http://hnrc.tufts.edu/
http://hnrc.tufts.edu/
http://nutrition.tufts.edu/1178308939460/Nutrition-Page-nl2w_1178203752501.html
http://nutrition.tufts.edu/1178308939460/Nutrition-Page-nl2w_1178203752501.html
Tufts University - Index
Tufts University - Beyond Boundaries Newsletter Spring 2008 - Index
BEYO ND BOUNDARIES
10
Can diet help keep us mentally sharp as we
age? Why does weight get distributed in certain
areas of the body and not others? Can
nutrition play a role in preventing disease?
Researchers at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition
Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) will get closer to
finding answers to these and other questions, thanks
to partnerships established recently with two international
food product manufacturers: Unilever and Kraft.
Agreements signed with both compa
“The partnerships are a
nies will foster innovative research at
wonderful opportunity for us to Tufts intended to bring about a better
more fully comprehend the role understanding of how nutrients affect
nutrition plays in maintaining
the bodily functions—an understanding
that will in turn lead to the devel
health throughout aging.”
opment of healthier food products.
—Simin Nikbin Meydani
Doble Trust a Historic Gift (continued from page 1)
“At Tufts,
we believe
research and
teaching go
hand in hand,”
Bharucha says.
“Some of the best
education takes
place in our research
labs.” He notes that
Tufts has not constructed a new
laboratory building on the Medford/
Somerville campus in almost 20
years. “A new facility will provide
expanded opportunities for our students
to get involved in research.”
He says putting biologists and
engineers in the same building will
spark multidisciplinary collaboration.
“We were delighted to learn that
these companies were interested in looking at the basic
mechanisms underlying nutrition science,” notes Simin
Nikbin Meydani, associate director of the HNRCA. “The
partnerships are a wonderful opportunity for us to more
fully comprehend the role nutrition plays in maintaining
health throughout aging.”
“The pace of development of ideas
today is so rapid, scientific inquiry
should not be limited by department
and school boundaries. The current
collaboration among Tufts biologists
and engineers to develop the
first entirely soft-bodied robots is an
excellent example of what can happen
when faculty and students seek
to cross those boundaries.”
“We are committed to working
closely with the City of Medford
and our neighbors as we begin initial
planning,” Bharucha says. “We
envision a design that will architecturally
integrate the Science and
Technology Center with the rest
of the campus and will be a source
of pride to the city.”
News of the Campaign for Tufts Spring 2008
When he named Tufts and
Lesley in his estate plans in 1960,
Mr. Doble made the schools primary
beneficiaries of two irrevocable
trusts that together owned
87 percent of Doble Engineering.
This past November, ESCO
Technologies Inc., of St. Louis,
announced its acquisition of Doble
Engineering. With the trusts dissolved,
the trust assets will come
equally to Tufts and Lesley, with
each school receiving about $136
million. The aggregate value of all
gifts Mr. Doble made to Tufts as a
result of distributions from his trust
is more than $170 million.
Unilever, Kraft Aid Center’s Search for
Keys to Better Nutrition
The research agreements with Unilever and Kraft are
an outgrowth of a renewed universitywide effort to
strengthen relationships with corporate partners. In
the past three years alone, Tufts has signed more than
200 corporate contracts for research, involving dozens
of different researchers and companies. Most often,
agreements with corporate partners come about due to
a personal connection between a Tufts faculty member
and a company representative. In the case of Unilever,
for example, several faculty, in particular, Professor
Ernst Schaefer of the Friedman School of Nutrition
Science and Policy and HNRCA, had developed a relationship
with Unilever scientists that led to a formal,
fouryear commitment to sponsoring research at Tufts.
Although the current agreements with Unilever and
Kraft are focused on studies conducted at the HNRCA,
Meydani and others who established the partnerships
hope they will expand to additional areas. “These relationships
will provide an opportunity to showcase other
research expertise here,” says Meydani. “We hope they
will prove that there’s much more at the Human Nutrition
Research Center on Aging, and at Tufts, that is of value to
corporate partners.”