SONDH Faculty Member Awarded NIH-Funded COBRE Pilot Grant for Precision Nutrition and Mental Health Research

Assistant Professor Samia Valeria Ozorio Dutra, of the University of Hawaii at Manoa School of Nursing and Dental Hygiene (UH Manoa SONDH) has been awarded a competitive pilot grant through the National Institutes of Health (NIH)–funded Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE). This award recognizes her work at the intersection of nutrition, mental health and health equity.

The one-year, $50,000 award comes from the Integrative Center for Precision Nutrition and Human Health, a COBRE initiative designed to strengthen biomedical research infrastructure at UH while supporting early-stage investigators. COBRE programs focus on building research capacity through pilot funding, shared core facilities, and mentorship, with an emphasis on health issues affecting Hawaii and the broader Asia-Pacific region.

Dr. Dutra’s project focuses on precision nutrition, which is an emerging field that recognizes the influence that individual differences in genetics, culture, environment and lived experience can have on diet and health outcomes. Dr. Dutra’s project explores how nutrition, social factors and biological markers interact to influence self-esteem and depression risk, particularly among Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander populations. 

“This project is about understanding the biopsychosocial factors that can either increase risk or serve as protective buffers for mental health,” Dr. Dutra says. “By identifying those factors early, we can support more equitable and effective approaches to prevention and care.”

The research builds on a long-standing collaboration with Dr. Alika Maunakea and his team. They provide access to a large, existing database and biological samples. Using blood samples processed through the UH epigenomics lab, Dr. Dutra’s research will add a new layer of analysis focused on HMGB1, a biomarker associated with inflammation, neuroinflammation and depression. While HMGB1 was not part of earlier federally funded studies, emerging evidence suggests it may be influenced by stress and dietary patterns. This makes it a promising target for precision nutrition research. 

Work on the project has already begun, including laboratory preparations and coordination with collaborators. The Precision Nutrition and Human Health COBRE is led by Dr. Marla Berry, director of the Pacific Biosciences Research Center, and brings together faculty from across UH, including the John A. Burns School of Medicine, the UH Cancer Center and community health partners.

The project also builds on Dr. Dutra’s work as an AIM-AHEAD Fellow, a national initiative using advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning to improve identification of depression risk among Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders. While AIM-AHEAD relies on a nationwide cohort, the COBRE-funded study uses a local dataset to examine how biological, dietary and social factors relate to self-esteem and mental health. Together, these efforts support translational mental health research informed by Dr. Dutra’s training through highly competitive programs such as LEADS in Translational Research, Clinical Research Education in Genome Science, and the Computational Genomics Summer Institute at the University of California Los Angeles.

Highly competitive, COBRE pilot awards support only a small number of projects each year, with many awardees going on to secure major federal funding. Beyond Hawaii, the project contributes to national efforts to advance precision medicine and nutrition science. Locally, Dr. Dutra hopes the findings will inform culturally responsive strategies for mental health promotion and help reduce longstanding health disparities across the islands.

“This work is ultimately about people,” she says. “It’s about using science to better understand lived experience and turning that understanding into meaningful health solutions.”