Projects

Protein-I

Protein-I aims to future proof Ireland's food system through engaging in a multi-disciplinary project working from crop production through to human health and paying particular attention to the development of the rural (bio)-economy.

Protein-I will develop strategies to maximise sustainable plant protein production in a traceable/transparent fashion, assess the impact of existing value chains and develop new value chains for the rural economy at different scales and promote uptake of such strategies.

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A-DIET

A-DIET aims to develop novel strategies for assessment of dietary intake. This will involve developing and validating new biomarkers for dietary intake of specific foods using a metabolomics approach, defining methods for integration of biomarker data with self-reported dietary data, producing a tool for integration of self-reported dietary and biomarker data that can be used by the wider scientific community, and exploration and demonstration of the novel concept of nutritypes.

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Opti-Age

This project aims to explore the impact on bone mineral density in older adults of a dietary supplement of both B-vitamins and Vitamin D, in comparison with Vitamin D alone. Additionally, a vitamin enriched drink will be developed and tested for its effectiveness in optimising B-vitamin status. Blood analysis will investigate the mechanism linking B-vitamins with bone. This project may benefit the Irish Agri-Food Sector and the consumer by developing new value-added functional food products aimed at achieving better bone health in older adults.

Protein and Health

This project, funded through a co-fund with the European Union’s Horizon 2020 and Enterprise Ireland, aims to investigate the impact of protein ingestion on different health parameters in adults, with a focus on older adults.

We are using a combination of approaches including a systematic review of the literature, examination of relationships with protein intake and metabolic health in cohort studies and finally a randomised controlled trial to examine the impact of modulation of protein intake on health and function parameters.

FOODBALL

The Food Biomarker Alliance (FOODBALL) was developed to carry out a systematic exploration and validation of biomarkers to obtain a good coverage of the food intake in different population groups within Europe, by applying metabolomics to discover biomarkers, exploring use of easier sampling techniques and body fluids, revising the current dietary biomarker classification and developing a validation scoring system, applying these on selected new biomarkers, and exploring biological effects using biomarkers of intake.

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NutriTech

NutriTech is a European Union funded research project evaluating the use of cutting-edge analytical technologies and methods to comprehensively evaluate the diet-health relationship and critically assess their usefulness for the future of nutrition research and human well-being. Technologies include genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, laser scanning cytometry, NMR based lipoprotein profiling and advanced imaging by MRI/MRS. Results from these different technologies are integrated to quantify the effect of diet on "phenotypic flexibility". Phenotypic flexibility is an extension of the idea of metabolic flexibility i.e. the capacity for the organism to adapt fuel oxidation to fuel availability. Phenotypic flexibility will create a basis for a new generation of biomarkers that allow for the quantification of health instead of disease. This is of high value for the demonstration of health effects of diet and dietary ingredients.

Watch this video to find out 'What is Phenotypic Flexability?'

JINGO / Meche

JINGO-JPI, a program funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, facilitates the uploading of all data from the National JINGO project and those of 2 other Irish-led initiatives, FP6 LIPGENE (2004-2009) and the UCD Twin study (2014-2016), to a central European Phenotype Database developed through the Joint Programme Initiative 'ENPADASI'. 'JINGO' stands for the Joint Irish Nutrigenomics Organisation. The project includes the UCD postprandial 'MECHE' (Metabolic Challenge) study. The project ultimately supports the standardisation of data collection, storage, and management, through the development of a common methodology and a shared ICT infrastructure.

Find out more about ENPADASI