2012 is off to a great start! On February 15th the Rutgers Board of Governors approved the resolution: "NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that, upon the recommendation of the Committee on Finance and Facilities, the Board of Governors of Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, approves the Institute for Food, Nutrition and Health project..." With a vote of confidence and stroke of the pen, the Institute for Food, Nutrition and Health (IFNH) moved from being a dream to a reality.

I can't help being proud and excited about the design of the new building. The award winning architectural firm of Ballinger AE brings a wealth of experience and insight to the building team as we design a model interdisciplinary research facility to be located on Cook Campus. The iconic facility has some great features including a healthy eating courtyard, student health center, nutrition preschool, and core labs for human performance research and nutritional metabolomics. Notably, the modern open-concept research laboratories are supported by a research clinic to ensure a full spectrum of translational research. The building will connect people, food and the environment in new ways where physical barriers and disciplinary boundaries are reconsidered to foster intellectual collisions and engage the agile learner.

The Institute is ramping up its activities and operations. This year will see the IFNH sponsor three major conferences. The first one, "Frontiers in Lipidomics-The Food, Nutrition and Health Connection" takes place on March 20th; Dr. Joseph Dixon of the Department of Nutritional Sciences and Dr. Anita Brinker of the Institute's spectroscopy laboratory are chairing this symposium in collaboration with Dr. George Carman of the Department of Food Science and the Rutgers Center for Lipid Research. The second conference is being held in collaboration with the Cancer Institute of New Jersey as part of the Annual Retreat on Cancer Research in New Jersey on May 24th. At this event, the IFNH is organizing the highlight Public Forum on "Kids and Cancer: The Obesity Connection" featuring Dr. John Milner of the National Cancer Institute as the keynote speaker. Finally, Dr. Shawn Arent of the Department of Exercise Science & Sports Studies is organizing a special conference on human performance and nutrition to be held later this summer.

I am often asked who's in the Institute. While formal membership criteria are still in development, I'm pleased to say that the Institute already has a group of dedicated Research Fellows, Members and Student Interns. I look forward to formally introducing these early adopters and pioneers of the Institute at a special event this fall. In the interim, you will soon be able to read about them in our new website section called "Faces of the Institute".

In closing I'd like to offer a special note of thanks to all the faculty and staff who are giving generously of their time and expertise to help with our strategic planning initiative.  This work is unfolding under the guidance of Dr. Brent Ruben of the Center for Organizational Development and Leadership. Participation in the strategic planning process is a great way to learn about the Institute, its mission, and help us invent our future together. If you'd like to be involved, just let me know.  As I said at the outset, 2012 is off to a great start; I'm sure my favorite architect, Daniel Burnham, would agree that we're living up to his charge…Make no little plans!