The Linus Pauling Institute is a research institute located at Oregon State University with a focus on health maintenance. The mission statement of the institute is three-fold. First, to determine the functional roles of micronutrients and phytochemicals in promoting optimal health and to treat or prevent human disease. Second, to determine the role of oxidative stress and inflammation in health and disease processes, and determine how dietary antioxidants and anti-inflammatories may have protective effects. Lastly, to help people live a full and productive life, free of disease. There are several major areas of research occurring at the institute, focused on many vitamins, minerals and other compounds found in the diet.
The Linus Pauling Institute receives a significant amount of research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In 2003 the NIH through the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) designated the LPI as a Center of Excellence for Research on Complementary and Alternative Medicine following a grant "to study aging, cardiovascular disease and neurodegenerative problems such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's Disease" awarded to Project Leaders Dr. Balz Frei, Dr. Tory Hagen, Dr. Joseph Beckman and Dr. Weijian Zhang.
The institute was founded in 1973 in Menlo Park, California by Linus Pauling and several colleagues under the name Institute of Orthomolecular Medicine. Due to Linus Pauling's death, it relocated to Oregon in 1996 although several researchers, including the assistant director of research, went on to form the Genetic Information Research Institute in nearby Mountain View, CA. It produces a free quarterly newsletter with information on micronutrient research, sponsors several research awards, and promotes several outreach programs. Every two years, the LPI hosts the Diet and Optimum Health Conference, and awards the "Linus Pauling Institute Prize for Health Research" for outstanding research in relation to their mission statement.
The Linus Pauling Institute Web site is home to the Micronutrient Information Center (MIC) an online database for vitamin, mineral, phytochemical and nutrition information.
The current director of the Linus Pauling Institute is Dr. Balz Frei, who has a PhD in biochemistry, and was recently honored as a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at Oregon State University.
As of 2009, the Linus Pauling Science Center is under construction at OSU, and is slated for completion in Spring, 2011. It is the largest-ever academic building project for Oregon State University.
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