The UCLA Clinical Nutrition Research Unit (CNRU) supports the development of new interdisciplinary research in nutrition and cancer prevention which would not otherwise occur through provision of specialized core research services, pilot/feasibility study funds and a New Investigator Award. The Administrative and Nutrition Education Core has creatively expanded the influence of the CNRU at UCLA. We have established the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition as the focus of nutrition research, education and patient care at UCLA. Our NIH T32 Nutrition and Obesity Training Program has developed new junior faculty and we have recruited many new faculty to the CNRU. An NIH P50 Center for Botanical Dietary Supplements Research was funded in 1999 and led to collaboration with plant molecular biologists and funding of the UCLA Research Growth Center. The Gene-Nutrient Core has established new facilities with private funds for high throughput genotyping, and microarray analysis of gene expression and this has led to new funding. The Molecular Oncology Core provides expertise in studies of the multistep pathway of carcinogenesis. The Nutritional Biomarker Core has supported research with high quality lipid, hormone, and carotenoid measurement and established methods for quantitating dietary flavonoids and assessing oxidant stress supporting new funded research. The Stable Isotope Core has established methods for metabolic phenotyping of cancer cells, and supported phytochemical measurement by LCMS. The Dietary Intervention, Assessment and Body Composition Core has supported dietary intervention research, community-based diet assessment research, and body composition research. The Statistical Coordinating Unit Core has established new methods for analysis of national and local dietary intervention trials, analysis of data from gene-nutrient interaction studies and provided training in translational research. The UCLA CNRU is serving as a regional and national resource at the cutting edge of nutrition and cancer prevention research.
