UCLA Center for Human Nutrition
1999

The Center for Human Nutrition has been established to provide leadership in nutritional sciences at UCLA by facilitating interdisciplinary research, improving patient care, and creating educational initiatives for health professionals and the public. As we move into the 21st Century, nutrition will be the central focus of our efforts to prevent and treat common chronic diseases through integrating scientific, medical, and public health approaches.

• Provide academic leadership in nutritional sciences within the Center for the Health Sciences and the University of California, Los Angeles.
• Provide the administrative support structure to enhance research, education, patient care, and community outreach in nutrition.
• Provide the resources and environment uniquely attractive and suited to unprecedented interdisciplinary integration of nutrition research.
• Continue to foster the pioneering tradition of Medical Center physicians and University scientists to study methods of using naturally occurring nutrients and chemicals in foods to treat and prevent diseases.
• Increase the biodiversity and health benefits of the American diet.

The UCLA Center for Human Nutrition was established in 1996 to provide leadership in nutritional sciences at UCLA by facilitating interdisciplinary research, improving patient care, and creating educational initiatives for health professionals and the public. As we move into the 21^st century, nutrition will be the central focus of our efforts to prevent and treat common chronic diseases through integrating scientific, medical and public health approaches.

The UCLA Center for Human Nutrition houses the various programs of the NCI-funded Clinical Nutrition Research Unit and other NIH and industry-funded clinical trials programs, clinical research, and basic laboratory research space in a single location—Warren Hall. This 8,000 square foot research space contains the S. Daniel Abraham Pavilion, A. Scott Connelly Nutritional Sciences Laboratory, Nutrition Learning Laboratory, the Exercise Physiology and Training Center, the Genetics and Nutrition Laboratory, the Nutrition Molecular Biology Laboratory, Dietary Assessment and Intervention Unit, the Pharmanex, Inc., Phytochemical Laboratory, the future UCLA Nutrition Information Center and Library, and the UCLA Nutrition Clinical Network.

The Center for Human Nutrition is the home base for the NCI-funded Clinical Nutrition Research Unit. The CNRU has as a primary mission to promote interdisciplinary research integrating molecular biology, genetics, and metabolism in studies of nutrition, clinical dietary intervention, and cancer prevention. Since its last renewal in 1997, under the Directorship of David Heber, M.D., Ph.D., the CNRU has been the predominant "hub" for nutrition research and education at UCLA, with 80 other key investigators who are scientists and/or clinicians within our faculty. The CNRU has the additional tasks of promoting education and training in nutrition and cancer; its administrative cores enhancing the interactions of the participating faculty at the UCLA Center for Health Sciences, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, and the participating scientists at the University of Southern California, and Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Sciences. The UCLA Clinical Nutrition Research Unit develops new research in nutrition and cancer prevention through the integration of interdisciplinary initiatives in molecular biology, cellular biology and genetics, with clinical investigations using nutritional intervention and assessment.

The Center also houses the administration for (a) the NIH Nutrition and Obesity Training Program, which provides postdoctoral training support for MDS and/or Ph.D.s; (b) the current NCI-funded Nutrition Curriculum Grant (R25-CA60527), under Dr. Vay Liang W. Go’s leadership; (c) the NCI-funded Cancer Education Grant (R25-CA 73914) under Dr. LuAnn Wilkerson’s leadership; and (d) the Nutrition undergraduate course at the College of Letters and Science, coordinated under Dr. Heber’s leadership. In addition, the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition has also been a national resource participating in several funded multi-center trials of nutrition including: (a) NIH Women’s Health Initiative-Nutrition component (Grant # NO1WH42124) in collaboration with the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology; (b) the Association for the Care of Cancer of the Prostate (CapCure) Nutrition and Prostate Cancer Project; and (c) Four grants wer funded in 1998 from the California Cancer Research Council including: 1)Soy Protein and Low Fat Diet for Prostate Cancer Treatment 2)Genetic Epidemiology of Testicular Cancer & Cryptorchidism ; 3) Nutrient/Gene Interactions in Apc^min, a Mouse Model of Colon Cancer and 4) Advanced Prostate Cancer and Risk Factors in African Americans, The funding for these four grants amounted to over 2 million dollars in total.

The Center for Human Nutrition also houses the International and Community Nutrition Projects and Programs of the School of Public Health under the leadership of Dr. Gail Harrison. Since April 1998, the home office of the Executive Secretariat Office of the International Union of Nutrition Sciences has been based at the Center under Dr. Osman Galal’s leadership. The International Nutrition program administers the following projects and programs: (a) USAID National Food Consumption Monitoring System; (b) NCI African American Women Fight Cancer with Fitness; (c) NCI Diet Intervention in Low Income Women; (d) US Pacific Rim Program – Dietary Changes Accompanying Immigration in Korean and Korean-Americans; and (e) NIH International Fogarty Training Program. In addition, the Center for Human Nutrition also provides the administrative support for the Nutrition Education Program of the School of Public Health, with which the current R25 Nutrition Education and Cancer Prevention Curriculum Development Grants interact.

National Cancer Institute, Clinical Nutrition Research Unit, 1997-2002

National Institutes of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Nutrition and Obesity Training Program, 1997-2002

National Cancer Institute, Medical School Nutrition Curriculum Development Grant,

1994-1999; in collaboration with the Center for Educational Development & Research

National Cancer Institute, Medical School Cancer Curriculum Development Grant,

1997-2002; in collaboration with the Center for Educational Development & Research

NIH-funded Multicenter Trial of Weight Reduction Strategies in African-American Women, 1994-present; in collaboration with Drew University and Martin Luther King Medical Center

NIH Women’s Health Initiative - Nutrition Component, 1995-2005; in collaboration with Ob-Gyn

CaPCure Nutrition and Prostate Cancer Project, 1996-1999; in collaboration with Urology

Nutrition Component of Cancer Genetic Epidemiology, 1996-2000; in collaboration with University of Southern California

Gastric Surgery for Obesity Program, 1995-present; in collaboration with Department of Surgery

NIH R01 project on Diet and Estrogen Metabolism, 1996-2000; in collaboration with

UCLA NIH GCRC.

• Pharmanex Research Projects on Phytochemicals in Health Promotion, 1997-present
• Pharmavite Research on Vitamins, Minerals, and Phytochemicals in Health Promotion, 1998-present
• Dole International Encyclopedia of Fruits and Vegetables, 1997-1999
• Kellogg’s Research on Fiber Cereals
• Protein Technologies, Inc.(Dupont), Impact of Soy Protein [focus on Cancer]
• Slim-Fast Foods Company [research on meal replacements for weight reduction]
• Knoll Pharmaceutical (BASF) research on appetite suppressants
• Hoffman-LaRoche research on lipase inhibitors for obesity treatment

• Executive Secretariat Office of the International Union of Nutrition Sciences
• USAID National Food Consumption Monitoring System
• NCI African American Women Fight Cancer with Fitness
• NCI Diet Intervention in Low Income Women
• UC Pacific Rim Program - Dietary Changes Accompanying Immigration in Korean and Korean-Americans
• NIH International Fogarty Training Program

1. Gene-Nutrient Interaction
2. Nutrition Information System
3. Dietary Intervention
4. Bioengineered Foods for the 21st Century
5. Impact on Health of Non-nutrient Components of Foods
6. Primary Care Medical Education

• Obesity
• Prostate Cancer and Men’s Health
• Breast Cancer and Women’s Health
• Pushing the Frontiers of Interdisciplinary Research in Nutrition Sciences Education for the Public and Health Professionals

• Dr. David Heber, Director
• Dr. Vay Liang W. Go, Associate Director for Research and Education
• Dr. Gail G. Harrison, Associate Director for International and Public Health
• Dr. LuAnn Wilkerson, Director Nutrition Education Core
• Dr. Morton H. Maxwell, Co-Director, University Obesity Center
• Dr. A. J. Lusis, Director, Genetics Core
• Dr. R. M. Elashoff, Director, Statistical Coordinating Unit
• Dr. H. Phillip Koeffler, Director, Molecular and Cellular Biology
• Dr. Robert Haile, Director, Genetic Epidemiology and Nutrition
• Dr. Susanne Henning, Director, Oxidant Stress Laboratory
• Dr. Ian Yip, Director, Nutritional Endocrinology
• Dr. W. N. Paul Lee, Director, Stable Isotopes Core

• Dr. Jean deKernion & Dr. William Aronson, Dept. of Urology
• Dr. Edward Livingston, Dept. of Surgery
• Dr. Howard Judd, Dept. of Obst. and Gyn.
• Dr. Harry Ward, Martin Luther King Medical Center
• Dr. Jo Anne Brasel, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
• Dr. Christina Wang, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
• Dr. Ron Swerdloff, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
• Dr. Neil Parker, Dean’s Office, School of Medicine
• Dr. Leonard Rome, Dean’s Office, School of Medicine
• Dr. Charles Lewis, Center for Health Promotion/Disease Prevention
• Dr. Susan Stangl, Dept of Family Medicine
• Dr. George Blackburn, Harvard Medical School

Dr. David Heber, Director

David Heber, MD, PhD, FACP, FACN is the Director of the UCLA Center for Human Nutrition at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is also Professor of Medicine and Public Health and Chief of the Division of Clinical Nutrition in the Department of Medicine. Dr. Heber is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Endocrinology and Metabolism by the American Board of Internal Medicine and in Clinical Nutrition by the American Board of Nutrition. He directs the NIH Clinical Nutrition Research Unit and the NIH Nutrition and Obesity Training Grants at UCLA. Dr. Heber is a Director of the American Board of Nutrition and past chair of the Education Committee of the American Society of Clinical Nutrition. He has written over 60 peer-reviewed scientific articles and 25 book chapters, and a book by Excerpta Medica entitled, Dietary Fat, Lipids, Hormones and Tumorigenesis. He is co-editor of Nutritional Oncology, a 50 chapter text published by Academic Press, and Nutrition for Primary Care to be published by Saunders. He organized and chaired a conference in 1997 at UCLA entitled, "The Health Impact of California Cuisine", which considered dietary recommendations for the prevention of chronic diseases. Dr. Heber is included in the fourth listing of The Best Doctors in America, based on a survey of over 35,000 doctors throughout the nation. He has written a book for the public entitled, "Natural Remedies for a Healthy Heart" by Avery Publishing Group, and has recently completed a diet book for the public entitled "The Resolution Diet", published by Avery Publishing Group in January, 1999. His main research interests are obesity treatment and nutrition for cancer prevention and treatment.

Send comments or questions to
C.O.R.E. Program Director Dr. Holly Wyatt.