John Erdman and Shiriki Kumanyika Elected to the Institute of Medicine
Congratulations to John W. Erdman Jr, PhD (a Nutrition Today Editorial Advisory Board member), and Shiriki Kumanyika, PhD, who, along with 65 other individuals, have been elected into membership of the National Academy of Sciences!!
Dr Erdman is the Nutrition Endowed Research Chair and Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He is also past president of American Society of Nutritional Sciences and the current public policy chair of ASNS.
Dr Kumanyika is the Associate Dean for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Professor of Epidemiology and Director, Graduate School of Public Health Studies, School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Congratulations!!
Lecture Established in Honor of Professor van Staveren's Retirement
On April 29, 2004, Professor Wija van Staveren will retire from the Division of Human Nutrition of Wageningen University, the Netherlands. In her honor, special meetings are planned from April 26 to 29, including a Masterclass, "Geriatric Nutrition: Diet, Functionality and Disease," and a symposium, "Add Years to Your Life: Nutrition Matters." Dr van Staveren, a Nutrition Today Editorial Advisory Board member, is an eminent Dutch nutrition scientist.
New Staffer at Institute of Food Technology
Karen Banasiak, 32, has been named assistant editor for Food Technology magazine, overseeing the production of regular industry, company, and society news columns, as well as book reviews, other editorial content, and special assignments. An experienced food scientist and writer, Banasink AQ received a master's degree in food journalism from the University of Illinois and a master of arts and journalism from Michigan State University.
Beranbaum Becomes Managing Editor of Nutrition Today
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Randi Konikoff Beranbaum, MS, RD, Manager of Public Relations for the Health Sciences Campus at Tufts University, is the new managing editor of Nutrition Today.
Randi received a bachelor of science in nutrition and bachelor of arts in women's studies from the University of Maryland, College Park, and a dual master's degree in clinical nutrition and nutrition communications from Tufts University. A registered dietitian, she currently lectures in the first-year nutrition course at Tufts University School of Medicine and maintains a private practice focusing on weight management. Welcome, Randi!!
ASCN Elects New Leadership
The American Society of Nutritional Sciences has elected the following officers for the 2004 election of the ASCN council. Congratulations!!
Stephanie Atkinson, a Nutrition Today Editorial Advisory Board member, has been elected as vice-president elect. Dr Atkinson is currently a Professor, Pediatrics at McMaster University, Canada, where she studies the nutritional and endocrine regulation of growth processes, with a focus on skeletal development. Her clinical research has identified abnormalities in growth and bone development associated with disease or drug (eg, steroids) therapies in children with disorders such as prematurity, leukemia, cystic fibrosis, and epilepsy.
Mary Frances Picciano, also a Nutrition Today Editorial Advisory Board member, has been elected treasurer elect, and Kimberly O'Brian has been elected as a councilor.
Sommers to Give SINR Presidential Lecture at Experimental Biology 2004
Alfred Sommers, MD, MSH, Dean, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, will be "The Experimental Biology 2004 Society for International Nutrition Research Presidential Lecturer." Dean Sommers' research has demonstrated the importance of vitamin A deficiency and helped in leading efforts to control and eradicate it.
Janet King to Give W.O. Atwater Memorial Lecture at Experimental Biology 2004
Janet King, PhD, a scientist at the Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute and Adjunct Professor, Department of Nutrition and the Department of Internal Medicine, University of California-Davis, has been honored as the recipient of this yeast W.O. Atwater lecture.
Dr King's research group studies how calcium and zinc use is affected by different physiologic states, such as pregnancy, lactation, aging, or insufficient or excessive intake.
The Lectureship was established in 1968 by ARS to honor the memory of Wilbur Olin Atwater (1844-1907) and to recognize scientists who have made unique contributions toward improving the diet and nutrition of people throughout the world. Atwater, who is considered the father of modern nutrition research and education, was the US Department of Agriculture's first chief of nutrition investigations. His work set the tone for the nutrition research that ARS continues today.
Dr Michael S. Brown to Give ASCN Presidential Lecture
Michael S. Brown, Professor and Director of the Jonsson Center for Molecular Genetics Medical Scientist Training Program at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, has been honored as the recipient of the 2004 American Society of Clinical Nutrition Presidential Lecture.
His lecture, Fatricide: When Diet and Genes Collide, will be given on Saturday, April 17, 2004, at 4 PM.
Dr Norka Ruiz Bravo Named Deputy Director for Extramural Research at NIH
NIH Director Elias Zerhouni announced the appointment of Norka Ruiz Bravo as the NIH Deputy Director for Extramural Research. In her new duties, Dr Ruiz Bravo will serve as the NIH's focal point and voice for all policies and guidelines for extramural research grants, which represent approximately 85% of the NIH budget.
Dr Ruiz Bravo came to NIH in 1990 as a scientific review administration in the National Institute of General Medicine Sciences (NIGMS). Most recently, she was the associate director for extramural activities for NIGMS, where she oversaw the institute's $1.8 billion (FY 2003) research and training grant programs.
Change of Leadership at Gerber Products Company
Frank Palantoni will step down as CEO of Gerber Products Company. Palantoni joined Gerber as executive vice president in 1998 and served as CEO from 1999. Gerber is part of the Consumer Health Division of Novartis AG.
Kurt Schmidt has been appointed as the new CEO. Schmidt joins the company from Animal Health Inc, where he served as CEO. Animal Health is also part of the Consumer Health Division of Novartis AG. Schmidt spent more than 15 years with Kraft Foods in the United States, Europe, and Australia.
New Title: Journal of Crop Improvement
The Journal of Crop Production has recently changed it name to the Journal of Crop Improvement beginning with volume 10. Amarijt S. Basra, PhD, will edit this journal. The new name reflects the changing focus of research on improvements in crop production, productivity, quality, and safety to meet the food, feed, and fiber needs of the world population.
Linda Van Horn Selected as Dannon Award Winner
Linda Van Horn, PhD, RD, received the 2004 Dannon Institute Award for Excellence in Medical/Dental Nutrition Education. Dr Van Horn is professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University Fineberg School of Medicine in Chicago. She was recently named Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.
ADA Names Movers and Shakers
The ADA gave public policy leadership awards to 2 legislators who have demonstrated outstanding service and support for nutrition and health issues in 2003. This past year, the award went to the Honorable Nita Lowey (D-NY), who has worked tirelessly on childhood obesity and to improve medical nutrition therapy for it, and to Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), who has done so much on nutrition monitoring and nutrition related farm bill legislation.
At the grassroots level, the recipients of the 2003 Excellence in Grassroots Political Action Award at ADA were Iva-Mary Hopkins, MS, RD, of Blacksburg, Va, and Susan Yake, RD, of Bremerton, Wash. Congratulations!!
Dominican University's Nutrition Sciences Department in River Forest, Ill, received an award from the American Dietetic Association for accomplishments in achieving greater diversity in selection of dietetic students.
The American Dietetic Association's Nutrition Education Awards for 2003 went to 2 groups. The Bright Futures Program at Georgetown University received the award for the development of Nutrition Family Fact Sheets that were unique, creative, and unusual. The Diabetes Prevention Program Lifestyle Intervention Team also received an award for its program on lifestyle balance.
Jean D. Skinner, PhD, RD, received the ADA's Huddleston Award for an excellent article written with colleagues Betty Ruth Carruth, PhD, RD; Wendy Bounds, MS, RD, and Paula J Ziegler, PhD, RD, on Children's food preferences: a longitudinal analysis, which appeared in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.
The ADA Media Excellence award went to Leah McLaughlin, Fitness magazine's diet and nutrition editor. Leah is a graduate of New York University.
The ADA's award for excellence in dietetic research went to Patricia L. Splett, PhD, MPH, RD, of Minnesota. Riva Touger-Decker, PhD, RD, received the award in dietetic education. Vickie James, RD was honored for her work in community dietetics. Vickie and Claudia L. Hohnbaum, MA, RD, also received the Anita Owen award for innovative nutrition education programs for the public. Paula Charuhas, MS, RD, was recognized for her efforts in clinical nutrition. The new researcher award went to Laura Harkness, RD, MS who wrote on hypovitaminosis D and hyperparathyroidism in teenaged girls.