How weather changes could affect fats in soybean oil and heart health
Official title: Impacts of meteorological changes on nutrition-related cardiometabolic disease
Funded at College of William and Mary · NIH-11331848 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at how daytime temperatures affect soybean oil’s essential fats and how that could influence heart disease, stroke, and diabetes risk in people who eat a lot of soy-derived fats.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | College of William and Mary NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Williamsburg, United States) |
| Project start | June 8, 2026 |
| Project end | April 30, 2031 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $358,873 |
| NIH project number | 1R01HL186324-01 |
| Project ID | NIH-11331848 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Any adult in the U.S. whose diet includes substantial soybean oil consumption and who could benefit from improved essential fatty acid intake guidance.
✕Less likely to help
Individuals with very low or atypical soy oil consumption may see limited direct benefit.
What this research studies
This project partners public, private, and academic groups to measure essential fatty acids in soybean oil from key U.S. growing regions, link the data to historical and projected weather patterns, and build models that predict effects on people’s fatty acid intake and cardiometabolic health through 2060. The study uses samples of soybeans, analyzes their essential fatty acid content, geolocates them, and combines these data with meteorological information. The results will help explore potential intervention strategies, including agricultural and public health measures, to offset predicted increases in cardiometabolic risk. The work is designed to inform future nutrition and policy decisions that could benefit populations at risk.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the findings could guide agricultural practices and dietary recommendations to maintain healthy essential fatty acid intake and reduce cardiometabolic disease risk.
How similar studies have gone: Prior work has linked dietary fats to cardiometabolic risk, and this study builds on established nutrition and agricultural data integration methods to project future risks.
Where this research is happening
-
College of William and Mary
Williamsburg, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Conrad, Zach Shelkrot — College of William and Mary
- Study coordinator: Conrad, Zach Shelkrot
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.