Journal article
Advancing food, nutrition, and health research in Europe by connecting and building research infrastructures in a DISH-RI: Results of the EuroDISH project
Wageningen University & Research1
Research Group for Risk Benefit, National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark2
National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark3
Maastricht University4
National Institute of Public Health and the Environment5
Universite Claude Bernard Lyon 16
University of Surrey7
Université Paris 138
EuroFIR AISBL9
Council for Agricultural Research and Economics10
International Agency for Research on Cancer11
...and 1 moreBackground Research infrastructures (RIs) are essential to advance research on the relationship between food, nutrition, and health. RIs will facilitate innovation and allow insights at the systems level which are required to design (public health) strategies that will address societal challenges more effectively.
Approach In the EuroDISH project we mapped existing RIs in the food and health area in Europe, identified outstanding needs, and synthesised this into a conceptual design of a pan-European DISH-RI. The DISH model was used to describe and structure the research area: Determinants of food choice, Intake of foods and nutrients, Status and functional markers of nutritional health, and Health and disease risk.
Key findings The need to develop RIs in the food and health domain clearly emerged from the EuroDISH project. It showed the necessity for a unique interdisciplinary and multi-stakeholder RI that overarches the research domains. A DISH-RI should bring services to the research community that facilitate network and community building and provide access to standardised, interoperable, and innovative data and tools.
It should fulfil the scientific needs to connect within and between research domains and make use of current initiatives. Added value can also be created by providing services to policy makers and industry, unlocking data and enabling valorisation of research insights in practice through public-private partnerships.
The governance of these services (e.g. ownership) and the centralised and distributed activities of the RI itself (e.g. flexibility, innovation) needs to be organised and aligned with the different interests of public and private partners.
Language: | English |
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Year: | 2018 |
Pages: | 58-66 |
ISSN: | 18793053 , 09242244 and 09680020 |
Types: | Journal article |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.tifs.2017.12.015 |
ORCIDs: | 0000-0002-6473-2839 , 0000-0002-5301-3142 , 0000-0003-1299-6135 and 0000-0003-1755-6104 |