FFH Awards 2024 Seed Grants

Each year, FFH invites its affiliate community to submit research proposals that further the mission of the initiative. The ultimate goal of the seed grant program is to enable the formation of interdisciplinary teams and provide them with resources that allow them to elevate their impact through publications, extramural funding, and other scholarly activities.  “Food and nutrition have an immense capacity to affect health in a profound way, but uncovering these connections requires multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary work,” says Dr. Matt Teegarden, FFH lead for research development and strategy.  Since it's inception, the FFH seed grant program has sparked collaborations among 70 researchers in 23 departments, across 6 colleges. 

This year’s awards will fund a diverse set of topics. Dr. Emmanuel Hatzakis (Food Science & Technology) will lead a team focused on understanding advanced processing techniques to enhance nutritional and consumer-focused qualities of dietary fiber ingredients. Another team, led by Dr. Dana McTigue (Neuroscience) will investigate the connection between spinal cord injury and fatty liver disease. The final funded project, led by Dr. Maria Mihaylova (Biological Chemistry and Pharmacology), will evaluate the impact of high fat diets on Lynch Syndrome associated colon cancer.  

Since 2016, FFH has granted $1.1M in research support to Ohio State faculty, research staff and graduate students.  In turn, these projects have resulted in a significant return on investment, leading to over $11M in externally funded grants, publications in high impact journals and numerous presentations at conferences, seminars, and symposia.