Integrated Health Solutions
Improving the health of humans, animals, and communities through research into preventative, corrective, diagnostic, and predictive solutions to the challenges presented by lifestyle, diseases, pests, and toxins.
Researchers in the college investigate the numerous ways in which the agricultural enterprise affects the health of ecosystems and people. Some of their goals include preventing the spread of infectious diseases; understanding how the host (animals, humans, plants, and insects) responds to environmental pressures; structuring the built environment to promote the selection of healthful food choices; and investigating environmentally sustainable techniques to grow high-quality, nutritious foods to serve a rapidly growing population.
Research Expertise
Research Videos
Penn State scientists find an inspiring collaboration. Dr. Prabhu, who specializes in the health benefits of fish oil, and Dr. Paulson, who is studying the stem cells that cause leukemia, connected their seemingly separate study areas during a weekly faculty lunch.
Research Centers
News
July 5, 2018
Gypsum recycled from manufacturing and construction waste has gained popularity as a bedding source for the dairy industry. However, when gypsum — a source of sulfate — finds its way into low-oxygen manure-storage facilities via removal as soiled bedding, this innocuous product can turn into a deadly gas with a few moves of an agitation device, a dangerous threat that researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences believe can be counteracted with an additive.
July 2, 2018
While current training for food safety and sanitation usually incorporates high-technology presentations, such as videos and slide shows, there is still a need for low-tech approaches, according to Penn State researchers.
June 28, 2018
A collection of bacteria in the gut may use a cell-signaling protein to help regulate vitamin D, a key nutrient that, among other benefits, is involved with building and maintaining bones, according to a team of researchers. In a study on mice, researchers found that microbiota — a community of microorganisms in the gut that can help digest food and maintain immune function — may regulate the metabolism of endocrine vitamin D through a protein called fibroblast growth factor 23, or FGF 23, said Margherita T. Cantorna, distinguished professor of molecular immunology in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.