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Facility
The Western Human Nutrition Research Center (WHNRC) was established in 1980 by USDA's Agricultural Research Service, to improve human health through the design and testing of nutrition interventions. In April of 1999, the Center moved from San Francisco to the campus of one of the world's leading universities, the University of California, Davis. Modern facilities and equipment enable measurement of total energy expenditure, dietary intake and body composition of humans, clinical chemistries in blood and other biological fluids, immune function, and isotopic tracers of nutrients by mass spectrometry.
Construction of a 50,000 square feet building for the Center is currently underway, with completion expected in 2005. The new building will have modern facilities and well-equipped laboratories, including a metabolic research unit to house volunteers for one to four months of intensive study. Nonresident volunteers will commute to the Center for specially prepared meals in the suite's dining area. In the meantime the Center is temporarily housed in space provided by UC Davis in ten buildings on campus.
UC Davis Overview Map
WHNRC locations on the UC Davis campus map above are highlighted in red.
Click below for a close-up of where the particular building is located.
Food Science & Technology (F11)
Social Sciences (F-15 and F-16)
Wickson Hall (G-13)
Hickey Gym (F-15)
Tupper Hall (M-4 and M-5)
Meyer Hall (L-11)
Surge IV (J-11)
Surge I (J-11)
Academic Surge (L-12)
The WHNRC has two core laboratories that provide an array of routine and specialized tests needed in the Center's research. The Physiology Support Laboratory staff conducts human body composition, activity, and fitness testing. The Bioanalytical Support Laboratory provides analyses of biological and food specimens.
Laboratory staff members work with volunteers, primarily adults, who have met criteria for participating in either residential or nonresidential studies conducted by Center scientists. The volunteers may be needed for only a few hours--to give a blood sample and answer questions about their eating habits--or for several months, to participate in long-term studies of the effects of various regimens. The longer investigations easily result in hundreds of specimens for analysis.
All tests administered to volunteers follow protocols approved by a Human Subjects Review Committee of the University of California at Davis, where the Center is located.
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This site last updated: 9/28/04