Brandeis has partnered with Smart Balance Inc., which markets reduced- trans fat and trans fat-free foods, in a $1 million industry-sponsored research agreement-the second largest in the University's history-to develop more healthful combinations of fats for Smart Balance, Executive Director of the Office of Technology Licensing Irene Abrams said.Prof. Kenneth Hayes (BIOL) and Daniel Perlman (PHYS) developed the original technology that currently forms the basis of Smart Balance in the early 1990s after realizing the "unhealthy" aspects of consuming trans fats, Hayes said.

Abrams said that the patent for this original technology was issued in 1996, and Brandeis now licenses the patented technology to Smart Balance. The University is still responsible for protecting the intellectual property of this technology, which means that it cannot reveal the particulars of the original technology. Brandeis does not license the technology to other companies, but Smart Balance can sublicense it to other companies, Abrams said.

Abrams said the research agreement is going to be paid over the course of 10 years. She said that starting next semester, the University will receive $65,000 that will be paid over the course of the next three years to support the bulk of the initial research. The rest of the money will be paid directly to the University over a longer period of time.

The new research aims to "improve the balance" of LDL cholesterol and HDL cholesterol levels in the body by exploring other factors that affect diet, such as diabetes, Hayes said. He explained that in contrast to the good cholesterol HDL, LDL is the "bad" lipoprotein, which is responsible for illnesses such as coronary heart disease.

Hayes explained that diabetes is related not only to the amount of food one eats but also to the type and amount of fat one consumes. He hopes that the research opportunity will enable Perlman and himself to find ways of improving blood sugar levels. Hayes and Perlman could not disclose the details of their research.

Hayes explained that trans fat is a type of unsaturated fat that is made "artificially by taking vegetable oil and bubbling hydrogen into it." The consumption of trans fat has a negative effect, as it increases levels of LDL cholesterol while lowering levels of HDL cholesterol, he said.

The blend of oils Hayes and Perlman developed is a balance of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats that increases levels of HDL upon consumption. Smart Balance uses this technology to develop products such as spreads containing no trans fats.

Hayes and Perlman have also licensed the patented technology of fortifying milk with vitamin E to Smart Balance. Perlman said vitamin E plays a key role in the development of neonatal development, so he and Hayes wanted to increase the levels of vitamin E present in this product.

Their research on this issue, funded by HP Hoods, a dairy product company, looked into the bioavailability of milk, a property concerned with the fraction of vitamin E in the milk that is absorbed into the blood stream. Perlman said he found it surprising that the results showed that vitamin E is absorbed more efficiently in comparison to vitamin capsules, which are also orally consumed. He said increased levels of vitamin E in milk are "perfectly safe."

Perlman said the patent for the technology behind fortifying milk was not licensed to HP Hoods due to some undisclosed differences, and it was consequently licensed to Smart Balance. The researchers could not give details on how they fortify the milk.

Perlman said the research agreement with Smart Balance is a "useful" step by which the University can play its role in improving public health. Apart from bringing in "additional revenue [to Brandeis] through product sales and royalty, [the research agreement] lends a practical side to the research being done here," he said.