The Bionutrition Core of the UCLA General Clinical Research Center provides the dietary components of all GCRC inpatient and outpatient studies. Our primary mission is to give investigators the necessary resources to plan and conduct research that demand sophisticated nutritional support and to provide clinical nutrition services to study participants.

     The Bionutrition Core provides dietary expertise and a number of nutrition methodologies to meet the various needs of research projects including but not limited to:

• Nutritional Assessment: Screening of subjects for nutrition risk and comprehensive evaluation of nutritional status.
• Diet Education and Counseling: Instructions provided on dietary regimens, nutrition education, monitoring of compliance, and documentation of nutrition intervention.
• Research Diet: Design of weighed, nutrient controlled, and therapeutic/modified diets, and menu development.
• Anthropometrics: body measurements of height, weight, body mass index, circumferences, skinfolds, etc.
• Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA): analysis of body composition to measure body fat and lean mass, and to estimate basal metabolic rate.
• Food diaries or records, dietary recalls and diet history: administration, review, and analysis of dietary intake over a specified number of days or retrospectively via questionnaires or surveys.
• Nutrition Analysis: computerized analysis of dietary intake using up-to-date nutrient data analysis software.
• Indirect Calorimetry (effective July 2005): Resting metabolic rate assessment by indirect calorimetry to measure energy expenditure.
• Protocol Development: Consultation and assistance with protocol development and implementation.

      The Bionutrition Core is located within the GCRC premises. The office for the Bionutrition Core Manager is located on the 2nd floor of the Center for Health Sciences (CHS) Room 27-079. The GCRC Research Kitchen is a fully equipped self-sufficient facility located on the 3rd floor of CHS Room 37-079. Dietary personnel prepare and serve both inpatient and outpatient meals for general and special diets. We are staffed 11 hours per day from 6:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. seven days a week. Special arrangements can be made with the Bionutrition Core Manager if additional hours are needed depending on the controlled dietary requirements of the study.

      Because the GCRC is a shared resource that must support all GCRC investigators, any dietary services that will be needed (e.g. controlled-nutrient diets, timed meals, nutritional assessment, etc.) in the proposed study should be specified in the GCRC application prior to the initiation of the study. Please contact Ms. Jardack in advance to discuss new projects that may require significant time or effort on the part of any bionutrition personnel.

     Patricia M. Jardack, M.S., R.D., is the Bionutrition Core Manager. She is responsible for the overall management and operation of the research bionutrition support services for investigative studies. In that capacity, Ms. Jardack plans, coordinates, and supervises all food service and clinical activities of the Bionutrition Core. She maintains rigorous quality control and ensures compliance with state and federal health codes and JCAHO standards. Some of Ms. Jardack's duty includes:

• designs complex metabolic diets for controlled feeding studies
• collects, analyzes, and reports dietary assessment data
• performs anthropometric and resting metabolic rate assessment
• provides inpatient and outpatient nutrition counseling for individuals and groups
• monitors participant compliance with dietary regimens
• collaborates in the design, organization, evaluation, and reporting phases of nutrition research protocols
• develops, implements, and monitors research diets
• provides instructions to volunteers
• oversees collection, coding and summarization of nutrient intake data
• supervises bionutrition personnel and trains dietetic interns and students