From the Academy

T HIS ARTICLE EXPANDS UPON the summary, “In Brief: Achieving a Transparent, Actionable Framework for PublicePrivate Partnerships for Food and Nutrition Research,” published in this issue of the Journal (pp 1318-1319) and the full publication, and analyzes the impact of the framework on registered dietitian nutritionists (RDNs) and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. In particular, this narrative will focus on the views of RDNs who attended the working group meeting that established the framework—Sonja Connor, MS, RDN, LD, FAND, 2014-2015 president of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and Alison Kretser, MS, RD, director of Science Programs at the International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI) North America, as well as the author—to understand the implications for RDNs in different practice settings. Publiceprivate partnerships (PPPs) have been proposed as a solution for decreased government funding for areas such as infrastructure and research. Federal funding for research has maintained increases in a “real dollars” analysis since the mid-2000s, but when adjusting for inflation, the amount of funding has actually declined, particularly after across-theboard spending cuts in 2013 (sequestration). Therefore, researchers need to look beyond government and to other sources of funding. In the past, industry funding was considered a last resort and was often frowned upon in academic circles due to concerns of bias. Therefore, one proposed advantage of PPPs in finding additional research dollars is that while industry contributes funds, their direct influence is diluted, and therefore the research funded by a PPP may be less likely to be perceived as biased as compared to research solely funded by industry. In addition, government funding cycles are becoming shorter and shorter, challenging scientists to make progress worthy of funding renewal sooner and sooner. Industry may be willing to take the long view; therefore, PPPs have the potential of lengthening the funding cycle and allowing leaps forward.