Integrative Center for Precision Nutrition and Human Health - PROJECT SUMMARY
Precision nutrition is a new and now integral component of precision medicine that exploits differences in how
dietary components are absorbed, metabolized and converted to energy, and in how that energy is utilized,
resulting in widely varying dietary and nutrient requirements. In Hawaii, culture and customs influence dietary
preferences and economic disparities affect food access, further amplifying differences in nutritional needs and
individual responses to dietary components. Recognizing the innovative new opportunities available through
precision nutrition approaches, and the transformative potential for impactful nutritional health benefits,
particularly to the indigenous and underserved people of Hawaii, the University of Hawaii proposes to establish
a multicomponent center that enables multidisciplinary research with the thematic focus of Precision Nutrition.
The overall goal of this Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) Phase I proposal is the creation
of an Integrative Center for Precision Nutrition and Human Health at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa
(UHM), ‘integrative’ in that it will encompass the interface between precision nutrition research and human
health outcomes. Our objectives are to build the foundation needed to grow a cadre of future leaders and
mentors in precision nutrition, the fruits of their efforts feeding the attainment of positive impacts on human
health, and to broadly disseminate and implement healthful strategies and interventions, nourishing the
sustainability of this Precision Nutrition COBRE. The overall goal of creating a Precision Nutrition COBRE
that fosters excellence in research, career development, and community health, will be achieved through
the following three Specific Aims: Aim 1: To create an Integrative Center for Precision Nutrition and Human
Health founded on impactful, scientifically rigorous research, education and training; built around a cadre of
promising future scientific leaders; and fostered by outstanding individually-crafted, team-facilitated mentoring
and career development activities. Aim 2: To provide research investigators education and training in cutting
edge technologies and access to state-of-the-art research Core Facilities, integrating these resources with
other research and training programs and facilities at UH, with community-based research in Hawaii, and with
the IDeA network across the nation. Aim 3: To promote development of strong collaborative relationships
between academic researchers and the community, based on culturally sensitive approaches, with the goal
of achieving tangible health benefits for all. Through the combined efforts of Precision Nutrition COBRE
researchers and our community partners, with the guidance of the Community Engagement and Outreach
Core, we will collaboratively advance precision nutrition, share and disseminate beneficial and healthful
strategies and interventions and positive outcomes throughout the community, the State and beyond. The
long term goal of the Center is to promote health through the advantages of precision nutrition, implemented
across the community and beyond, thereby producing lasting, far-reaching positive impacts on human health.
