Ultra-Processed Foods and Chronic Disease: Current Research and Future Priorities

Chair(s)

• 

  Bramaramba Kowtha, MS, RDN, LDN

  Health Scientist
  National Institutes of Health Office of Disease Prevention
  Rockville, Maryland, United States

  Disclosure(s): No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

Speaker(s)

• 

  Nicholas Jury, PhD (he/him/his)

  Strategic Scientific Advisor
  National Institutes of Health, Office of Nutrition Research
  Bethesda, Maryland, United States

  Disclosure(s): No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.
• 

  Kaelyn Burns, PhD, MS (she/her/hers)

  Postdoctoral Fellow
  Metabolic Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics National Cancer Institute
  Rockville, Maryland, United States

  Disclosure(s): No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.
• 

  Valerie Darcey, PhD, MS, RD, LD (she/her/hers)

  Stadtman Investigator
  National Institutes of Health, NIDDK
  Bethesda, Maryland, United States

  Disclosure(s): No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.
• 

  Aaron Hengist, PhD (he/him/his)

  Postdoctoral Visiting Fellow
  NIDDK
  National Institutes of Health
  Bethesda, Maryland, United States

  Disclosure(s): No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.
• LL

  Leah Lipsky, PhD, M.H.S.

  Staff Scientist
  Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
  Bethesda, Maryland, United States

  Disclosure(s): No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.
• CK

  Claudine Kavanaugh, PhD, MPH, RD

  Director, HFP, Office of Nutrition and Food Labeling
  Food and Drug Administration
  College Park, Maryland, United States

  Disclosure(s): No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.
• 

  Andrew Bremer, MD, MAS, PhD

  Director, Office of Nutrition Research
  Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives, Office of the Director
  National Institutes of Health
  Bethesda, Maryland, United States

  Disclosure(s): No relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.

This session brings together NIH, USDA, and FDA efforts to advance the science of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) through research, to inform practices, policies, and prevention. Speakers will highlight the current landscape of NIH-supported research and key evidence gaps; findings from large cohort studies on UPF intake and cancer risk, including ongoing challenges in dietary assessment; and emerging insights from metabolomics, feeding trials, and neuroimaging studies. Presentations will explore whether observed health risks reflect processing itself or underlying nutritional quality and identify key drivers of excess energy intake. The session will conclude with federal efforts to develop a standardized UPF definition and advance regulatory science, with implications for research, policy, and dietary guidance.

Presentations:

• 10:30 AM - 10:35 AM ET

  Opening Remarks and Introductions - Ultra-Processed Foods and Chronic Disease: Current Research and Future Priorities
  

  Chair: Bramaramba J. Kowtha, MS, RDN, LDN – National Institutes of Health Office of Disease Prevention
• 10:35 AM - 10:45 AM ET

  NIH Supported Research on Ultra-Processed Foods Portfolio Analysis
  

  Speaker: Nicholas Jury, PhD (he/him/his) – National Institutes of Health, Office of Nutrition Research
• 10:45 AM - 10:57 AM ET

  A Multi-faceted Approach to Understand the Role of Ultra-Processed Food Consumption in Cancer Etiology and Prevention
  

  Speaker: Kaelyn F. Burns, PhD, MS (she/her/hers) – Metabolic Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics National Cancer Institute
• 10:57 AM - 11:21 AM ET

  Ultra-Processed Foods, Energy Intake, and Obesity Risk: Mechanistic Insights From Controlled Feeding and Neuroimaging Studies
  

  Speaker: Valerie L. Darcey, PhD, MS, RD, LD (she/her/hers) – National Institutes of Health, NIDDK

  Speaker: Aaron Hengist, PhD (he/him/his) – National Institutes of Health
• 11:21 AM - 11:33 AM ET

  Associations of Ultra-Processed Food Intake with Cardiometabolic Risk Differ by Nutritional Quality
  

  Speaker: Leah M. Lipsky, PhD, M.H.S. – Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
• 11:33 AM - 11:45 AM ET

  FDA and Ultra-Processed Foods
  

  Speaker: Claudine Kavanaugh, PhD, MPH, RD – Food and Drug Administration
• 11:45 AM - 11:50 AM ET

  NIH Priorities on UPF Research
  

  Speaker: Andrew Bremer, MD, MAS, PhD – National Institutes of Health
• 11:55 AM - 12:00 PM ET

  Questions and Answers - Ultra-Processed Foods and Chronic Disease: Current Research and Future Priorities
  

  Chair: Bramaramba J. Kowtha, MS, RDN, LDN – National Institutes of Health Office of Disease Prevention

  Speaker: Valerie L. Darcey, PhD, MS, RD, LD (she/her/hers) – National Institutes of Health, NIDDK

  Speaker: Kaelyn F. Burns, PhD, MS (she/her/hers) – Metabolic Epidemiology Branch, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics National Cancer Institute

  Speaker: Aaron Hengist, PhD (he/him/his) – National Institutes of Health

  Speaker: Nicholas Jury, PhD (he/him/his) – National Institutes of Health, Office of Nutrition Research

  Speaker: Claudine Kavanaugh, PhD, MPH, RD – Food and Drug Administration

  Speaker: Leah M. Lipsky, PhD, M.H.S. – Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development