More than 100 nutritionists, food scientists, plant researchers, engineers, and medical and veterinary scientists from Denmark, Finland, Korea, New Zealand, Sweden, and the United States will gather Nov. 16-18 at the University of California, Davis, to chart future research directions in the area of foods, nutrition and human health.

The working meeting, titled Foods for Health in the 21st Century: A Roadmap for the Future, is coordinated by the UC Davis Foods for Health Institute in collaboration with Innovation Center Denmark/Silicon Valley, the Danish Agency for Science Technology and Innovation, and scientists from the Centre for Advanced Food Studies, a Danish research consortium.

"The next 50 years and beyond will bring unprecedented changes in the way food is grown, processed and prepared to optimize human health and nutrition," said nutrition professor M.R.C. Greenwood, chancellor emerita of UC Santa Cruz and director of the new UC Davis Foods for Health Institute.

"When we look toward the future, we're no longer thinking of food as just a source of calories but rather as a complex mix of dietary components, whose impact on human health is largely determined by peoples' individual genetic makeup," Greenwood said. "To make significant health improvements via the food we eat, the international research community must develop dynamic scientific collaborations that can delve into the complex issues in areas ranging from agriculture to immunology."

The three-day symposium, featuring presentations by UC Davis faculty members and guest speakers, will begin at 6 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 16, in the Buehler Alumni and Visitors Center, just east of the Mondavi Center. Claire Pomeroy, vice chancellor for human health sciences and dean of the UC Davis School of Medicine, will give the opening presentation on "Academic Collaboration: Solutions to Global Health Challenges."

Monday will feature presentations on obesity, nutrigenomics and improving human health. Tuesday's talks will focus on functional foods, food culture and consumer response, and emerging technologies.

Due to space limitations and the working nature of these meetings, the public has not been invited to attend. News media interested in attending the meetings should contact Melanie Funes, Foods for Health Institute, (530) 752-9211, mfunesduran@ucdavis.edu.

All sessions of this Centennial Symposium, held in conjunction with UC Davis' 100th anniversary celebration, will be presented in the Buehler Alumni and Visitors Center. A complete agenda for the meeting is available on the Foods for Health Institute Web site at: http://ffhi.ucdavis.edu/. (Click on "agenda" in the announcements box at the right to download a PDF copy.)