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 came together to participate in 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 several research collaborations and integrative graduate student training opportunities. These activities resulted in numerous publications that include two or more independent investigators who are members of the IBRC as authors.  Several extramural grants that include more than one IBRC faculty member as Principal and Co-principal Investigators have also been awarded.

In August 2005, the IBRC was granted official status as a research center at Purdue University. The IBRC membership has grown from six founding members to more than 40 faculty from five colleges at Purdue.  Notable among its many activities, the IBRC organizes a bi-annual symposium which brings together top researchers in the world to discuss their work and ideas related to important problems in the field ingestive behavior.  In addition, as of fall 2008, a curriculum was established  to allow Ph.D, students working under the direction of IBRC faculty members to complete their degrees with Ingestive Behavior as an area of specialization.