Did you know childhood nutrition is a growing concern in the United States? With cases of diabetes, obesity and other related conditions consistently increasing year over year, the need for more research is inevitably urgent.
Thanks to a generous donation to the Riley Children’s Foundation, a new collaborative study between the Indiana University School of Medicine Department of Pediatrics and the Purdue University College of Agriculture Department of Food Science might be the answer to reversing the problem.
Funded by the Ricks Family Foundation—led by pediatric physician at Riley Children’s Health, Christina Ricks, MD, and her husband David A. Ricks—the donation will support the Heartland Children’s Nutrition Collaborative, a novel initiative designed to explore the impact of early-life nutrition on long-term health outcomes.
“The idea is to shine a light on the role of nutrition in children’s health,” Dr. Ricks said. “Optimal nutrition is needed for growth and development, as well as long term overall health and wellbeing. Nutrition certainly impacts many conditions, from anxiety and depression to chronic diseases. This is such an exciting area of investigation that extends from the bench research of the microbiome to the social science of behavior change.”
Co-led by Carmella Evans-Molina, MD, PhD, director of the Eli Lilly and Company Professor of Pediatrics at the IU School of Medicine, and Senay Simsek, PhD, professor and head of the Department of Food Science at Purdue’s College of Agriculture, the collaborative supports ten individual pilot project grants, each addressing critical pediatric health issues. Among these, several are spearheaded by a team of physician-scientists at Riley Children’s:
- “Fecal Microbial Transplantation in Germ-Free Mice: A Novel Approach to Understanding Obesity and Gut Microbiome Dynamics Related to Type 1 Diabetes” – Hebatullah Ismail, MD, PhD, pediatric endocrinology
- “Leveraging chip-based organoids to define nutritional impacts in pediatric liver” – Brian DeBosch, MD, PhD, pediatric gastroenterology
- “Supplementation of gut-brain axis (GLP-1)-activating carbohydrates for weight loss for adolescents with obesity” – Sara Naramore, MD, pediatric endocrinology
- “Targeting Lipid Mediators in Obesity-Associated Pediatric Asthma: Dietary DHA from Algae Oil as a Novel Intervention” – Erick Forno, MD, MPH, pediatric pulmonology
- “Fiber and anthocyanin complexes as direct modifiers of microbial dysbiosis and associated inflammation in pediatric ulcerative colitis” – Xiaoyi (Tina) Zhang, MD, PhD, pediatric gastroenterology
“As childhood conditions such as obesity and diabetes rise at alarming rates, the need for innovative, multidisciplinary research has never been greater,” Dr. Evans-Molina said. “We’re thrilled that several exceptional investigators will receive support to address these challenges while continuing to strengthen the collaborative bond between IU and Purdue.”
In addition to funding the research, the Ricks Family Foundation is also offering to match $2.5M in donations from individuals, foundations and corporations to the Heartland Children’s Nutrition Collaborative Fund. This commitment ensures that research into early-life nutrition continues to advance in the long-term.