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Danone Institute

The Danone Institute is a non-profit organization established in 1991, to promote research, information and education about nutrition, diet and public health.

The first Danone Institute was founded in France in 1991 by Danone Group. The company decided to develop and spread knowledge about nutrition and diet, and was seeking to encourage research on these fields.

Danone Group therefore wanted to create an independent and transparent non‐profit association to promote public health. The company set up its first Institute in 1991 in Paris (France). Danone Group brought together international eminent scientists, nutritional experts, educational professionals and Danone representatives.

Nowadays, the Danone Institute still gathers nutrition scientists together toward nutrition education goal for a healthier tomorrow.

The Danone Institute focuses on research. It supports researchers or research teams in the fields of nutrition, diet and health.

Among its purpose, the Danone Institute aims at increasing nutrition knowledge among medical professionals, educators, and parents. The goal is to develop programs which address local population health and nutrition issues.

This organization is devoted to noncommercial activities, and is free to use funds provided by the group as it wishes.

The president is an independent scientist.

Danone Institutes around the world

Little by little, Danone Group opened several Danone Institutes around the world and set up an international network of local institutes.

18 institutes currently exist around the world. They are located in Belgium, Canada, China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Spain, the United States and Turkey...

They operate under the aegis of the Danone Institute International. The Danone Institute International is responsible for steering the network, and encouraging a continual exchange between the various countries.

Today, more than 200 renowned experts in diet and nutrition are involved in this international network.

Each institute is composed of a board of directors and a scientific council. Each board includes 8 members. The board members are responsible for setting the strategic direction and budget for the organization. The scientific council that is composed of from 6 to 10 members, takes future programmatic decisions.

The purpose of the Danone Institute International is to support research and to promote human health including in countries where the Danone Institute is not established. The organization develops and spreads knowledge about diet and human health, and highlights the importance of nutrition.

The institutes develop educational programs in their countries to deal with local health and nutrition issues.

Each institute develops its own program in order to be relevant in their local environment. For instance, the Czech Danone Institute provides a fund to support research, development and education in nutrition, and scholarships abroad.

Each local Danone Institute develops specific programs including :

• Support research programs : scholarships, grants, awards, prizes
• Publications of research findings relating to health and nutrition
• Organization of scientific conferences
• Publication of newsletters and books for professionals (e.g., health care professionals, educators, journalists)
• Organization of workshops, training and educational sessions for professionals (e.g., health care professionals, journalists)
• Production of pedagogic material, leaflets, booklets, television and radio programs, computer games for parents, pregnant women, children, teenagers, and older adults
• Spread the knowledge to the public

Throughout the world, the Danone Institutes continue to be non-profit organizations. They contribute to improving the quality of the diet and health. They provide and disseminate scientific knowledge on diet and nutrition to health care and education professionals, and to the public.

The Danone Institutes gather internationally renowned scientists in diet and nutrition from independent organizations (e.g.: universities, research centers).

The Danone Institutes are independent from Danone Group. They do not have any commercial objective. They act freely and independently. Publications remain scientific and not commercial.

Danone Institutes also focus their activities towards pregnant women and children. They think this is the key to improving public health. Therefore, they dedicated a large part of their activities to peri-natal and child nutrition.

From 1991 to 2006, more than 40 prizes and awards have been attributed for more than €600,000. Over 140 events have gathered more than 30,000 health care professionals. And 75 publications have been published. More than 70 programs towards the public have been organized.

To date, Danone Institutes have funded more than 900 research projects. This represents a global budget of €16 million. They have set up dozens of educational programs. 100 symposia have been launched.

Danone Institute International

The Danone Institute International was established in 2004 to gather together the 18 Danone Institutes. Its goal is to develop large-scale international programs. It also aims at encouraging the sharing of the knowledge between the local institutes. It facilitates cooperation, collaboration and exchange between scientists.

Danone Institute International is a non-profit organization originally established with funding from Groupe Danone. The association promotes the exchange of information related to the relationship between diet, nutrition and health.

The Danone Institute International comprises more than 220 scientific experts, and may be considered as a think tank. This international network gathers renowned scientists from various fields such as clinical nutrition, pediatric medicine, microbiology, gastroenterology, psychology...

The Danone Institute International produces publications, supports research via grants, programs and a prize. The DII also organizes international conferences and symposia.

The Danone International Prize For Nutrition is a cornerstone in the work of Danone Institute International.

The Danone International Prize for Nutrition is worth €120,000 - approximately $163,000. The prize is awarded every two years by the Danone Institute International and organized with the support of the French organization Fondation pour la Recherche Medicale.

The Danone International Prize for Nutrition recognizes a single researcher or a research team as leading a major advancement in nutrition science, developing novel concepts in nutrition, including research fields with potential application for human diet and health, such as mechanisms, disease prevention and management, behavior, economics, public health, or expanding the frontiers of food science and nutrition.

It is also awarded in recognition of the development of novel concepts in nutrition and of published scientific contributions that contributes to progress in the understanding and improvement of public health and has advanced the science of human nutrition.

The prize aims at encouraging nutrition research and promoting the public's understanding of the importance of this field of research.

The Danone International Prize for Nutrition is modeled after the world's most renowned scientific awards. It is one of the world’s most respected awards within the field of nutritional research.

The jury consists of up to 9 members including one member of the Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale. 50 % of the jury members come from the Danone Institute International or the Danone Institutes. The jury selects one laureate by a secret vote. In case of a tie, the Chair’s vote counts as two votes.

Competition is tough. For instance, the Danone Institute International selected in 2007 Dr. Friedman through a process involving more than 650 applicants worldwide. Candidates must be employed by a not-for-profit institution and actively involved in research. Laureates are chosen after an independent, international and consultative selection procedure that guarantees transparency and objectivity.

The 2016 Prize will be awarded in San Diego, in April in conjunction with the Experimental Biology Congress.

Prize winners:

• 2013 Gökhan S. Hotamisligil, Harvard School of Public Health, for his outstanding research in immunology and metabolic diseases.
• 2011 Jeffery I. Gordon, Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to scientific research on the human gut microbiome, diet and nutritional status.
• 2009 Johan Auwerx, Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne, for his research in molecular nutrition.
• 2007 Jeffrey M. Friedman, Rockefeller University and Howard Hughes Medical Institute; for research on the role of genetics and leptin, a hormone he discovered, in body-weight regulation.
• 2005 David J. P. Barker, epidemiologist at the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease Division Research Centre of Southampton University, UK and at the Heart Research Centre, Oregon Health and Science University, USA.
• 2003 Ricardo Bressani
• 2001 Alfred Sommer and team from the School of Hygiene and Public Health at Johns Hopkins University
• 1999 Leif Hallberg
• 1997 Vernon R. Young

Global Summit on the Health Effects of Yogurt

In 2012, the Danone Institute International in collaboration with the American Society for Nutrition (ASN) organized an international working group to examine the health effects of yogurt. They communicated their scientific conclusion to health care professionals and the public. .

One year later, the ASN and the Danone Institute International joined forces to launch the first Global Summit on the Health Effects of Yogurt. This event aims at evaluating the state of science as concerns yogurt consumption and public health. The first summit took place in 2013 in Boston. It featured international experts in medicine and nutrition.

Since that time, global summits have been held every year.

In 2015, the Global Summit on the Health Effects of Yogurt focused on yogurt consumption and weight management. The 2016 summit will speak about topics such as :

• The impact of regular yogurt consumption on nutrient deficiencies, body weight regulation, chronic health conditions
• The nutrient profile of yogurt
• Populations that may benefit from yogurt consumption
• Scientific data related to dietary recommendations

Yogurt in Nutrition Initiative for a balanced diet

In 2013, the Danone Institute International, the American Society for Nutrition (ASN) and the Nutrition Society (NS) launched the Yogurt in Nutrition Initiative for a balanced diet.

This program aims at examining the health effects of yogurt, encouraging research around yogurt as part of a healthy diet and communicating scientific information toward health care professionals and the public.

Through this project, the Danone Institute International plans to organize worldwide conferences to share researchers' findings.

From 2013, the Yogurt in Nutrition Initiative for a balanced diet co-organizes every year Global Summit on the Health Effects of Yogurt.

The Danone Institute International in collaboration with the American Society for Nutrition and the International Osteoporosis Foundation organizes the Yogurt in Nutrition Award. This prize is offered by the Yogurt in Nutrition Initiative for a balanced diet. This award, valued at USD 30,000, supports projects focused on the role of yogurt in the prevention and management of diseases. This award finances research programs for 2 years. It recognizes personals or research teams from public organizations, universities or hospitals.