INMD Newsletter - January 2011

Inside this issue:

• Message from Phil Sherman, INMD Scientific Director
• Supporting innovation in nutrition and health
• NSERC and CIHR-INMD Initiative: Sodium reduction research
• INMDMandate
• Contact INMD

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Message from Phil Sherman, INMD Scientific Director

INMD/CON Bariatric Care Workshop-Montreal December 9-10, 2010 From Left: Paul Bélanger, INMD; Ximena Ramos-Salas, CON; Denis Richard, Laval University; Arya Sharma, CON; Phil Sherman, INMD; Brian Rush (consultant).

"Obesity Hurts". This is the message we heard loud and clear from affected patients, a human rights lawyer, a health psychology researcher, and health care practitioners from a wide variety of disciplines at a Bariatric Care Workshop which was held in Montreal, Quebec in December, 2010. Not only does obesity hurt, it is a debilitating chronic disease associated with a significant burden of physical and mental illness. The two day workshop generated important ideas for setting a research action plan, which included basic science, clinical research, and health services delivery and policy research.

According to the 2004 Canadian Community Health Survey, 23% of Canadians aged 18 or older (an estimated 5.5 million Canadian adults) had a body mass index of 30 or more. For many of these people, activities of daily living are challenging. Two people who had been obese opened the workshop with poignant presentations about their own struggles. One had successfully undergone bariatric surgery 11 years ago, and the second had been treated successfully in an interdisciplinary clinic through an intensive exercise and diet modification program. Both of them shared their inspiring stories and the challenges they faced in seeking health care, because of limited access to health services and the stigma associated with morbid obesity.

One of the key aspects of the workshop is that bariatric care research was discussed in the broadest sense. Bariatric care spans beyond the surgical interventions including medical care, as well as aspects of occupational therapy and mental health. The need for interdisciplinary approaches to bariatric care research was a consistent theme that emerged from the workshop.

I wish to sincerely thank Dr. Arya Sharma, the Scientific Director of the Canadian Obesity Network (CON) and CON staff for partnering with INMD in preparing this workshop. I would also like to thank all of the workshop sponsors, speakers, and participants. The workshop presentations are available for your review at the CON website. The workshop report will be available on the INMD website later this year.

The start of a new year is a time to look forward. I am optimistic about the future and the potential for Canadian researchers working in INMD mandate areas to provide important new advances in their respective fields of interest. I will continue to actively support your needs with the resources at our disposal, and work with our wide range of engaged partners to forge an ever stronger health research enterprise in Canada.

With best wishes for 2011,

Philip M. Sherman, MD, FRCPC

Supporting innovation in nutrition and health

The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) is committed to continuing its work of partnering with industry and other departments and agencies, such as CIHR and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, to support important research challenges that are linked to food safety and human health.

To advance the knowledge and understanding of the science behind food, and the impact of nutrition on health, NSERC has established a number of collaborative programs that address research challenges in the natural sciences and engineering.

NSERC’s Industrial Research Chairs Program assists universities in building on existing strengths to achieve the critical mass required for a major endeavour that helps drive innovation. Since 1991, NSERC has supported a partnership between the Dairy Farmers of Ontario and the University of Guelph through a Chair in Dairy Microbiology. This Chair recognizes the impact that milk and dairy products have on the diet of Canadians and is actively working with the dairy industry to introduce novel, healthy and safe dairy foods. NSERC currently funds six Industrial Research Chairs who focus their research on nutrition and health.

Research in this field is also supported through NSERC with the expanded Collaborative Health Research Projects Program, a joint initiative implemented with CIHR. This program funds projects that are innovative and lead to health benefits for Canadians, more effective health services and economic development in health-related areas.

To learn more about the collaborative research projects funded by NSERC, please visit NSERC's Web site.

NSERC and CIHR-INMD Initiative: Sodium reduction research

In early 2011, NSERC and the CIHR-INMD will launch the Initiative for Sodium Reduction in the Canadian Food Supply. Research in this area will be funded through NSERC’s Collaborative Research and Development Grants Program, and the CIHR-INMD and will support research focused on the challenge of implementing gradual reductions of sodium in the food supply. Applications for the new initiative require a Canadian-based industry partner and will be accepted in the following key areas, as identified by the Sodium Reduction Strategy for Canada:

• Investigating alternative processes or technologies that meet the microbial food safety and food technology needs at lower levels of sodium without significantly increasing cost;
• Determining the microbial food safety consequences of decreasing the sodium concentration in foods and how to manage these effectively;
• Investigating the effectiveness, potential risks and benefits of alternatives to salt and sodium-based food ingredients from a technology and/or food safety perspective; and
• Determining the physiological mechanisms of taste perception affected by sodium, including the modifying effects of different food matrices.

More information on the launch of this collaborative initiative will be posted on NSERC's Web site.

INMD Mandate

The Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism, and Diabetes supports research to enhance health in relation to diet, digestion, excretion, and metabolism; and to address causes, prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment, support systems, and palliation for a wide range of conditions and problems associated with hormone, digestive system, kidney, and liver function.