| What: | A public groundbreaking ceremony will be held for a new $25.3 million building that will house the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service's Western Human Nutrition Research Center. The facility will be constructed in the Health Sciences District of the UC Davis campus. |
| When: | 3:30 p.m.-4:15 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 22 |
| Where: | Room 180, http://www.ucdavis.edu/Building. (The ceremony will begin inside and then move to the adjacent construction site at approximately 4 p.m. for the actual groundbreaking.) |
| Who: | Participants in the ceremony will include Joseph Jen, USDA's under secretary for research, education and economics; UC Davis Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef; and Edward B. Knipling, acting administrator, and Joseph T. Spence, acting associate deputy administrator, both with USDA's Agricultural Research Service. |
| Background: | The USDA Agricultural Research Service's Western Human Nutrition Research Center is one of six human nutrition research centers operated by ARS throughout the nation. It is home to about 65 employees, including research scientists and related staff, plus postdoctoral fellows and students. Center researchers also hold adjunct faculty appointments at UC Davis. There is extensive collaboration among the nutrition center scientists and UC Davis faculty in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, the schools of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, and the Division of Biological Sciences. The joint program of the center and UC Davis will help develop foods and diets that benefit the health of consumers. The nutrition research center was established in 1980 in San Francisco at the Letterman Army Institute of Research in what was then the Presidio. In 1999 the center moved to UC Davis. Center scientists focus on two areas of research, studying the role of diet in preventing obesity and the role that diet plays in the body's immune function and risk of disease, such as cancer and heart disease. The center's 49,000-square-foot, two-story building is slated for completion in 2005. It will house research laboratories and administrative offices. It will have a 12-bed research unit, where volunteers participating in research projects can stay for one to four months, and a dining area, where prepared meals can be served to non-resident volunteers. |
| Directions and Parking: |
From Interstate 80, head north on Highway 113 toward Woodland. Exit at Hutchison Drive and proceed east toward the main campus. At the first opportunity, turn right onto Health Sciences Drive. Almost immediately, turn left onto West Health Sciences Drive and park in Lot 54, the second parking lot on your right. Look for reserved media spaces. To park free, place a media business card on the driver's side of the dashboard. |
Media Resources
Pat Bailey, Research news (emphasis: agricultural and nutritional sciences, and veterinary medicine), 530-219-9640, pjbailey@ucdavis.edu