China-Cornell-Oxford Project

The China-Cornell-Oxford Project was a large observational study conducted throughout the 1980s in rural China, jointly funded by Cornell University, the University of Oxford, and the government of China. In 1991 The New York Times called it "the Grand Prix of epidemiology."

The first two major studies were led by T. Colin Campbell, professor of nutritional biochemistry at Cornell, who summarized the results in his book, The China Study (2004). Other lead researchers were Chen Junshi, Deputy Director of Institute of Nutrition and Food Hygiene at the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine, Richard Peto of the University of Oxford, and Li Junyao of the China Cancer Institute.

The study examined the diets, lifestyle and disease characteristics of 6,500 people in 65 rural Chinese counties, comparing the prevalence of disease characteristics, excluding causes of death such as accidents. The findings suggested that some diseases of affluence were associated with the consumption of animal protein and dairy products, previously either unknown or uncommon in China.