The USDA said it would accelerate research into diet-related diseases on Monday as part of President Biden’s “Cancer Moonshot” to reduce the cancer death rate by at least half over the next 25 years. “Precision nutrition,” to fine-tune individual diets for health, will be one of the areas of study, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
The new Agricultural Science Center of Excellence for Nutrition and Diet for Better Health — shortened to ASCEND for Better Health — would coordinate research and transmit the results to the public, said Vilsack and USDA chief scientist Chavonda Jacob-Young during a video unveiling. It will be a “virtual” center rather than scientific campus.
“ASCEND will bring together scientists, partner organizations, and communities to develop and deliver science-based solutions that improve the health and well-being of all Americans, particularly in under-served communities,” said Vilsack.
At present, the USDA spends more than $180 million a year on diet-related research at its own facilities or through grants. No additional funding would accompany the initiative, said a USDA spokesperson. “ASCEND will connect existing resources, including people and programs to leverage expertise and increase coordination and cooperation across the department.”
Vilsack said the project “will help to coordinate and evaluate precision nutrition science to better understand relationships with food and nutrition within specific populations, particularly in historically under-served communities.”
People respond differently to food based on their age, sex, genetics and environment and food selection can hinge on its availability and cost as well as social and cultural settings, said Vilsack. The three goals of ASCEND are to coordinate precision nutrition research, education and extension; to cultivate innovative ideas and novel approaches; and to speed the delivery of results to the public.
“The reality is we still have a national food problem,” he said. “Diet-related chronic diseases — cancer, obesity, heart disease, stroke, Type II diabetes — continue to be on the rise and we recognize that when it comes to using food and nutrition to improve health-related outcomes for individuals, we cannot take a one-size-fits-all approach.”
Said Jacobs-Young, “We are not naive. We recognize this issue is complex.”