Linus Pauling Institute

What Linus Pauling Institute does

The Linus Pauling Institute (LPI) is a non-profit research institute affiliated with Oregon State University in Corvallis, Oregon, originally co-founded in 1973 by two-time Nobel laureate Dr. Linus Pauling and re-established on the OSU campus in 1996. LPI conducts fundamental and translational research on the roles of micronutrients, phytochemicals, and dietary factors in healthspan extension and chronic disease prevention, with active programs in cancer biology, metabolic syndrome, neurodegeneration, vitamin D–mediated immunity, and the gut microbiome. The Institute operates two shared core laboratory facilities — the Analytical Services Core (HPLC and mass spectrometry for small molecules in biological, food, plant, and dietary supplement samples) and the Biological Models and Translational Research Core (human subjects research, clinical trial coordination, IRB/FDA compliance) — and runs multiple clinical trials including studies on almonds, walnuts, and xanthohumol for Crohn's disease.

LPI's principal public-facing product is the Micronutrient Information Center (MIC), a free, ad-free online resource with 100+ evidence-based articles available in English, Spanish, and Japanese, attracting over one million annual visitors. Supporting outputs include the quarterly Research Insider newsletter, the Top 10 Project public education initiative, webinars, a biennial research conference, peer-reviewed publications, and books. The Institute is led by Endowed Director Dr. Emily Ho and houses more than 15 principal investigators, including Dr. Fred Stevens (xanthohumol and natural products), Dr. Thomas Sharpton (microbiome and computational biology), Dr. Adrian Gombart (vitamin D and immunity), Dr. Maret Traber (vitamin E bioavailability), and Dr. Siva Kolluri (cancer drug discovery).

The Institute's revenue model is diversified across federal research grants (NIH, NSF), corporate sponsorships (notably Balchem for MIC updates), individual donations routed through OSU's giving platform, fee-for-service core laboratory work for academic and industry clients, book and brochure sales, and conference registration. As a unit of a public land-grant university, LPI does not generate commercial product revenue; its growth is bounded by grant cycles, philanthropic support, and the licensing of therapeutic candidates (e.g., xanthohumol production now exceeds $200M annually at industrial scale under licensing arrangements).

Name

Linus Pauling Institute

Legal name

Linus Pauling Institute

Website

https://lpi.oregonstate.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Linus Pauling Institute is a non-profit research center at Oregon State University that investigates micronutrients, phytochemicals, and the gut microbiome in aging and chronic disease, serving researchers, healthcare providers, and over one million annual public visitors to its Micronutrient Information Center.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nutrition Research and Public Health Education

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417), Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Services-Medical Laboratories (8071), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Nutrition & Food Security (Global Health) NGOs (HLAJAKAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Microbiome & Metagenomics Services (HLAGANAH), Microbiome Clinical Development & Translational Services (trial design, endpoints, sampling) (HLAAAFAK), Nutrition & Dietetics Schools (EDAHAGAK)

Keywords

• Micronutrient research
• Nutritional biochemistry
• Healthy aging research
• Phytochemical science
• Analytical laboratory services

Headquarters

HQ city

Corvallis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Donations and Individual Gifts: The Institute is supported by gifts from individuals through Oregon State University's giving platform. The Micronutrient Information Center relies on donations to remain free and ad-free.
2. Research Grants: Research programs are supported by research grants from private and federal agencies, including the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Science Foundation (NSF). The Institute maintains continuous NIH and NSF funding.
3. Corporate Sponsorships and Grants: Corporate sponsorships from private corporations and foundations support the Institute and its Micronutrient Information Center. Balchem is cited as a corporate funder that has funded updates to the Micronutrient Information Center.
4. Professional Research Services (Fee-for-Service): The Analytical Services Core and Biological Models Core provide fee-per-use laboratory services to OSU campus researchers and external parties. Services include chemical analysis, metabolomics, and clinical trial support on a fee-for-service basis with hourly rates determined by techniques and technician time required.
5. Book Sales: The Institute sells books including those written by Dr. Linus Pauling, about his life and career, and books authored by LPI staff. An evidence-based vitamins and minerals book is available for purchase.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

The Linus Pauling Institute is a non-profit university research institute that conducts scientific research on micronutrients, phytochemicals, gut microbiome, and their roles in healthspan extension and chronic disease prevention. It translates research into free public education through the Micronutrient Information Center (1M+ annual visitors across 3 languages) and the Top 10 Project, and operates fee-for-service analytical and translational core laboratories (HPLC, mass spectrometry, clinical trial support) for OSU and external academic and industry clients.

Product overview

The Linus Pauling Institute is a research institute at Oregon State University that provides a portfolio of public education resources and research services. The core public-facing product is the Micronutrient Information Center (MIC), a free online database offering evidence-based information on vitamins, minerals, and dietary factors. Supporting products include the Research Insider newsletter and the Top 10 Project educational initiative. The institute also operates two core laboratory facilities—the Analytical Services Core for chemical analysis of biological samples, and the Biological Models and Translational Research Core for human subjects research support. Additional offerings include webinars, biennial conferences, publications, and ongoing clinical trials on nutrition and health.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Micronutrient Information Center (MIC): Evidence-based information center on vitamins, minerals, and nutrients - a signature public resource of the Linus Pauling Institute trusted by researchers, healthcare providers, and millions worldwide.
• Top 10 Project
• Research Insider

Products and services

• Micronutrient Information Center (MIC)

Quantifiable outcome

• 1M+ annual visitors to the Micronutrient Information Center
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core, significant and minor.

• Dr. Robyn Tanguay Lab (Oregon State University)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDr. Thomas Sharpton collaborated with Dr. Robyn Tanguay's laboratory on a zebrafish study examining how early-life exposure to benzo[a]pyrene (a common environmental pollutant) alters the gut microbiome and produces transgenerational effects. This collaboration was central to a peer-reviewed publication.
• Oregon State University College of HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLPI collaborates with OSU's College of Health on joint webinars, research projects, and the Top 10 Project initiative, combining expertise in nutrition, public health, and healthy aging.
• Global Hemp Innovation Center (Oregon State University)significantStrategic or Co-development PartnerDr. Fred Stevens collaborates with the Global Hemp Innovation Center on a 2023 AI-driven project to discover non-psychoactive cannabinoids from hemp for pain relief, involving chemistry, biology, engineering, and machine learning. This involves stakeholders in the hemp industry worth more than $5 billion annually.
• OSU Microbiome Initiative / OSU Microbiome CorecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDr. Thomas Sharpton serves as Director of both the OSU Microbiome Core and the OSU Microbiome Initiative, which provide state-of-the-art metagenomic profiling, multi-omic analysis, and AI-driven modeling services to support microbiome research across the university and beyond.
• Cedars-Sinai Medical CenterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDr. Adrian Gombart worked as a Research Scientist in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center prior to joining OSU, maintaining ongoing collaborative relationships in immunology and vitamin D research.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Metabolon: Metabolon is a leading metabolomics services company providing mass spectrometry-based metabolite profiling. Directly comparable to LPI's Analytical Services Core which uses HPLC and mass spectrometry for metabolomics in biological samples, food, plants, and dietary supplements.
• Zymo Research: Zymo Research provides microbiome and metagenomics services and products, including DNA/RNA extraction and sequencing for microbiome analysis. Comparable to the OSU Microbiome Core led by Sharpton, which offers metagenomic profiling and multi-omic analysis services to academic and industry clients.
• Pennington Biomedical Research Center: Pennington Biomedical is a leading nutrition and metabolic disease research center affiliated with LSU, conducting clinical trials and translational research on obesity, diabetes, and nutrition. Comparable to LPI as a major nutrition research center with clinical research infrastructure and metabolic disease focus.
• Tufts University Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA): University-affiliated federal nutrition research center at Tufts University focused on nutrition, aging, and chronic disease prevention. Highly comparable to LPI as a similarly structured academic research center conducting micronutrient and dietary intervention research with clinical translation.
• Cornell University Division of Nutritional Sciences: Cornell's Division of Nutritional Sciences is one of the premier university nutrition research and training programs in the U.S., with parallel interests in micronutrient research, public health translation, and graduate training — directly comparable to LPI's academic nutrition research mission.

Others

• Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: The world's largest organization of food and nutrition professionals, providing evidence-based nutrition information to consumers and healthcare providers through EatRight.org. Comparable to LPI's MIC in serving as a trusted public nutrition information resource, though operating as a professional membership organization rather than research institute.
• Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN): CRN is the leading trade association for the dietary supplement and functional food industry, funding and disseminating nutrition science. Comparable to LPI in bridging nutrition research with industry stakeholders, but operating as an industry trade body rather than a research institute.
• American Society for Nutrition (ASN): ASN is the leading scientific society for nutrition research, publishing major journals and recognizing leaders in the field (LPI Director Emily Ho was named a 2026 ASN Excellence in Nutrition Fellow). ASN is a peer as a nutrition research community convener rather than as a direct research organization.

Broad incumbents

• USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS): USDA's chief in-house research agency conducting broad research on nutrition, food safety, and agricultural science. ARS operates the HNRCA at Tufts and parallel nutrition research programs, making it a broad incumbent in the federal nutrition research space that overlaps with LPI's research areas.
• NIH Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS): The NIH ODS is the federal government authority on dietary supplement science and micronutrient information, providing evidence-based public resources analogous to LPI's Micronutrient Information Center. ODS operates at larger scale as a government entity but covers overlapping nutritional science dissemination territory.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@theLinusPaulingInstitute
• Facebookfacebook.com/LinusPaulingInstitute
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/linus-pauling-institute
• Instagraminstagram.com/linuspaulinginstitute

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles17 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Linus Pauling Institute