The Health and Nutrition Innovative International Research Center - mission
Evidence-based medicine, synergizes the crosstalk across multidisciplinary researchers with a joint effort to promote healthy, novel food solutions and nutritional research to contribute to human health in a personalized manner. The center proposes a unique model for an interplay between the multidisciplinary knowledge and expertise achieved in academia in general, from bench to biomedical individual human health.

Governance & Steering Committee:

• Chair: Prof. Iris Shai (Nutrition)
• Vice Chair: Prof. Amos Katz (previous Dean, Faculty of Health Science, Cardiology) 
• Raz Jelinek (VPDRD, Chemistry)
• Assaf Rudich (Biochemistry)
• Danit Shahar (Public Health)
• Galia Avidan (Cognition)
• Osnat Gillor (plant and soil Microbiology)
• Prof Daniel A. Chamovitz, BGU president, directly supervises the center
  
  

Advisory Board:

• Meir J Stampfer - Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition, Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Professor of Medicine, Medicine-Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School.
• Matthias Bluer - Professor of Molecular Endocrinology, Faculty of Medicine, Leipzig University, Germany

Research partners -
Israel: Soroka Medical Center, The Nuclear Research Center-Negev, Dimona, Tel Aviv University, Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer, Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Bar-Ilan University, Weizmann Institute of Science, Ariel University Center of Samaria, Kibbutzim College of Education, Hinoman Ltd, Hadassah University Medical Centre, Rabin Medical Center Israel, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, Clalit Health Services, University of Haifa, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Ministry of Health, Israel, Schneider Childrens Medical Center Israel; China: Peking University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University; Japan: Sumitomo Hospital, Osaka University; Europe: Austria: University of Vienna. France: Fondation Cœur et Artères, Sorbonne Université. Italy: Istituto Agrario San Michele all'Adige, University of Milan, University of Padua, Free University of Bozen-Bolzano, IRCCS Multimedica – Milano, Faculty of Science and Technology. Norway: University of Oslo. Denmark: University of Copenhagen. Germany: Leipzig University, Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology, German Center for Diabetes Research, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, Helmholtz Zentrum München - German Research Center for Environmental Health. Netherlands: University of Amsterdam. United Kingdom: University of Surrey, Leeds Beckett University, Imperial College London, King's College London, Queen's University Belfast, University of Central Lancashire, University of Reading.; America: Brazil: Universidade de São Paulo, Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein. Ontario: Queen's University Kingston, National Research Council of Canada, Western University. Quebec: Université Laval. Colorado: University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Massachusetts: Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH)-Harvard University, Broad Institute, Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Louisiana: Tulane University, LSU Pennington Biomedical Research Center. Missouri: Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics. Arizona: Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics. United States: Immune Disease Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA- Harvard Medical School (HMS and HSDM) British Columbia: Arthritis Research Canada. Nova Scotia: Dalhousie University. Chile: Clínica Las Condes. Florida: University of Miami. New Mexico: Santa Fe Institute. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Texas: University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. California: University of California at Davis; Australia and Oceania: South Australia: Flinders University, South Australian Health And Medical Research Institute. New South Wales: University of New South Wales, University of Sydney.

We thank Manya Igel foundation for trusting and supporting "The International center of Health Innovation & Nutrition.

Analysis of Food Frequency Questionnaires (FFQ)

The Health and Nutrition Innovative International Research Center provides services for conducting research that includes nutritional assessment using FFQ questionnaires. The service includes:

• A digital FFQ questionnaire for participants to complete independently (through Qualtrics), including a personal password for each participant. The questionnaire is the national FFQ of Israel, developed by the Nutrition Center in collaboration with the Nutrition Division of the Ministry of Health. A sample questionnaire can be viewed here (in Hebrew). The questionnaires are also adapted for completion using a mobile phone or tablet.

The researchers will receive an analysis per participant that includes:

• Total intake of nutrients (about 70 nutrients).
• Detailed intake of various foods in grams and detailed nutrient intake for each food item.
• Intake according to food groups (in grams and caloric contribution).
• Intake of ultra-processed food (including the percentage of calories from ultra-processed food).
• Adherence scores to the Mediterranean diet (two different scores), the DASH diet, and the Eat-Lancet diet.

There is also the option to use a new FFQ developed by the center, which is better adapted for populations consuming plant-based diets (vegetarian and vegan) yet is also suitable for omnivores. A sample of the new questionnaire can be viewed here (in Hebrew).

The International Center for Health, Innovation, and Nutrition named after Mania Igel at Ben-Gurion University commits to storing the research data analysis on a secure and backed-up drive at Ben-Gurion University. Only center employees have access to the drive.

For more details and to receive a price quote, you can contact:

• Keren Avital: [email protected]
• Liz Sarfati: [email protected]