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Bionutrition Core
The Bionutrition Core of Pittman GCRC offers many services to investigators with approved protocols. Currently almost half of active protocols have nutrition components. The Director of Bionutrition Research, Betty Darnell, MS, RD, LD, is available to assist with planning and designing the nutritional components of research protocols and can assist with implementing the protocol, recruitment/ screening of research patients, and data collection and analysis of dietary intake. Ms. Darnell is a registered dietitian who has been with the GCRC for 30 years. There is a second RD on staff as well as nutrition graduate students who are all dietitians. All are available to assist investigators with their protocols
The state-of-the-art Metabolic Kitchen provides specially designed meals for participants on both inpatient and outpatient studies to meet protocol requirements. There are four research cooks and one diet technician on staff with 50 years of combined experience in the field. They are trained in preparing research meals for participants.
Services Offered by Bionutrition
- Research Meals: (Examples of Research Diets Available)
- Low calorie (800kcals/day)
- Weight maintenance
- Lipid modification
- Low Sodium (ex: 9 mEq)
- Low glycemic, high glycemic
- Modifications of micronutrients
- Others that have been designed specifically to meet protocol requirements
- Nutrition Assessments:
- Anthropometry Anthropmetry is defined as the “measuring of man.” Estimates of adipose and somatic protein mass are calculated by measuring skinfold thickness and circumference at different locations on the body.
- Nutritional Analysis of Food Recalls, Food Records, Food Intake The Minnesota Nutrition Data System for Research (NDS-R) software program is used to obtain nutritional analysis of research patients’ food intake records, recalls, and weighed food intakes. The nutrition graduate trainees are responsible for data input and analyses for the majority of the data. This information is then provided to the investigator. The request for this service for protocols has increased over the last few years; currently, the GCRC has a license for seven copies of NDS-R. (Five of these are paid through investigators’ individual grants and are dedicated to their projects.)
- Nutrition Education for Study Participants:
- The Bionutrition Unit will provide nutrition education for participants on studies as requested and needed by study. This includes, but is not limited to, information about the protocol diet, help with a particular diet prescription, and encouragement to maintain the research diet.
Things to consider when developing the nutrition components for a new protocol:
- Type of diet (regular, therapeutic, controlled nutrient(s), research specific)
- Number of subjects on diet
- Number of subjects that will be fed at one time
- How long the patient will be on the diet
- Are outpatient meals required
- Does the research diet need to be specially designed to meet protocol needs
- Do you need nutrition education for the participant
- Do you need analysis of research participants’ food intakes
- Do you need anthropometric measurements for the participants
For further information please contact:
Betty Darnell,M.S,RD,LD,FADA - GCRC Bionutrition Research Director
205-975-8972
bdarnell@uab.edu
