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At Iowa State University’s Nutrition and Wellness Research Center, one might find a group of volunteers being served a spaghetti dinner to measure how many calories they consume after taking a dietary supplement an hour earlier. Elsewhere in the facility, subjects may be having their blood drawn to see whether taking a health supplement is lowering their cholesterol. In another area, a subject may be on a stationary bicycle while wearing instruments to measure how much energy she is expending while exercising.

The center, which opened a year ago at the Iowa State University Research Park in Ames, serves as a testing site for a broad range of human clinical studies for companies that produce health- and nutrition-related products.

“If there’s a theme to our projects with industry, it’s putting science behind their health claims,” said Diane Birt, the center’s interim director. “If you look at (food and supplement) packages now, there are a lot of health claims. Some of them have a lot more science behind them than others. As we approach industry, we say, ‘If you’re interested in having reliable science behind your claims, that’s what we’re here for.'”

The center, which encompasses both the 10,800-square-foot facility at the research park as well as on-campus facilities, evolved from an initiative by the Biosciences Alliance of Iowa to make Iowa State’s research capabilities more accessible to Iowa-based companies. In October 2005, the Biosciences Alliance allocated $700,000 from the Grow Iowa Values Fund to expand the university’s Center for Designing Foods to Improve Nutrition to the research park. That center has since been folded into the Nutrition and Wellness Research Center.

In addition to office space and conference rooms for faculty and students conducting studies, the research park facility includes phlebotomy rooms and a laboratory. There’s even a commercial-grade kitchen dedicated to preparing meals for satiety studies or other studies that involve feeding subjects, along with two dining rooms that can accommodate up to 40 subjects at a time. It also has specialized equipment for bone density and body mass measurements.

Among the companies for which the center has conducted studies are Decatur, Ill.-based Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. and Grain Processing Corp. in Muscatine. Some studies that are just getting started include one for the Iowa Soybean Association to measure the potential benefits of soy consumption in lowering blood pressure. In addition to providing a source of independent test results, the center can often provide expertise that many companies don’t have in-house, Birt said. “That’s where the connection with the university really helps,” she said.

Some of the most active areas of study relate to products designed to help control diabetes, and on healthier forms of carbohydrates that are more slowly metabolized by the body and don’t cause blood sugar to spike as much, she said. “We also do a lot of work in the area of improving the immune response through exercise, the idea of supplements to enhance performance.”

Iowa resource

Embria Health Sciences is among the Iowa-based companies currently using the center for its research. The Ankeny-based nutritional supplement manufacturer is in the midst of a six-month clinical study of its immune-system-boosting supplement, EpiCor. Embria sells throughout the United States as well as in some international markets.

“We’re quite excited about using (the center),” said Larry Robinson, Embria’s vice president of scientific affairs. “We’re an Iowa biotech company using Iowa resources, and we’re only 20 miles up the road from them. So it’s very convenient for us.” Previously, Embria had contracted with a private testing service located outside the state, he said.

For the EpiCor study, two Iowa State professors have recruited 12 non-athletic student subjects who will participate in strenuous exercise at the center to determine whether the supplement helps their bodies recover more quickly. In the double-blind, crossover study, neither the subjects nor the professors will know whether students are taking a placebo or EpiCor. Midway through the study, the subjects taking the placebo will switch to the product and vice versa, so that each person becomes his or her own control in the study, Robinson said. Both blood and genetic samples will be studied.

“It’s quite an extensive study, and we should be finding out a lot about how EpiCor can benefit weekend athletes,” he said.

The center also has attracted the attention of companies from outside the state. For instance, a Pittsburgh-based company, BodyMedia Inc., is having the center perform a clinical study of its SenseWear product, an accelerometer that measures a person’s activity level. The subjects in that test will wear the armband devices during all activities except swimming or bathing, 24 hours a day.

Committed people

Jeanne Stewart, the center’s laboratory manager, said test subjects include members of the community who might have specific conditions being studied, as well as Iowa State students recruited by professors conducting the studies.

“The subjects are real committed people,” Stewart said. “They may be people who have diabetes, and they are willing to go through onerous procedures in order to find something that works better for them.” Each subject goes through an informed-consent process just as a hospital would conduct for patients participating in clinical studies, she said.

“We’re just gearing up,” she said. “One thing we’re trying to do is put together a database of potential subjects, so that when we’re conducting a study we have a pool of people to draw from.”

Subjects typically receive a stipend. For example, participants in a four-week blood-glucose study in which they have blood drawn twice a week might receive $400 each.

“Iowans are generally very service-oriented and are willing to participate in studies,” Stewart said. “We’ve had companies come to us from around the country because they feel that Iowans are willing to participate in research.”

Steve Carter, director of the Iowa State University Research Park Corp., said the center is one of two facilities, along with the CyberInnovation Institute, that the research park is initially targeting for increased marketing to Iowa businesses.

Birt said a goal for the center, which after its first full year is at 10 to 20 percent of its capacity, is to reach a level of activity at which fees for the clinical studies performed will make the operation, which has an annual budget of about $600,000, self-sustaining.

“I feel pleased about the first year,” she said. “I hope we keep our momentum and continue to grow, and that in another year we have three times, four times the activity.”