Location: Obesity and Metabolism Research
Project Number: 2032-10700-003-038-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Sep 1, 2026
End Date: Aug 31, 2028
Objective:
The objective of this Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement (NACA) is to facilitate the completion of nutrition research at the USDA, ARS, WHNRC, Obesity and Metabolism Unit (OMU) located on the campus of the University of California, Davis (UCD). During the proposed project period, this agreement will provide a) project management and operational oversight to meet scientific objectives (e.g., preparing and coordinating publications and presentations, identifying extramural funding opportunities, supervising laboratory personnel, and managing laboratory procurement and waste disposal protocols); and b) technical analytical support to optimize, validate, and implement an LC-MS/MS method for the simultaneous analysis of B-vitamins and related micronutrients in red blood cells to support micronutrient assessment in ARS-led and collaborative studies, including the MILQ study.
Approach:
During the proposed project period, project management and operational oversight will be executed by the UC Davis PI through routine coordination, including scheduled performance check-ins with laboratory staff and streamlined procurement of essential laboratory supplies. The UCD PI will conduct final quality control of acquired micronutrient data from ARS-led projects such as the MILQ study and other collaborative studies investigating micronutrient profiles. The UCD PI will prepare publications and presentations based on the MILQ study data and identify and pursue extramural funding opportunities. The UC Davis PI will lead efforts to optimize and validate an LC-MS/MS method for the simultaneous analysis of B-vitamins and related micronutrients in red blood cells, a key milestone for the MILQ study. Preliminary data have demonstrated the suitability of an existing method currently applied to plasma and whole blood matrices; however, given inherent differences in sample type, method optimization and performance evaluation are required prior to implementation. To ensure analytical rigor, quality control samples will be routinely analyzed with each sample batch to monitor analytical performance and instrument stability. Once validated, this methodology will be applied to the analysis of mission-critical research samples from the MILQ study to advance understanding of B-vitamin status in the study population and inform evidence-based nutritional recommendations.