Office of Dietary Supplements Update
Volume 3, Issue 1
July 2005
National Institutes of Health,
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
ODS Scientist Honored for Public Service, Achievement in Nutrition Science
ODS is pleased to report that
Johanna T. Dwyer, DSc, RD, ODS'
Senior Nutrition Research Scientist,
has been awarded the 2005 Conrad
A. Elvehjem Award for Public Service
in Nutrition. This prestigious award
from the American Society for Nutritional
Sciences (ASNS) recognizes
Dr. Dwyer's distinguished service to
the public through the science of nutrition.
She comes to ODS on assignment
under the Intergovernmental
Personnel Act (IPA).
Dr. Dwyer's efforts as a nutrition researcher
and communicator span
over three decades.
Currently, she is a professor of
medicine and community health at
the Friedman School of Nutrition Science
and Policy at Tufts University
and its School of Medicine, director
of the Frances Stern Nutrition Center
at the New England Medical Center,
and is the editor of Nutrition Today,
a popular bimonthly journal.
In addition, Dr. Dwyer is an elected
member of the Institute of Medicine,
a member of the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration's Food Advisory
Committee (and chair of its Dietary
Supplements Subcommittee), and
was a former Assistant Administrator
for Human Nutrition at the U.S. Department
of Agriculture.
Her research interests include the
nutritional concerns of children, the
elderly, and vegetarians.
At ODS, Dr. Dwyer directs efforts to
develop a database of dietary-supplement
ingredients, to study
consumers on their use of supplements
and motivations for use, and
to increase and improve the collection
of this type of information by
federal agencies in national surveys.
We're pleased to have her with us!
Public Meeting Held on ODS Strategic Plan
ODS convened a public meeting on
May 20 to review its Strategic Plan in
light of additional and emerging
needs and potential new opportunities.
It was held at the Marriott Hotel
and Conference Center in Bethesda
MD from 9am to 3:30pm, where
about 60 people came to be part of
the discussions.
The Strategic Plan (for 2004—2009)
defines ODS's central mission: to
strengthen knowledge and understanding
of dietary supplements by
evaluating scientific information,
stimulating and supporting research,
disseminating research results, and
educating the public to foster an enhanced
quality of life and health for
the U.S. population.
The strategic plan's five major
programmatic goals are to:
-
Expand the evaluation of the
role of dietary supplements in
disease prevention and in reduction
of risk factors associated
with disease;
-
Foster research that evaluates
the role of dietary supplements
in maintaining and improving optimal
physical and mental health
and performance;
-
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;
-
Promote and support the development
and improvement of
methodologies appropriate to
the scientific study of dietary
supplement ingredients;
-
Expand and conduct outreach
efforts that inform and educate
the public, health care providers,
and scientists about the benefits
and risks of dietary supplements.
At the meeting, ODS staff gave a
brief overview of the office's activities
and listened as invited guests
and interested attendees made
oral statements. We heard suggestions
from academics, health-care
providers, and supplement industry
representatives and consultants for
enhancing the scope and depth of
ODS programs and recommendations
for new activities the office
might consider.
These ideas are now being evaluated
in light of ODS's strategic
goals, resources, and capabilities
and will help us make modifications
in the emphasis of our programs
and activities. We expect to
post a summary of this public
meeting on the ODS Web site in
July.
ODS Active at 2005 Experimental Biology Meeting
ODS staff played an active role in the
Experimental Biology (EB) meeting,
held April 2—6 in San Diego, California.
This annual premier event for
the biomedical research community
is presented by the Federation of
American Societies for Experimental
Biology (FASEB).
ODS sponsored several sessions
and staff members presented or
moderated other sessions, including:
-
Pre-meeting workshop (April 1):
Assessing the Health Effects of
Bioactive Food Components
(chaired by Drs. Leila Saldanha
and Paul Coates)
-
Symposium: Individualized Nutrition
as a Tool to Prevent and Treat
Chronic Diseases (co-moderated
by Dr. Johanna Dwyer)
-
Symposium: Dietary Reference
Intakes: Evidence for Decisions
About Nutrient Recommendations
(presentation by Dr. Paul Coates,
"Formal Systematic Reviews and
Nutrients—Potential and Promise")
-
Poster session: A Review of Multivitamin/
Multimineral Supplement
Products Reported in the National
Health and Nutrition Examination
Survey (NHANES) 1999—2000
In addition, many attendees visited
the ODS information booth in the
Exhibits Hall.
Other events of interest from a
dietary-supplement perspective
included:
-
Conference on Carnitine (chaired
by Peggy Borum)
-
Session: Molecular Actions of Botanicals
and Dietary Supplements
(chaired by Neil Shay)
-
Session: Optimizing Vitamin D
Intake: Barriers to Establishing Effective
Mechanisms of Food Fortification
or Supplementation for
Populations with Special Needs
(chaired by Mona S. Calvo)
-
Session: Conjugated Linoleic Acid:
Implications for Mammary Growth,
Development and Function
(chaired by Michelle McGuire)
-
Session: N-3 fatty acids: Transitioning
from Research to Education
(chaired by Nancy M. Lewis)
New Reviews of Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Published
Reviews of the health effects of
omega-3 fatty acids on cancer, cognitive
function (with aging, dementia,
and neurological diseases), and organ
transplantation are now available
on the ODS Web site
(http://dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov/Health_Information/omega_3_fatty_acids.aspx).
They were prepared through the Evidence-Based Practice Center Program
of the Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality (AHRQ) and
funded by ODS. The Web site also
contains a link to the full report of a
working group on future clinical research
directions on omega-3s and
cardiovascular disease.
The publications are the most recent
in a series of AHRQ evidence-based
reviews on the health effects of
omega-3s.
Previous reports have examined the
roles of these fatty acids in asthma,
cardiovascular disease, diabetes,
inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid
arthritis, renal disease, lupus,
and osteoporosis. All are available in
their entirety on the ODS Web site.
Defining and
Evaluating Bioactive
Food Components
Lycopene in tomatoes, sulphorophane
in broccoli, long-chain
omega-3 fatty acids from fish, and
epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) in
tea are examples of ingredients in
food that have biological activity.
How to define this incredibly
diverse group of compounds and
evaluate their significance to
human health were among the
topics discussed at two meetings
held at the NIH on March 24—25
and in San Diego on April 1.
A summary of these meetings,
titled "Assessing the Health Effects
of Bioactive Food Components,"
will be posted on the ODS Web
site. Leila Saldanha, PhD, RD, a
scientific consultant with ODS,
chaired the conference planning
group.
Upcoming ODS-Sponsored Meetings
ODS is co-funding the following National
Institutes of Health workshops
and conferences:
National Heart, Lung, and Blood
Institute (NHLBI)
Workshop: Dietary Fatty Acids and
Cardiac Arrhythmias
August 5; NIH Campus
National Institute on Alcohol
Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
Workshop: Role of Betaine in the
Treatment of Alcoholic Liver
Disease
Date to be set in
September/October; NIH Campus
National Institute of Environmental
Health Sciences (NIEHS)
Two symposia at the International
Conference on Environmental
Mutagens, September 3—8 in San
Francisco: 1) Nutrigenomics-
Systems Biology Approach to
Studying Gene-Diet Interactions,
and 2) Antimutagens and Prospects
for Chemoprevention via
Modulation of Gene Expression
Workshop: The Effect of Variability
of Phytoestrogens and Other Estrogenic
Compounds in Animal Diets
on Developmental, Endocrine
and Toxicity Studies.
Date to be
set for early fall; NIEHS Campus in
Research Triangle Park, NC
National Institute of Mental Health
(NIMH)
Workshop: Evaluating Alternative
Treatments for Children and Adolescents
with Autism. Date to be set;
NIH Campus
For further information about these
upcoming meetings, check the Web
sites of the appropriate NIH institute
or center (http://www.nih.gov)
Upcoming Botanical
Conference
"Quality and Safety Issues Related
to Botanicals," an international
conference to be held
August 15—18 in University,
Mississippi, is presented by The
National Center for Natural
Products Research in the
School of Pharmacy at The
University of Mississippi.
The conference, supported by
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration,
will address such
issues as the authentication,
cultivation, collection, and postharvest
practices for producing
quality plant material and toxicological
methods of assessment.
ODS Funds Botanical Research Centers
38 million Americans take herbal supplements; more research needed on safety and efficacy
ODS and the National Center for
Complementary and Alternative
Medicine (NCCAM) at the National
Institutes of Health are jointly funding
five dietary supplement research
centers focused on botanicals
(herbs) as part of the botanical research
center initiative begun in
1999. Since an estimated 38 million
Americans take herbal supplements,
more research on their efficacy and
safety is needed. ODS Director Paul
Coates notes that "these centers will
continue to fulfill the goal of this initiative
to foster inter-disciplinary
collaborative research and to develop
a systematic evaluation of the
safety and effectiveness of botanicals,
particularly those available as
dietary supplements." Each recipient
receives a 5-year grant:
Botanical Center for Age-Related
Diseases
This collaboration between Purdue
University (West Lafayette, IN), the
University of Alabama at Birmingham,
and Rutgers University (New
Brunswick, NJ) is directed by Connie
Weaver, PhD. Researchers will investigate
the ability of polyphenols,
derived from sources like soy and
kudzu, to prevent and treat disorders
such as osteoporosis, cognitive decline,
and cataracts.
Botanical Dietary Supplements for
Women's Health
Norman Farnsworth, PhD directs this
center at the University of Illinois at
Chicago, which has a clinical trial in
progress to learn if black cohosh and
red clover can reduce menopausal
symptoms such as hot flashes. The
center will conduct research on the
standardization, metabolism, and
toxicity of botanicals as well as support
research training in pharmacognosy
(the study of natural products).
Botanicals and Metabolic
Syndrome
This collaboration between the Pennington
Biomedical Research Center
at Louisiana State University (Baton
Rouge, LA) and the Center for Agriculture
and the Environment at Rutgers
University (New Brunswick, NJ)
will be directed by William Cefalu,
MD. It will study how extracts of
Russian tarragon, Shilianhua (a Chinese
botanical), and grape may influence
molecular and cellular processes
associated with the metabolic
syndrome (which consists of obesity,
insulin resistance, development of
type 2 diabetes, and accelerated cardiovascular
disease).
MSKCC Research Center for
Botanical Immunomodulators
A five-institution international collaboration
co-directed by Barrie Cassileth,
PhD and Philip Livingston, MD
will investigate the relevance of botanicals
(such as echinacea, astragalus,
and turmeric) that may modulate
immune function to the treatment of
cancer and infectious disease. It includes
the New York City-based
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer
Center, Weill Medical College of
Cornell University, and The Rockefeller
University together with the
Institute of Chinese Medicine and the
Chinese University in Hong Kong,
China.
Wake Forest and Brigham and
Women's Center for Botanical
Lipids
Floyd Chilton, PhD will direct this
collaboration between Wake Forest
University (Winston-Salem, NC) and
Harvard University (Cambridge, MA).
The center will examine the antiinflammatory
actions of polyunsaturated
fatty acids derived from botanicals
like flaxseed and borage on their
potential to prevent and treat inflammatory
diseases such as atherosclerosis
(hardening of the arteries) and
asthma.
Your Comments, Please
ODS is conducting a comprehensive needs analysis of its communications program. Our goals in doing this
are to enhance awareness of ODS, to improve the quality and range of our information products to our wide
range of stakeholders, and to better establish ODS as a source of accurate, credible information on dietary supplements. The analysis will be completed this summer, and we expect to begin implementing its
recommendations shortly thereafter.
Of course, this newsletter is one way we keep our various constituencies informed about ODS activities,
initiatives, products, publications, and opportunities. We're always looking for ways to improve it. If you have
any suggestions for making it a better resource for you, please send comments to Dr. Anne Thurn, ODS
Health Scientist Administrator (email: thurna@mail.nih.gov).
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