., Director of the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition
- Diane O’Brien, Ph.D., Professor of Biology and Wildlife/ Institute of Arctic Biology University of Alaska
- Frank B. Hu, M.D., Ph.D., Chair of Department of Nutrition, Fredrick J. Stare Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
- Steven Zeisel, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Nutrition and director of the UNC Nutrition Research Institute and UNC Nutrition Obesity Research Center, University of North Carolina, Gillings School of Global Public Health
- Public Comment Period on the Draft Strategic Plan: The NRTF invited public comments on a draft strategic plan in late 2018. All comments are being considered during revision of the draft document.
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