Hypothesis and Objectives

Hypothesis:

Dietary modifications and yet unknown dietary factors induce changes at different levels of human physiology.

The systems biology approach enables combination of the data from these levels to find early biomarkers and other factors predicting risk of diet induced disease pathogenesis at an early stage.

Objective

SYSDIET aims to reveal mechanisms by which Nordic foods and diets could be modified to promote health and prevent insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.

To achieve this, we develop and exploit novel nutritional systems biology tools to be used in human randomized controlled dietary interventions, animal and cell culture studies. The aim is to create a nutritional systems biology platform in genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics and bioinformatics by knowledge sharing, joint training and data analysis.

Expected outcome:

1. Create a nutritional systems biology platform in genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics and bioinformatics, by information sharing, joint training and data analysis.

2. Increase critical mass by sharing of study populations for analyses on diet-nutrition-gene-interactions and large scale molecular profiling. Combine the information with mechanistic studies of regulatory pathways and markers in smaller scale human interventions, animal and cell line studies.

3. Plan and conduct a large multi-centre randomised controlled human dietary intervention, using skills of WG 1 and 2 to elucidate the changes in different levels of human physiology for identification of nutrition related biomarkers for disease pathogenesis and for sensitivity to dietary modifications.

4. To spread the high quality scientific knowledge available within and outside of the proposed NCoE among partners of the SYSDIET

Updated: 28.03.2008 KK