Initiated by the Australian Catholic University (ACU), the aim is to help start-ups bring their innovations from ideation to deployment by allowing access to expertise from both the university and the industry.
For example, start-ups would be able to access research facilities from the university and receive mentoring from the industry as they attempt to bring their ideas to fruition.
To be part of the incubator, start-ups can pitch ideas on nutrition innovation, which can also include lifestyle adjustments.
The collaboration was first announced by Nestle Health Science last November. According to Nestle Health Science, the initiative would include potential opportunities for student mentorship and collaboration on future research projects.
The company added that the partnership was initiated as part of its commitment to developing the next generation of leaders in health science in the Oceania region.
“This partnership enables us to foster new thinking in areas such as healthy longevity and weight management, and to guide emerging innovators as they work on solutions that can strengthen consumer and patient wellbeing,” said Michael Eddie, BEO Nestle Health Science, Oceania. “Through the program, we will contribute our expertise by offering mentorship, internships, and scientific advisory support.”
This is also one of three university-based partnerships that Nestle Health Science is supporting globally, alongside initiatives with Tufts University and the University of California, Davis.
“Each program, including ACU, is shaped to reflect the strengths and opportunities of the individual institution-based partnership. The program is not designed for commercial product creation and does not involve financial investment or access to our research and development facilities,” he said.
Speaking to NutraIngredients, Professor Leonidas Karagounis, a leading researcher in human nutrition science and metabolism at ACU’s Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research, said that the partnership could help translate innovation into real-world impact.
“This strategic partnership with Nestlé Health Science is a fantastic opportunity that will help drive innovation in nutrition and health research into real-world impact,” said Professor Karagounis, who was the Global Science Lead Diabetes & Metabolic Health at Nestle Health Science in Switzerland before joining the university.
The three areas – why and the specifics
The university has identified the three areas of women’s health, healthy longevity and weight management for the incubator project as they are interlinked and aligned with current trends, as well as the university’s research expertise.
“These three areas have been chosen because they are all interlinked. Starting from weight management, if you are suffering from metabolic dysfunction, if your muscles are not functional and not clearing glucose as they should, liver and kidney issues may arise,” Professor Karagounis said.
“Chronic systemic inflammation, such as that induced by metabolic dysfunction has been shown to play a central role in cellular aging, muscle weakness and frailty.”
As such, the incubator will also focus on nutritional research in perimenopausal women, which also taps on the university’s expertise in women’s health research – specifically research on the nutritional needs of female athletes and iron and energy deficits.
“In general, women are underrepresented in nutrition research. Here at ACU, we are leading an active research program on female health in the context of nutrition and physical activity,” he said.
Weight management, on the other hand, will explore innovations in functional food, nutraceuticals and lifestyle adjustments that complement GLP-1 medications.
An example is addressing the issue of undernutrition and under-nourishment in GLP-1 users. One of the ways GLP-1 medications work is by reducing appetite, but this could lead to a lack of proper nutrition uptake.
“The advent of GLP targeted medications for weight management in individuals with overweight or obesity may result in undernutrition in users due to reductions in appetite and therefore very low food intake. What we are trying to do is understand how, and identify nutritional interventions that can complement such pharmaceutical interventions,” he said.
Another example is identifying nutraceuticals that can help with weight management for individuals who prefer not to take weight-loss medications.
“GLP-1 medications have been misused by many celebrities, which often gives it a bad stigma, and this is why we want to drive innovation around weight loss and lifestyle interventions, whether it is nutrition complementing pharmaceutical interventions or on its own, as nutraceuticals.”
On the other hand, some weight management methods, for example, intermittent fasting and caloric restriction, are linked with components related to healthy longevity – specifically autophagy – and this is where the two domains of weight management and healthy longevity intertwine.
“Autophagy is a fundamental, evolutionarily conserved, and genetically regulated process that helps ‘exfoliate the cellular ecosystem’, keeping the fresh cells in and old cells out,” he said. “This process can be activated via intermittent fasting protocols, but can they be further stimulated through the ingestion of specific food components?”
What more to GLP-1 and nutrition?
Increasing protein intake is one way to mitigate the side effects of muscle loss in GLP-1 users, but Professor Karagounis believes that much more could be done beyond protein supplementation.
While protein is typically used to support muscle function, high levels of protein can increase satiety without necessarily supporting holistic nutrition uptake, he said.
Therefore, innovation may also need to consider changes in lifestyle behaviours for long-term sustainability – including helping individuals when they have stopped GLP-1 medications.
“Ingestion of high protein levels alone is not the solution to maintaining muscle mass during weightloss. Furthermore, the effects of high levels of protein intake on appetite suppression and increasing satiety may further amplify the risk of reduced micronutrient and overall nutrient intakes required,” he said.
“Also, once people come off the GLP-1 medications, we also want to know how we can bring about lifestyle adjustments to sustain the desired weight, which is not simply about nutrition solutions alone.”
To facilitate metabolic health research, the university has been running a live human metabolic chamber – the first of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere – at its Melbourne campus.
“We want to develop solutions in precision nutrition based on a person’s lifestyle by performing real-time and continuous free living assessments such as 24h energy expenditure, substrate utilisation in our state-of-the-art human metabolic chamber – the first of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere – at our Melbourne campus.”