Contacts
Diane Birt, Food Science and Human Nutrition, (515) 294-3011
Barbara McManus, Agriculture Information, (515) 294-0707

CONSORTIUM TO STUDY LINK BETWEEN HUMAN HEALTH AND SOYBEANS

AMES -- Linking medical and agricultural research makes sense to Diane Birt.

"Considering the importance of plants to our health, it's about time we connected agriculture and health sciences," said Birt, chair of the food science and human nutrition department at Iowa State University.

Birt led efforts to organize the Consortium on Human Health and Soybeans, which will conduct research on the use of soybeans in foods to improve vascular health, prevent cancer and decrease bone loss in women. The consortium currently consists of 47 scientists from several universities and 10 representatives from the USDA, National Institutes of Health and Experiment Stations.

Consortium members will discuss the research they plan to pursue at an August meeting of scientists attending the sixth World Soybean Research Conference in Chicago. "Once it is decided what will be done and who does it, then we will secure funding for it," Birt said.

Birt said the combination of food and health research has not received the attention it deserves. Research has indicated that soybeans may have health benefits, and those benefits could be clinically tested. "The consortium will get scientists to talk about the critical studies so we can move this research to a higher level," Birt said.

The idea for the consortium was developed by Birt about two years ago after a discussion with Suzanne Hendrich, an ISU food scientist. Hendrich had previously worked to form a coalition of land-grant universities to study the health effects of soybeans. Birt, who recently came to ISU from a medical center, saw an opportunity to pull researchers from several fields to investigate the health benefits of soybeans.

"I suggested a consortium that would cut across health science centers and agricultural universities and get them to work together," Birt said.

Both scientists and regional soybean checkoff boards reacted positively to the consortium idea. The Iowa Soybean Promotion Board and other soybean boards in South Dakota, North Dakota, Michigan and Illinois have provided funding to start up the consortium.

"I think farmers are interested in how soybeans can improve health and how that research can add value to their product," Birt said.

At the first consortium meeting last summer, researchers were pleased to find colleagues in other disciplines pursuing related research. "They had been working on similar projects from different angles," Birt said.

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