status report - Office of Dietary Supplements - National Institutes of ...

scientific information on what each nutrient is, what foods provide it, who is most likely to
develop a deficiency, who should be cautious about taking the supplement, and potential
interactions. The botanical supplements will follow a parallel format. The fact sheets will be
installed on the ODS World Wide Web home page (http://dietary-supplements.info.nih.gov) as
they become available and upon request. Starting date: 1998.
CD-ROM Dietary Supplement Educational Module, An Information Source
To improve medical school education about the benefits and risks of dietary supplements
in health care, the ODS is collaborating with the developers of a CD-ROM educational program,
Nutrition in Medicine, which has been successfully introduced into medical school curricula. The
ODS is supporting a dietary supplement module for this series. Starting date:1998.
PAST ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
World Wide Web Home Page, An Information Source
The ODS recently completed an Internet home page (http://dietarysupplements.info.nih.gov)
to disseminate information as broadly as possible. The web site
provides information about the ODS, including its origins, mandates, mission statement, and
strategic plan. It also will provide public access to the ODS scientific databases on dietary
supplements research (IBIDS and CARDS); ODS publications; grant, funding, and partnering
opportunities that are currently sponsored by NIH; and other activities and scientific resources.
The ODS web site will be a dynamic, evolving project that will be enhanced and updated as
information becomes available, as the needs of users change, or as new discoveries about dietary
supplements are revealed through the research. Starting date: July 1998.
On-the-Spot Award of Merit:
• William Hall, Director of Communications, Office of Medical Applications of Research,
Office of the Director, NIH, received an On-the-Spot Award of Merit in July 1998 for his
outstanding contribution to the development of the ODS Internet home page.
The Problem of Overcoming Selenium Deficiency in the Russian Federation, A Workshop
This workshop's purpose was to exchange recent research findings on selenium
deficiency and supplementation; to obtain detailed information on selenium status in the Russian
Federation; and to discuss various countries' intervention approaches in alleviating selenium
deficiencies, including supplementation with selenium of high bioavailability (such as fortified
yeast). A secondary objective was to bring together current research findings on the role of
selenium in cancer prevention.
The workshop built on joint activity in the area of micronutrient malnutrition, begun
under the auspices of the Health Committee of the U.S.–Russia Commission on Economic and
Technological Cooperation. On the U.S. side, major support was provided by the ODS, National
Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, and the
U.S. Agency for International Development.
U.S. and international participants included government and academic representatives
from the United States, China, Finland, and New Zealand. The U.S. government representation
included the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of
Agriculture . The Russian representation included the Institute of Nutrition, as well as the
Research Center for Preventive and Therapeutic Nutrition of the Russian Academy of Medical
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