VAI Folio 2023

IT CONTINUES WITH A CULTURE THAT
VALUES CURIOSITY AND ENCOURAGES
BRIGHT MINDS TO TAKE RISKS IN THE
NAME OF PROGRESS.
“We all are experts in our own specific areas,
but science knows no bounds. Exploring one
area leads into a natural crossover with others.
This is why collaboration is so important.
VAI provides the resources to support these
critical partnerships — and that makes all
the difference.”
Dr. Russell Jones
Chair
Department of Metabolism & Nutritional
Programming
ANSWERING THE BIG QUESTIONS
Dr. Russell Jones joined Van Andel Institute
to answer big questions about metabolism:
How does it fuel the immune system? Can we
leverage it to better treat cancer? How does it
sustain health?
Five years later, Dr. Jones and his colleagues
have built a world-class, collaborative
metabolism research program from scratch,
a feat made possible by the vast well of
community and institutional support at VAI.
Their pursuit of life-changing discoveries
has shed new light on the intricate ways
metabolism influences health and disease, and
led to powerful new tools that enable research
at VAI and beyond. In many ways, though, their
work is just getting started.
In the future, they hope to develop new dietary
strategies that improve treatments for cancer
and other diseases.
“VAI has enabled us to broaden our research
across multiple fields — that’s where innovation
lies,” Dr. Jones said. “You never know when a
spark will ignite the next breakthrough idea.
At VAI, we have the support, expertise and
infrastructure to make the most of it when it
does. This empowers us to pursue answers that
may improve health for generations to come.”
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