The Second Bruce Am es Internat ional S ym posium on
Nutrition al Genom ics
Univers ity of Californ ia, Davis, Davis Calif ornia
October 12-14, 2007
The relationship between nutrition and health is a long and welldocumented one. The mechanisms, however, by which the nutritive (and
non-nutritive) constituents of diet can influence health and disease
outcomes is not well understood. The goal of nutritional genomics is to
identify those positive and negative interactions between the constituents of
diet and genetic determinants they interact with. The challenge for today’s
biomedical researcher is to reconcile the diverse properties of dietary
metabolites with our current understanding of how gene activity is
controlled in a comprehensive and highly coordinated fashion. The difficulty
with integrating the diverse properties of dietary metabolites with the
genetic control needed to impact complex physiological processes is that
most dietary metabolites lack the potency and efficacy of drugs (i.e., low concentration, weak affinity, low specificity, poor
pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties). How do low potency dietary metabolites coordinately regulate thousands of
genes in hundreds of pathways to promote health or increase disease risk? Are diet x gene interactions merely the result of
random interactions between all possible dietary metabolites and all possible gene products? Finally, why do some individuals
respond differently to the same dietary stimuli? These seemingly contradictory observations can be described as the “diet-gene
paradox.” This symposium brings together leading researchers and opinion leaders from around the world to discuss the use of
genetic/genomic/epigenomic information and nutritional inventions to promote health and prevent disease. Some of the topics to
be covered include:
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Epigenetics/epigenomics and cancer
Neuro-regulation of satiety
Genetics of taste perception and taste receptor gene polymorphisms
Gene expression and caloric restriction
Nutrition, culture and health disparities
Functional medicine, food bioactives and health
Friday October 12, 2007 (ARC Ballroom)
6:30 pm Reception
7:15 pm Dr. Bruce Ames, Delaying the Degenerative Diseases of Aging in Low Income Populations.
Saturday October 13, 2007 (123 Life Science Lecture Hall)
8:00 am Continental Breakfast
8:30 am Welcome and Introductory Comments. Dr. Raymond. Rodriguez
and Dr. Ken Burtis, Dean of the College of Biological Sciences.
8:45 am Session 1 — Obesity, Lipogenesis and Heart Health (Dr. Roger Newton Session, Chair)
8:50 am Dr. I. Sadaf Farooqi, Dissecting the Pathways Involved in Human Energy Homeostasis – Insights from Genetics.
9:30 am Dr. Hooman Allayee, Genetic Studies of the 5-Lipoxygenase Gene with Cardiovascular and Diabetes Related Traits.
10:10 am Dr. Lara Mangravite, Dietary Regulation of Lipogenic Gene Expression and Lipid Disorders.
10:45 am BioBreak
11:00 am Session 2 — Human Disease as Gene Systems and Networks (Dr. Bert Lubin, Chair)
11:05 am Dr. Kevin Dawson, Caloric Restriction from a Systems Biology Perspective — Different Diets, Different Responses,
Similar Networks.
11:35 am Dr. Eric Schadt, Variations in DNA Induce Changes in Molecular Network States That Drive Disease Traits.
12:15 pm Lunch
1:15 pm Session 3 — Epigenomics and Long term Health Outcomes (Dr. Frank Staggers, Chair)
1:20 pm Dr. Walter Willett, Diet and Cancer: Four Paradigms.
2:00 pm Dr. Joseph A. Baur, Resveratrol in Health and Longevity.
2: 40 pm Dr. Esteban Ballestar, The Epigenetic Basis of Cancer.
3:20 pm BioBreak
3:30 pm Dr. Alfredo Galvez, Diet and Epigenetics: A model for coordinately regulating genetic networks and physiological
pathways to reduce risk of heart disease and cancer.
4:00 pm Dr. Robert Waterland, Mechanisms Underlying Early Dietary Influences on DNA methylation: Not So Simple.
4:35 pm Dr. David Martin, Epigenetic Effects of Diet and Arsenic In Utero — The risks and benefits of grandmother’s diet.
5:15 pm Session Adjourned.
Saturday October 13, 2007 (ARC Ballroom)
7:30 pm Banquet
8:00 pm Dr. Dean Ornish, Effects of Comprehensive Changes in Diet and Lifestyle on Gene Expression
Sunday October 14, 2007 (123 Life Science Lecture Hall)
8:30 am Session 4. Gene, Diet and Disease (Dr. Gale Strasburg, Chair)
8:35 am Dr. Ahmed El-Sohemy, Coffee — CYP1A2 genotype and risk of myocardial infarction.
9:10 am Dr. Dennis Drayna, Genetics of Human Sweet Taste Perception.
9:50 am Dr. Christopher Triggs, Matching Complex Datasets from Dietary Questionnaires and Genotype Analysis - The Way
Forward in Developing Nutrigenomics Foods.
10: 30 am BioBreak
10: 45 am Dr. Jim Kaput, International Nutritional Genomics: A global update.
11:15 am Dr. Sven Ebbesson, Nutrition and Heath Disparities Among the Alaskan Eskimo: A Case Study.
1l:45 am Dr. Judith Gilbride, Nutritional Genomic: Getting the message out about personalized nutritional and disease
prevention.
12:15 pm Symposium Adjourned
1:00 pm Napa Valley Wine Tour (pre-registration required)
2nd Bruce Am es Internat ional S ymposium on
Nutrition al Genom ics
Pre-S ymposium Workshops
12 October 2007
Wor ksho p 1 A (ARC Ball roo m A)
Tit le:
Fundamentals of Nutritional Genomics – a 2007 Update
Coord i na tor s:
Jim Kaput, PhD and Ruth DeBusk, PhD, RD
Sum ma ry: This workshop will present background information on genetics, epidemiology, and nutrition concepts important for
understanding the latest results in nutritional genomics. Included will be topics associated with or supplementing the
presentations at the 2nd Bruce Ames International Symposium on Nutritional Genomics including gut and brain peptides involved
in appetite, new associations of genes and disease (type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular), and mechanisms of epigenetics.
Target audience: Dietitians, nutritionists, nurses, physicians, postdoctoral researchers, graduate students in nutrition, biological
science, or medicine/dentistry/nursing/pharmacy, and other postgraduate nutrition professionals, health care professionals, and
symposium attendees interested in acquiring additional background knowledge in nutritional genomics and its applications prior
to the symposium.
Workshop Schedule
Time
8:00 – 8:30
8:30 – 9:30
9:30 – 10:00
10:00 – 10:30
10:30 – 11:15
11:15 – 12:00
Hours
0.5
1.00
0.30
0.50
0.75
0.75
12:00 – 12:30
0.50
Topic
Introduction to nutrigenomics through the 5 tenets
The basics of genetics, epistasis, epigenetics
Updates on gene associations in diabetes, CVD, and other diseases
Break
Appetite peptides in nutrigenomics
Evolving strategies in nutritional genomics research: Hormesis. homeostatic challenges,
participatory research
Question-and-answer period and workshop evaluation
2nd Bruce Am es Internat ional S ymposium on
Nutrition al Genom ics
Pre-S ymposium Workshops
12 October 2007
Wor ksho p 2 A (ARC Ball roo m A)
Tit le:
Nutritional Genomics: Applications and Practice
Coord i na tor s:
Ruth DeBusk, PhD, RD; Colleen Fogarty Draper, MS, RD
Sum ma ry: This workshop is designed to provide the basics of nutritional genomics for those interested in the practical
applications of this emerging science and is particularly appropriate for those interested in the clinical applications.
Target audience:
Registered dietitians and other postgraduate nutrition professionals; other health care professionals,
graduate and undergraduate students in nutrition, biological science, or medicine/dentistry/nursing/pharmacy; and symposium
attendees interested in developing a background in nutritional genomics and its varied applications prior to the symposium
Workshop Schedule:
Time
1:15 – 1:45
1:45 – 3:00
Hours
0.5
1.25
3:00 – 3:25
0.25
3:25 – 3:30
3:30 – 4:45
4:45 – 5:00
5:00 – 5:15
0.25
1.25
0.25
0.25
Topic
Fundamentals of nutritional genomics
Molecular nutrition: mechanisms by which environmental factors communicate with the
genetic material
Nutrigenetic testing and other methodology used in nutritional genomics research and
applications
Break
Applications of nutritional genomics
Ethical, legal, and social issues
Question-and-answer period and workshop evaluation
2nd Bruce Am es Internat ional S ymposium on
Nutrition al Genom ics
Pre-S ymposium Workshops
12 October 2007
Wor ksho p 2 B (ARC Bal lroo m B)
Tit le:
Nutritional Epigenomics: What Your Grandmother Didn’t Tell You about Nutrition and Health.
Coord i na tor s:
Gail Kauwell, PhD and Fred Chedin, PhD
Sum ma ry: This workshop will present background information on the role of epigenetics as a modulator of diet/gene
interactions and its impact on long-term health outcomes. The fundamentals of DNA methylation, chromosome imprinting and
chromatin modification will be discussed. Also to be covered are the health consequences of epigenetic drift and loss of
imprinting. The role of diet in “reprogramming” the epigenome will be discussed. This workshop will run concurrently with
Workshop 2A.
Target audience: Dietitians, nutritionists, nurses, physicians, postdoctoral researchers, graduate students in nutrition, biological
science, or medicine/dentistry/nursing/pharmacy, and other postgraduate nutrition professionals, health care professionals, and
symposium attendees interested in acquiring additional background knowledge in nutritional genomics and its applications prior
to the symposium.
Workshop Schedule:
Time
1:30 – 2:00
2:00 – 2:30
2:30 – 3:00
3:00 – 3:15
3:15 – 4:00
4:00 – 4:30
4:30 – 5:00
Hours
0.5
1.00
0.30
0.25
0.75
0.55
0.50
Topic
Introduction to nutritional epigenomics
The basics of DNA methylation
The basics of the histone code and gene expression
Break
Loss of imprinting and epigenetic drift
Role of diet in “reprogramming” the epigenome
Question-and-answer period and workshop evaluation
Symposium Speaker Titles and Affiliations:
Dr. Hooman Allayee, Assistant Professor Department of Preventive Medicine, Director, Molecular Genetics Laboratory General
Clinical Research Center USC Keck School of Medicine. <[email protected]>
Dr. Bruce Ames, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of California, Berkeley, and a Senior Scientist at
Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI). <[email protected]>
Dr. Joseph A. Baur, Scientist, Harvard Medical School Department of Pathology. <[email protected]>
Dr. Esteban Ballestar, Scientist, Cancer Epigenetics Laboratory, Molecular Pathology Program, Spanish National Cancer Center,
Madrid, Spain. <[email protected]>
Dr. Frederic Chedin, Assistant Professor, Section of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of California, Davis, Davis California
[email protected]
Dr. Kevin Dawson, Senior Bioinformatic Scientist, UCD Center of Excellence in Nutritional Genomics. <[email protected]>
Dr. Dennis Drayna, Acting Chief NIH Section on Systems Biology of Commutation Disorders. <[email protected]>
Dr. Sven Ebbesson, Emeritus Professor, University of Alaska, Fairbanks and International Network for Circumpolar Health
Research. <[email protected]>
Dr. Ahmed El-Sohemy University of Toronto Department of Nutrition Sciences. <[email protected]>
Dr. I. S. Farooqi, Wellcome Trust Clinician Scientist Fellow & Honorary Consultant in General Internal Medicine, Diabetes and
Endocrinology at Cambridge University. <[email protected]>
Colleen Fogarty Draper, MS, RD, Interleukin Genetics
Dr. Alfredo Galvez, Center Scientist, Center of Excellence in Nutritional Genomics, UC Davis. <[email protected]>
Dr. Judith Gilbride, Immediate Past President, American Dietetics Association, Professor and Chair, Professor of Nutrition and
Food Studies. <[email protected]>
Dr. Jim Kaput, Director, Division of Personalized Nutrition and Medicine, FDA/National Center for Toxicological Research
<[email protected]>
Dr. Gail Kauwell, Professor, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL
[email protected]
Dr. Lara Mangravite, Scientist at the Children’s Hospital of Oakland Research Institute. <[email protected]>
Dr. David Martin, Senior Scientist at the Children’s Hospital of Oakland Research Institute. <[email protected]>
Dr. Dean Ornish, Founder, President and Director of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in Sausalito, Ca.
<[email protected]>
Dr. Eric Schadt, Senior Scientific Director, Research Genetics, Rosetta Inpharmatics/Merck. <[email protected]>
Dr. Christopher Triggs, Professor, Discipline of Nutrition, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences. The University of Auckland,
Auckland, NZ. <[email protected]>
Dr. Robert Waterland Assistant Professor, Baylor School of Medicine and Children's Nutrition Research Center, Houston, Texas
<[email protected]>
Dr. Walter Willett, Fredrick John Stare Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health.
<[email protected]
Symposium Planning Committee:
Lindsay Allen, Ph.D., Director USDA Western Human Nutrition Research Center at UC Davis
Bruce Ames, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus and Director, Nutritional Genomics Center at the Children’s Hospital of Oakland Research
Institute
Kenneth Brown, MD, Professor and Director, Program in International Nutrition, UC Davis
Ken Burtis, Ph.D., Professor and Dean, College of Biological Sciences, UC Davis
Yolanda Cortez, Program Manager, Center of Excellence in Nutritional Genomics, UC Davis
Bruce German, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Food Science and Technology, UC Davis
Jim Kaput, Ph.D., Director, Division of Personalized Nutrition and Medicine, FDA/National Center for Toxicological Research
Bert Lubin, MD, President, Children’s Hospital of Oakland Research Institute (Symposium Co-Chair)
Raymond Rodriguez, Ph.D., Professor and Director, Center of Excellence in Nutritional Genomics, UC Davis (Symposium Chair)
Sharon Shoemaker, Ph.D., Director, California Institute of Food and Agricultural Research, UC Davis
Charles Stephensen, Ph.D., Scientist, USDA Western Human Nutrition Research Center at UC Davis