NUTRAGE is a multidisciplinary project, promoted and developed by the National Research Council and financed by FOE 2021 funds. The project had a first phase of development in 2020 with the involvement of all the institutes of the Department of Bio-Agri-food Sciences of the CNR and, given the success of the initiative in terms of scientific and media results, it obtained second funding in 2021 for the continuation and expansion of the activities.
Given the nature and importance of the topic covered and the peculiarity of the scientific structure of the CNR, in this second phase, the activities have been integrated and increased with new multidisciplinary skills through the involvement of five CNR Departments and 36 Institutes which will adopt courses of research using different experimental models and preclinical models.
In line with the direction pursued by the international scientific community, NUTRAGE aims to develop innovative “Precision Aging” approaches aimed at identifying the best dietary patterns capable of preventing or delaying the onset of pathologies associated with aging and to formulate specific personalized nutrition programs for the elderly.
NUTRAGE welcomes the challenge of identifying the best dietary patterns capable of preventing or delaying the onset of pathologies associated with aging and at the same time developing specific personalized nutrition programs for elderly people suffering from particular pathologies.
The project will also contribute to systematizing, managing, and integrating the data available to the scientific community generated by the application of “omics” sciences on humans (or animal models), microbiota/microbiome, and foods to create predictive models capable of direct nutrition increasingly towards innovative “Precision Aging” approaches.
These ambitious objectives can be achieved thanks to the involvement of multidisciplinary skills and technologies ranging from agriculture (to rethink supply chains and agricultural technologies also in nutritional terms) to food (bio)technologies (to develop products and processes capable of preserving or increase the nutritional and health value of foods with high process yield); from biology, genetics and genomics (including microbiota) to human pathophysiology, with an integrated analysis of the physio-pathological bases of the human aging process, the understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms involved, the identification of early biomarkers and the developing preventive strategies.
These tools will allow the rapid and integrated analysis of individual genetic and microbiological profiles with dietary patterns specifically designed for the real needs of individual consumers. Based on the results of these analyses, which will also use studies on food culture and associated sociological aspects, it will be possible to design new food education paths that rely on new digital tools to support consumer information and awareness.

FOE Funds 2021 (Fund for the ordinary financing of the activities of research bodies and institutions)

Geographic scope: National

Project Coordinator: Alfonso Urso
Start date: 1 January 2021
End date: 31 December 2024