About IBRC

Our Mission

The Ingestive Behavior Research Center (IBRC) at Purdue University is unique in providing an interdisciplinary research and training environment that promotes excellence in the analysis of ingestive behavior and its disorders.

Our Vision

Individual and population-based health practices will be optimized by advancing understanding of the controls of ingestive behavior.

About the IBRC

The Ingestive Behavior Research Center (IBRC) was organized at Purdue University to promote and coordinate interdisciplinary collaborations among laboratories that investigate the environmental and biological controls of food and fluid intake.  The groundwork for the IBRC was laid in 1999, when students and faculty from the Departments of Psychological Sciences, the Department of Foods & Nutrition, and the Interdisciplinary Graduate Neuroscience Program initiated weekly seminars and journal clubs devoted to research on ingestive behavior and its disorders.  The sharing of ideas and perspectives that occurred at these informal meetings led to research collaborations, new graduate student training opportunities and expanded course offerings.

In August 2005, the IBRC was granted official status as a Center at Purdue University.  The IBRC membership has grown from six founding members to approximately 55 faculty from 16 Departments and 8 Colleges at Purdue as well as faculty from the Indiana University School of Medicine.  Currently, 25 students are completing a concentration in ingestive behavior.

The Center's research and training base have been strengthened by NIH funding of a program project grant and a training grant, USDA training grants, multiple individual research awards from a variety of governmental and professional sources as well as support from the Office of the Vice President for Research, and philanthropy.  Notable among its many activities, the IBRC organizes a biennial international symposium on issues related to ingestive behavior, supports an expanded curriculum leading to an Area of Specialization for students focusing their graduate training in the field, subsidizes sabbaticals for visiting scientists and numerous special lectures and symposia.

The Center's activities are guided by an executive committee comprised of four faculty from three Departments/Colleges with advice and critical evaluation by an external committee of distinguished scientists (Gary Beauchamp - Monell Chemical Senses Center; Tim Moran - Johns Hopkins University; Susan Roberts - Tufts University; Gerry Smith - Cornell University; Steve Woods - University of Cincinnati.)

IBRC Journal Club

Journal Club provides an opportunity for faculty and students to meet informally and to discuss issues related to ingestive behavior.  Discussions are typically lead by one individual, but the goal is to dialog.