Welcome to the Linus Pauling Institute

The Linus Pauling Institute was established at Oregon State University in August 1996 under an agreement reached between OSU and its antecedent organization, the Linus Pauling Institute of Science and Medicine (located in California from 1973 to 1996).  The Institute functions from the basic premise that an optimum diet is the key to optimum health.  Our mission is to determine the function and role of micronutrients, vitamins, and phytochemicals in promoting optimum health and preventing and treating disease; to determine the role of oxidative and nitrative stress and antioxidants in human health and disease; and to advance knowledge in areas that were of interest to Linus Pauling through research and educational activities. 

Major areas of research in the Institute encompass heart disease, cancer, aging, neurodegenerative diseases, immune dysfunction and disease caused by exposure to toxins.  Specific laboratories address antioxidants and vascular biology; vitamin E metabolism and biological activity; colon cancer and cancer chemoprevention by phytochemicals; the role of nitric oxide and oxidative stress in neurodegenerative diseases, such as ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease); and the role of oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction in the aging process.

Micronutrient Research for Optimum Health