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About the Foods for Health Institute

The Foods For Health Institute was established to link diverse scientific disciplines across the colleges and schools of the University of California at Davis, and develop regional and international multi-stakeholder partnerships.

The FFHI acts as an engine for research, innovation, and economic development supported by competitive research programs, industry collaborations, and philanthropic funding. Together, the FFHI and its partners will lead the improvement of individual health through diet.

Vision

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The vision of the Foods for Health Institute (FFHI) is to bring personalized health to practice by creating the tools to personalize health assessment and the mechanistic understanding of how diet controls health.

The FFHI is housed in the new Robert Mondavi Institute complex and is composed of a multi-disciplinary group of scientists producing work that explores many facets of human health and personalized nutrition.

Director Dr. J. Bruce German and the FFHI Leadership Team aim to foster collaborations throughout the UC Davis community while also creating partnerships with other research institutions and industry leaders.

The Associate Directors work with FFHI researchers and affiliates on a range of issues, including discovering the ways in which human milk guides the establishment of the gastroinestinal microbiota, improving children’s health through personalized education, collaborating with international research labs and scientists, developing strategic industry partnerships, and leading human studies designed to support FFHI research and provide mentorship and training opportunities to UC Davis undergraduate students. 

People talking around a deskMission

To build the scientific understanding of how diet affects health, to create the technologies that can measure it and the education to guide individuals to know their own health and to improve it.

Objectives

The objectives of the FFHI are to guide multidisciplinary research programs drawing on the complementary strengths of the University of California, Davis and its partners to: (1) develop assessment technologies that accurately measure health; (2) discover the molecular targets of health that are modifiable by food and lifestyle; and (3) translate the discoveries at the molecular level to personalized food, lifestyle, and education solutions.