The ASPEN Research Workshop (RW) has been a highly successful and scientifically respected international conference bringing together basic scientists, nutrition researchers and clinicians. The goal of the 2018 RW ?The Effect of Nutrition on Epigenetic Status, Growth and Health?, is to focus on influence of nutrition and dietary exposure to xenobiotics on the epigenome during critical periods in development and how these exposures influence disease incidence and severity over multiple generations. A growing compendium of research indicates that the incidence and severity of common and costly human diseases are influenced by dietary exposures and deficiencies that modify the epigenome. The greatest periods of vulnerability to these exposures are the periconceptual period and early childhood. Xenobiotics delivered through the food chain, protein malnutrition, methyl donor deficiencies and excesses have a profound bearing on the risk of developing heart disease, diabetes, obesity, hypertension and mental illness over several generations. The financial impact and the life burden of these diseases is enormous. Knowledge of the influences of nutrition on the epigenome is well understood in scientific community, but is poorly disseminated among healthcare providers who make critical clinical decisions for patients and also influence nutrition policy. The 2018 RW is leveraged to address the existing gap between the bench and the bedside. The 2018 RW will provide a venue for inter-disciplinary collaboration among early career and established researchers from basic, applied and clinical outcomes science that are seeking opportunities to improve health and reduce disease burden through scientifically valid nutritional strategies. This RW brings together nutrition researchers from ASPEN with experts from the fields of developmental biology, epigenetics, population biology, and pediatric nutrition support. This milieu will facilitate research collaborations, where they might not otherwise occur. This topic is of key relevance to ASPEN researchers, and indeed for health care delivery policy.
The aims of the 2018 ASPEN RW are: 1) To provide a venue for basic scientists and clinicians from a range of disciplines and across all levels of training and experience. To focus on clinically relevant, and cutting-edge research on the mechanisms by which nutrition modulates the epigenetic risk for disease in adulthood, thus bridging basic research and clinical care. 2) To support translational science by fostering communication and collaboration among interdisciplinary researchers and clinicians thus bringing research from bench to bed-side. 3) To provide opportunities for mentorship of early career researchers/scientists and trainees. 4) To disseminate the 2018 RW activities and information to the broader scientific community. The 2018 RW will achieve these aims, having focused on a rapidly evolving scientific field with broad clinical relevance. Through interdisciplinary collaborations and our success in prior workshops; the 2018 RW has a well-founded precedence of success in pertinent knowledge translation, to advance the science of patient care. 1
A growing body of evidence indicates that malnutrition and dietary exposures during gestation and early childhood increases the incidence and severity of a wide range of diseases (obesity/metabolic syndrome, coronary artery disease, diabetes, hypertension, renal disease, cancer and mental illness) through epigenetic modifications to the DNA structure. The annual cost of these diseases accounts for over a quarter of healthcare expenditures in the United States. To date, clinical management has not caught up with scientific discovery in this domain. This gap presents an exciting opportunity to translate this science into meaningful practice that can reduce the incidences and severity of these diseases. The American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN) 2018 Research Workshop (RW) entitled ?The Effect of Nutrition on Epigenetic Status, Growth and Health.? will provide the attendees a critical review of the current literature exploring the role of nutrition and dietary exposures in modulating epigenetic disease pathology. Through panel discussions, talks by experts, open discussions and question/answer sessions, the strengths and limitations of the existing literature will be presented. New directions, opportunities and designs for future clinical trials, translational and basic research will be explored. 1
