title: Defining the roles and responsibilities of medical, surgical, and nutrition societies for conducting research and providing medical education in nutrition.
abstract: Nutrition research and education are the domains of many societies with somewhat divergent but often largely overlapping interests. Given the lack of consensus regarding appropriate nutrition therapy and the cacophony of educational efforts, cooperative endeavors seem prudent. The development of research consortia, data registries, tissue repositories, and a statistical core are all potentially beneficial. Such resources would result in clinical trials and quality improvement initiatives. Coordinated professional and public education, matched policy initiatives, and a unified process for the development of clinical guidelines are also desirable. The creation of durable alliances between nutrition societies and clinical organizations will require considerable effort and innovation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Surgery, Harvard Medical School, 300 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA 02115, USA. tom.jaksic@childrens.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jaksic
authors.forename: M Molly
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: McMahon
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ziegler
authors.forename: Jeffrey I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Mechanick
mesh_terms: D004501:Education, Medical / Q000639:trends*; D052756:Nutritional Sciences / Q000193:education*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D058996:Quality Improvement; D012106:Research; D012955:Societies, Medical