Dataset Information

The Decline in Vitamin Research Funding: A Missed Opportunity?

ABSTRACT: Background: The National Nutrition Research Roadmap has called for support of greater collaborative, interdisciplinary research for multiple areas of nutrition research. However, a substantial reduction in federal funding makes responding to these calls challenging. Objectives: The objectives of this study were to examine temporal trends in research funding and to discuss the potential consequences of these trends. Methods: We searched the NIH RePORTER database to identify NIH research grants and USASpending to identify National Science Foundation and USDA research grants awarded from 1992 to 2015. We focused on those that pertained to vitamin research. For the years 2000 to 2015, we examined funding trends for different vitamins, including vitamins A, B (one-carbon B-vitamins were considered separately from other B-vitamins), C, D, E, and K. Results: From 1992 to 2015, total federal research spending increased from ?$14 to $45 billion (2016 US dollars). Although vitamin research spending increased from ?$89 to $95 million, the proportion of grants awarded for vitamin research declined by more than two-thirds, from 0.65% in 1992 to 0.2% in 2015. Federal agencies awarded 6035 vitamin research grants over the time period, with vitamin A associated with the most research projects per year on average (n = 115) and vitamin K the fewest (n = 8). Vitamin D research projects were associated with the greatest average yearly project value ($34.8 million). Conclusions: Vitamin research has faced a disproportionate decline in research funding from 1992 to 2015. Insufficient federal research funding streams risk stalling progress in vitamin research and leaving important advancements unrealized.

SUBMITTER: Chambers JD

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5998363 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

The Decline in Vitamin Research Funding: A Missed Opportunity?

Chambers James D JD Anderson Jordan E JE Salem Mark N MN Bügel Susanne G SG Fenech Michael M Mason Joel B JB Weber Peter P West Keith P KP Wilde Parke P Eggersdorfer Manfred M Booth Sarah L SL

Current developments in nutrition 20170405 8

Background: The National Nutrition Research Roadmap has called for support of greater collaborative, interdisciplinary research for multiple areas of nutrition research. However, a substantial reduction in federal funding makes responding to these calls challenging. Objectives: The objectives of this study were to examine temporal trends in research funding and to discuss the potential consequences of these trends. Methods: We searched the NIH RePORTER database to identify N ...[more]

PMID: 29955714

Similar Datasets

Project description:RationaleBiological studies are conducted at ever-increasing rates by relying on proteomic workflows. Although data acquisition by mass spectrometry is highly automated and rapid, sample preparation continues to be the bottleneck of developing high-throughput workflows. Enzymatic protein processing, in particular, involves time-consuming protocols that can extend from one day to another. To address this gap, we developed and evaluated simple, in-solution tryptic enzymatic reactions that unfold within a few minutes, and demonstrate the utility of the methodology for the rapid analysis of proteins originating from cancer cell extracts.MethodsTryptic enzymatic reactions were conducted for 7-60 min, and the results were compared with that of a routine approach conducted for 18 h. No other reaction conditions were changed relative to the 18 h procedure. The reaction products were analyzed by nanospray high-performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (nano-HPLC/MS/MS), and the quality of the products was assessed in terms of peptide/protein identifications, sequence coverage, peptide length, missed-cleavage sites, quality of generated ions, and peptide hydrophilic/hydrophobic properties.ResultsThe results demonstrate that brief, and therefore incomplete, enzymatic processes lead to a large number of peptide fragments that improve protein sequence and proteome coverage, that the tandem mass spectra produced from these peptides are of high quality for reliable protein identifications, and that the physical properties of peptides are prone to supporting the development of alternative multi-dimensional separations and middle-down proteomics analysis strategies. The reproducibility of generating the same peptides within a few minutes of enzymatic digestion was remarkably close to that obtained from 18 h long reactions, and the combined results of short and long reactions increased proteome coverage by ~40%.ConclusionsWe demonstrate that partial enzymatic reactions conducted on short time-scales represent a valuable asset to proteomic studies, and propose their implementation either as simple, cost-effective, stand-alone protocols for substantially streamlining the analysis of biological samples, or as complementary protocols, for improving protein sequence and proteome coverage.

Project description:BackgroundIncreased coverage of interventions have been advocated to reduce under-five mortality. However, Ghana failed to achieve the Millennium Development Goal on child survival in 2015 despite improved coverage levels of some child health interventions. Therefore, there is the need to determine which interventions contributed the most to mortality reduction and those that can further rapidly reduce mortality to inform the prioritization of the scale-up of interventions.Materials and methodsDeterministic mathematical modeling was done using Lives Saved and Missed Opportunity Tools. Secondary data was used, and the period of the evaluation was between 2008 and 2014. Some of the interventions assessed were complementary feeding, skilled delivery, and rotavirus vaccine.ResultsA total of 48,084 lives were saved from changes in coverage of interventions and a reduction in the prevalence of stunting and wasting. Reduction in wasting prevalence saved 10,372(21.6%) lives, insecticide-treated net/indoor residual spraying 6,437(13.4%) lives saved, reduction in stunting 4,315(9%) lives saved and artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACTs) 4,325(9.0%) lives saved. If coverage levels of interventions in 2014 were scaled up to 90% in 2015, among neonates, full supportive care for prematurity (5,435 lives saved), full supportive care for neonatal sepsis/pneumonia (3,002 lives saved), and assisted vaginal delivery (2,163 lives saved), would have saved the most lives among neonates, while ACTs (4,925 lives saved), oral rehydration salts (ORS) (2,056 lives saved), and antibiotics for the treatment of pneumonia (1,805 lives saved) would have made the most impact on lives saved among children 1-59 months. Lastly, if all the interventions were at 100% coverage in 2014, the under-five mortality rate would have been 40.1 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2014.DiscussionThe state of the package of interventions will likely not lead to rapid mortality reduction. Coverage and quality of childbirth-related interventions should be increased. Additionally, avenues to further reduce stunting and wasting, including increased breastfeeding and complementary feeding, will be beneficial.

Dataset Information

The Decline in Vitamin Research Funding: A Missed Opportunity?

Publications

The Decline in Vitamin Research Funding: A Missed Opportunity?

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets