Background:

MUSC has estimated that over 50% of hospitalized patients are at risk of a nutrition-related complication upon admission, leading to medical complications, longer hospital stays, and readmissions to the hospital. As hospital stays are shortened and only the sickest patients are admitted, more patients experience nutrition-related problems.

Growth in nutrition-related research resources has grown on the national, state, and campus level, particularly since 2002. MUSC can serve as a model for other institutions in hospital-based nutritional research given its excellence in digestive disease, cardiology, surgery, endocrinology and pediatrics and its strong support for translational and collaborative research.

Mission:

Hospital-based nutrition research can lead to improved patient care, the development of further research directives, and saved hospital costs.  For these reasons, an MUSC Hospital Nutrition Research Advisory Board (HNRAB) was created in December, 2006. 

The mission of the Hospital Nutrition Research Advisory Board (HNRAB) at the Medical University of South Carolina is to support the development, implementation, evaluation, and dissemination of multi-professional, hospital-based nutrition outcomes research that can result in improved quality of clinical care at lower costs.

Collaboration:

This committee will collaborate with many of MUSC research resources including the South Carolina Clinical and Translational Research Institute and the Digestive Disease Center.  Board members include distinguished MUSC faculty and staff ranging from basic scientists and physicians to research administrators and community-based investigators.  Outside of MUSC, the HNRAB will work with with state research-driven healthcare allianceswide such as the SC Nutrition Research Consortium and the Health Science South Carolina.