Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) in Nutrition and Women’s Health

Photos of high schoolers attending an event held at the Niccolls building to showcase what the CALS program has to offer. This field trip included some activities, presentations, tours of the school and interactions with staff and current U of I students.

Nutrition and women’s health

The Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) in Nutrition and Women’s Health was established at University of Idaho in March 2024, thanks to a $11 million, five-year grant (award number P20GM152304). This grant is funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, a component of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH’s Office of Women’s Health and Office of Nutrition Research are also partners.

The first five years (phase 1) of this award will focus on building capacity in the area of nutrition and women’s health at University of Idaho, including (1) attracting, mentoring and supporting a critical mass of both emerging and established world-class investigators who are able to compete effectively for independent, federal research funding and (2) improving infrastructure in the area of nutrition and women’s health at University of Idaho.

Research will be broad, interdisciplinary, collaborative and innovative in the areas of nutrition and women’s health. It will span the entire lifespan and be inclusive of all nutrients and food bioactives important for health. Both undernutrition and obesity will be considered, as will a broad range of health outcomes, such as fertility, eating disorders, nutrient deficiencies, chronic disease and mental health.

The NIH’s overarching goal with this and all COBRE grants is to “support the establishment and development of innovative, state-of-the-art biomedical and behavioral research centers at institutions in Institutional Development Award (IDeA)-eligible states through awards for three sequential five-year phases.” IDeA-eligible states are those with the least NIH funding, and Idaho ranks nearly at the bottom of all states in this regard.

Research and pilot projects

The COBRE in Nutrition and Women’s Health research will be broad, covering the entire lifespan and studying all health outcomes and nutritional issues.

Research projects

Current

  • Characterizing risk factors and health outcomes of normal weight obesity in young women living in rural Idaho — Ann Frost, Ph.D. (EHHS)
  • Impact of vitamin D supplements on mental health and milk composition in mothers of term infants living in Idaho — Yimin Chen, Ph.D. (CALS)

Past

  • Use of intersectional research approach to understand factors associated with type 2 diabetes in Hispanic women living in Idaho — Ginny Lane, Ph.D. (CALS)

Pilot projects

Current

  • Nutrition literacy of high school female students in northern Idaho — Christopher Merica, Ph.D. and Cate Loiacono (EHHS)

Past

  • The relationship between habitual dietary creatine intake, cognitive function and depression in adolescent girls — Christopher Brush, Ph.D. (EHHS)
  • Human milk as a biological system: the effect of maternal dietary and supplemental mineral intake on human milk mineral concentration — Adrianne Griebel-Thompson, Ph.D. (CALS)
  • Thriving or surviving: the impact of academic leadership on women’s dietary behavior, physical and mental health — Aleksandra Hollingshead, Ed.D. and Brooke Blevins, Ph.D. (EHHS)

Funding opportunities

The long-term goal of COBRE is to attract, mentor, train, support and retain a critical mass of faculty and students who conduct a wide variety of rigorous, interdisciplinary, federally funded research related to nutrition and women’s health at the University of Idaho. Funding opportunities announcements and applications will be posted on when they become available. Contact us at womenshealth@uidaho.edu  if you have any questions.

  • Funding opportunities announcements and application will be posted in the U of I Daily Register when they become available.

Nutrition Analytics Core Laboratory (NACL)

The Nutrition Analytics Core Laboratory (NACL; RRID: SCR_025661) will consist of two main components: The “hub” laboratory suite located in the Food Research Center (FRC) building and a network of partner laboratories distributed across University of Idaho. The NACL suite will provide laboratory equipment, support and guidance for anyone who would like to conduct research related to nutrition and/or women’s health.

Technology access grants (TAGs) will be available for faculty and students conducting research related to nutrition and/or women’s health to utilize the NACL suite and partner laboratories.

For more information regarding the NACL, partner laboratories, available equipment and TAG awards please contact our office at COBRE_NACL@uidaho.edu or stop in the FRC building 2nd floor.

How to cite grant

NIH requires the following format for citing COBRE in Nutrition and Women’s Health support, to be used for presentations, publications and other acknowledgements.

  • “This publication was made possible by an Institutional Development Award (IDeA) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the NIH Office of Women's Health and the NIH Office of Nutrition Research under grant #P20GM152304.”
  • “The project described was supported by an Institutional Development Award (IDeA) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the NIH Office of Women's Health and the NIH Office of Nutrition Research under grant #P20GM152304. Contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of NIH.”
  • "The Nutrition Analytics Core Laboratory (RRID: SCR_025661) services and instruments used in this project were funded by an Institutional Development Award (IDeA) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the NIH Office of Women's Health and the NIH Office of Nutrition Research under grant #P20GM152304."

Read before citing the grant — All publications must be compliant with the Notice of Grant Award and must adhere to all Notice of Funding Opportunity requirements, including the prohibition of foreign components.

The COBRE in Nutrition and Women’s Health investigators are required to adhere to current NIH and NIGMS policies regarding foreign collaborations and publication practices under IDeA-funded awards. Importantly, any collaboration with investigators at a foreign institution that is anticipated to result in co-authorship is considered a foreign component under the NIH Grants Policy Statement and is not allowable.

Publications

Products and publications by COBRE-affiliated project leaders and core administrative team.

Publication year 2024

  • Saenz, C., Sanders, D. J., Brooks, S. J., Bracken, L., Jordan, A., Stoner, J., Vatne, E., Wahler, M., & Brown, A. F. (2024). The Relationship Between Dance Training Volume, Body Composition, and Habitual Diet in Female Collegiate Dancers: The Intercollegiate Artistic Athlete Research Assessment (TIAARA) Study. Nutrients, 16(21), 3733. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16213733.
  • Lyu, Y.; Kim, B.J.; Patel, J.S.; Dallas, D.C.; Chen, Y. Human Milk Protein-Derived Bioactive Peptides from In Vitro-Digested Colostrum Exert Antimicrobial Activities against Common Neonatal Pathogens. Nutrients 2024, 16, 2040. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16132040.
  • Aguiar Bonfim Cruz, A. J., Brooks, S. J., Kleinkopf, K., Brush, C. J., Irwin, G. L., Schwartz, M. G., Candow, D. G., & Brown, A. F. (2024). Creatine Improves Total Sleep Duration Following Resistance Training Days versus Non-Resistance Training Days among Naturally Menstruating Females. Nutrients, 16(16), 2772. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16162772.
  • Longworth, Z. L., Mohammadkhani, R., Szafron, M., Lane, G., & Vatanparast, H. (2024). Trends in Plant-Based Diets and the Associated Health Characteristics among Canadians. Nutrients, 16(16), 2628. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16162628.

Other Idaho IDEA programs

Email team - womenshealth@uidaho.edu

Administrative team

  • Michelle (Shelley) McGuire

    Distinguished Professor and Director of Margaret Ritchie School of Family and Consumer Sciences; Director of COBRE

  • Angel Shears

    Program Manager and Evaluator for COBRE/INBRE

  • Mark McGuire

    Distinguished Professor and Associate Director of COBRE

  • Cami Moss

    Program Manager and Fiscal Director of COBRE

  • Patricia Villamediana

    Research Laboratory Services Manager for COBRE

  • Janet Williams

    Senior Research Scientist

NACL steering committee

  • Janet Williams

    Senior Research Scientist

  • Mark McGuire

    Distinguished Professor and Associate Director of COBRE

  • Barrie Robison

    Professor and Director, Institute for Interdisciplinary Data Sciences

Advisory committee members

  • Marla Berry — University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, professor; director, Pacific Biosciences Research Center School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology
  • Carolyn Bohach — University of Idaho, university distinguished professor; INBRE program director/principal investigator
  • Christopher Nomura — University of Idaho, vice president, Research and Economic Development
  • Julia Oxford — Boise State University, Lori and Duane Stueckle endowed chair; university distinguished professor; director, Center of Biomedical Research Excellence in Matrix Biology and Biomolecular Research Center
  • Janos Zempleni — University of Nebraska, Willa Cather professor, molecular nutrition; director, Nebraska Center for Prevention of Obesity Diseases

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