Innovation Hub for Improving Health and Nutrition through Biofortification (HERB Hub)

通过生物强化改善健康和营养的创新中心（HERB 中心）

• 批准号: BB/X010864/1
• 负责人: Martin Warren
• 金额: $ 47.76万
• 依托单位: Quadram Institute
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=BB%2FX010864%2F1
• 关键词: Innovation; Hub; Improving; Health; Nutrition

The UK has a strong commitment to food, health and nutrition. This is particularly the case in the field of biofortification where food manufacturers are increasingly encouraged to produce foods that are healthy and safe for their customers. There are a range of ways in which nutrition can be improved and these include a combination of traditional and novel approaches to improving nutrient quality, e.g. plant breeding, vertical farming, gene editing and fermentation. Developments in biofortification must align with government regulations on the safety of new foods. It is therefore essential to take advantage of the wide range of expertise within the UK on techniques used to improve food quality across industry and academia and link it with knowledge of food structure and interests in health and nutrition. To be effective this must be set in the context of new food preferences of consumers, and emerging preferences for sustainable diets. As a network for scientific innovation and collaborative research the Hub for Improving Health and Nutrition through Biofortification will address these complex challenges through its community of representatives from the food industry, government and non- government agencies, alongside health and nutrition professionals and scientists. To establish this functional community, the Hub will progress stepwise. Initially, by taking views from a diverse range of leaders with impact in biofortification, the Hub will identify the landscape of existing food networks, industry, academia, government and non-government agencies, and health and nutrition professionals. By encouraging membership from this landscape, which encompasses a critical mass of experts that span multiple disciplines, we will be able to expand the Biofortification Hub and thereby generate a diverse but inclusive collaborative innovation and knowledge exchange community. By utilising the expertise from thought leaders and harnessing the experience and perspectives of the community, the Hub will identify existing and new biofortification and nutrition research challenges that can be translated to the commercial sector. The willingness of both academia and industry to collaborate is evident by the large number of letters of support that were received within the short preparation period of this application.The Hub will harness the interdisciplinary talents of the community to drive collaborative projects. The projects will be developed through scoping workshops and community meetings, that help refine some of the key challenges within the biofortification discipline. Collaborative teams will be able to pursue these research priorities with programmes funded by Business Interaction Vouchers, Feasibility Awards, and Flexible Mobility Awards. The latter will allow for industry placements and talent development, under a 'culture of innovation' to draw upon the insights, data, and technologies from across the Hub members' organisations.The Hub will thus enhance the health, nutrition and biofortification community by developing research with direct application to the food industry, generating food with greater nutrient density with clear benefits for health and well-being. Academics will learn the drivers for industry and successful transition of ideas, industry will gain access to recent developments in academic research, and policy makers will be able to interact with both communities in terms of understanding the advantages and potential disadvantages of such approaches. Collectively, through the collaborative efforts of its members the Hub will develop the biofortification field in the UK, helping support many of the new emerging innovative food-based SMEs. The Hub will be highly visible and have an active social media presence to support Hub engagement with policy makers and other funders. Hub research and training outcomes will also be shared more broadly and publicly to further support the health impact of biofortification.

英国对食品、健康和营养有着坚定的承诺。在生物强化领域尤其如此，越来越多的食品制造商被鼓励为其客户生产健康和安全的食品。改善营养的方法有很多种，其中包括结合传统方法和新颖方法来改善营养质量，例如：植物育种、垂直农业、基因编辑和发酵。生物强化的发展必须符合政府关于新食品安全的法规。因此，有必要利用英国在工业界和学术界提高食品质量技术方面的广泛专业知识，并将其与食品结构知识以及对健康和营养的兴趣联系起来。为了有效，必须在消费者新的食品偏好以及对可持续饮食的新偏好的背景下制定这一计划。作为一个科学创新和合作研究网络，通过生物强化改善健康和营养中心将通过其由食品行业、政府和非政府机构的代表以及健康和营养专业人士和科学家组成的社区来应对这些复杂的挑战。为了建立这个功能社区，中心将逐步推进。最初，通过听取对生物强化有影响的各种领导者的意见，该中心将确定现有食品网络、工业界、学术界、政府和非政府机构以及健康和营养专业人员的情况。通过鼓励这一领域的成员（其中包括大量跨多个学科的专家），我们将能够扩大生物强化中心，从而形成一个多元化但包容性的协作创新和知识交流社区。通过利用思想领袖的专业知识并利用社区的经验和观点，该中心将确定现有的和新的生物强化和营养研究挑战，这些挑战可以转化为商业部门。在本申请的短暂准备期内收到的大量支持信表明了学术界和工业界的合作意愿。该中心将利用社区的跨学科人才来推动合作项目。这些项目将通过范围界定研讨会和社区会议来开发，有助于完善生物强化学科中的一些关键挑战。协作团队将能够通过业务互动优惠券、可行性奖和灵活移动奖资助的项目来追求这些研究重点。后者将在“创新文化”下，利用来自中心成员组织的见解、数据和技术，实现行业安置和人才发展。因此，该中心将通过开发研究直接应用于食品工业，生产营养密度更高的食品，对健康和福祉具有明显的好处。学术界将了解行业和思想成功转变的驱动力，行业将了解学术研究的最新发展，政策制定者将能够与两个社区互动，了解这些方法的优点和潜在缺点。总的来说，通过其成员的共同努力，该中心将在英国发展生物强化领域，帮助支持许多新兴的创新型食品中小企业。该中心将具有很高的知名度，并拥有活跃的社交媒体形象，以支持中心与政策制定者和其他资助者的互动。中心的研究和培训成果也将更广泛、公开地分享，以进一步支持生物强化对健康的影响。