Center for Nutraceutical and Dietary Supplement Research

The Center for Nutraceutical and Dietary Supplement Research (CNDSR) within the College of Health Sciences at the University of Memphis investigates botanical agents, dietary ingredients and finished dietary supplements in terms of safety and efficacy, through the use of cell culture experiments, animal studies and human clinical trials.

Director Dr. Richard J. Bloomer has more than 20 years of experience working directly with dietary ingredients and supplement, both as a scientist and consumer. He has published extensively in this area and has been invited to present at national and international conferences focused on natural products. Multiple scientists work with Dr. Bloomer, collectively possessing expertise in assay design, cell culture experiments, pre-clinical animal studies, human clinical trials and human pharmacokinetic studies.

A particular strength of the Center is the ability for scientists to perform both safety and efficacy experiments using raw materials, isolated ingredients and finished dietary supplements. This includes pharmacokinetic evaluations of new and existing ingredients, in addition to assay development using technology such as HPLC, GC/MS, LC/MS and other platforms. Studies can be performed using both animal models and human subjects, as well as cell culture.