UNC Nutrition Research Institute

Maternal and Child Health Study

Make a difference where it’s most needed. Fund innovation. Support a student scientist. Help people learn about nutrition. Gifts for greatest needs facilitate ground-breaking research by providing the flexibility to respond to opportunities.

Community

Take advantage of the many opportunities to get involved with the UNC Nutrition Research Institute (NRI) and help us become the world’s premier institute for scientific discovery: make a gift, attend an Appetite for Life event, or participate in our research.

Employment

As scientists, physicians, and healthcare practitioners better understand nutritional individuality, they will be able to enhance human health, improve brain development, and more effectively treat diseases like obesity, cancer, and diabetes. Be part of our team!

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The Nutrition Research Institute is a branch of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. With an environment that inspires pioneering research, innovation, and entrepreneurship, UNC Chapel Hill has long been an agent for economic prosperity in North Carolina. Today more than 150 North Carolina companies have spun out of UNC, many from the university’s research. They generate more than $7 billion in revenue in the state each year and provide nearly 8,000 jobs to residents and 38,000 jobs worldwide. At the NRI we are proud of our Carolina heritage and to be representing it on the North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis, NC. Many of our faculty members started at Chapel Hill and have found their callings with the Nutrition Research Institute.

NC Research Campus

The NC Research Campus (NCRC) is located in the city of Kannapolis, just north of Charlotte. Centered on the advancement of nutrition, agriculture and human health, scientists from universities, industry, government and non-profit organizations are finding new ways to promote healthy lifestyles and to prevent, treat and cure the most prevalent diseases of our times like cancer, diabetes, obesity, Alzheimer’s and other diet and lifestyle-related disorders.

NRI Updates

Cheatham Lab's B.E.R.R.Y. Study Preliminary Results

As we age, we experience gradual cognitive decline as our brains process things slower and our ability to remember things decreases. Blueberries contain anthocyanins, which have been shown to effect the areas of the brain that are related to memory and processing in animal studies.

Recruiting Study Participants

Recruiting: African American, Hispanic and Caucasian, 30 to 50 year olds.

Study Purpose: High uric acid in the blood increases the risk of gout, kidney and heart disease. This study investigates whether each individual responds to sugar-sweetened beverages differently, due to their differing ethnicities and genetic backgrounds.

Visiting Scholar's Research Assists Development of Training Program

The Nutrition Research Institute (NRI) welcomes visiting scholar Rodrigo San Cristobal from the Universidad de Navarra in Pamplona, Spain, who is working with NRI faculty member Martin Kohlmeier, M.D., Ph.D., to develop a certification program in nutrigenetics for licensed healthcare professionals.

Breast Cancer Slide

Better Baby Brains