Find out more about the INFORM Hub at the University of Reading from Dr Gemma Walton, INFORM Hub Lead and Associate Professor in Metagenomics
What is the focus of INFORM?
The focus of INFORM hub is bringing together industries, academics and other interested parties in the functional foods / plant stanols area to promote the development of ideas and of products that can help support recovery via the gut microbiota – this could be within the scope of illnesses like long COVID, or recovery from sports and exercise, or maintaining mental well being. At the first meetings it also became apparent that there was an enthusiasm in the area of gut microbiota and menopause, so this is an area that INFORM is now also engaged with.
How do you work on this?
We have been working to develop a network with those interested in the area to discuss and identify research gaps and also establish ways to support and promote industries and academics working together. A big part of what we do is generating ideas and providing opportunities for formation of collaborations. We have been amazed by the enthusiasm for such opportunities, seeing how keen people are to connect and to share ideas and even facilities. By working in silos research can only go so far, but by brining industry and academics together challenges are considered in a different way.
So, do you think there are any specific benefits to academics for working with industry?
I feel that for academics working with industry can provide new perspectives – for example, the consideration of what is needed for commercialisation / adding to a portfolio of a product. Research needs to be focussed on realistic products. Timelines are often very rapid in industry. By consideration of these factors a synergy can be found bringing together scientific rigor and commercial viability. In the world of research diverse opinions are key for taking an idea or concept and viewing it in a different way to find the research gaps and challenges that need to be solved.
Do you think industry also gain?
Industry have their own expertise, but also value the scientific expertise, rigor and methodological approaches for researching different factors. INFORM funding has been instrumental in enhancing research portfolios, validating focus and putting companies in a position for clinical validation of findings. The links with academia have helped shape research ideas and hypothesis behind these products. In some cases collaborations have led to accelerated product development and have supported companies in their commitment to scientifically backed functional food products.
Are there any projects that you wish to highlight that INFORM has been working on?
We have a great interest in health claims – when we first spoke to our membership the fact that there are a lack of health claims for products containing pre and probiotics was a cause for concern. As INFORM we wanted to do something in this space – but was this changing legislation, educating consumers, or learning from prior claims. Our Knowledge Exchange Fellow gathered together a team of interested parties to discuss what we could do. Using AI with the work of a talented PDRA we have put together a report seeing reasons behind rejections of health claims to see what can be learnt. We will be presenting the findings from this in our meeting on 10th July.
Additionally, we realised that there needs to be more clarity regarding the products on the UK market. So, learning from AEProbio, Dr Sarah Danaher, has been working on gathering evidence of prebiotics on the market and the human trials behind these products. We should be ready to release the worlds first ever prebiotics guide later this summer, as an evidence based way to support clinician and consumer decisions.
We have had a wonderful array of innovative and exciting projects – working on finding mechanisms of how functional foods could work in different conditions or testing the impacts of products in small scale trials. For example one project has focussed on how a prebiotic impacts on gut health, inflammation, and physiological responses to stress. Another on how a novel seaweed impacts on recovery from exercise training. There are several projects that have been or are ongoing in with INFORM and we look forward to sharing different outputs with you. The projects answer different research questions and whilst supporting research portfolios they are helping to move research forward and improve our understanding of what functional foods can do for us.
Within our FMA awards we enabled the option for funding projects bringing academics, industrialists and economist to research existing data to determine likely financial saving that could be made if functional food interventions were to be used in different settings. We now have some newly produced reports that and being circulated and excitingly these hold potential for future impacts that could support society and economy.
If you could sum up the best things about INFORM – what would it be?
INFORM has provided opportunities to network, to upskill and to collaborate. We have funded novel and interesting projects and we have been finding ways of communicating the science to different audiences, so they are more accessible. All in all I think INFORM demonstrates excellent team work – we are learning from others and that’s what has helped us to grow into an enthusiastic network that is delivering impact.
To join the INFORM Hub visit research.reading.ac.uk/inform-innovation-hub/
