In Memoriam: Fredrick C. Robbins, MD
Dr Fred Robbins, Nobel Prize winner who codiscovered the techniques that made the polio vaccine possible, died in August. As President of the Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, Dr Robbins was instrumental in fostering the work of the Food and Nutrition Board.
Robert Earl, MS, RD: New Speaker in the ADA House of Delegates
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Robert Earl, MPH, RD, LD, Senior Director of Nutrition Policy at the National Food Processor Association, is now speaker of the American Dietetic Association's House of Delegates. Earl previously was vice president of public health at the International Food Information Council (IFIC). Before joining IFIC, he was a study director at the Institute of Medicine's Food and Nutrition Board, where he codirected studies on nutrition and food labeling and other food policy issues. He previously worked as ADA's Administrator of Government Affairs in the Association's Washington, DC, office.
2005 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee Selected
HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson and Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman designated 13 professionals to serve on the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, the group responsible for reviewing the Dietary Guidelines for Americans report, published every 5 years. A broad-based nutrition policy guide, the Dietary Guidelines document uses the latest scientific and medical knowledge to advise the general public on ways to improve overall health through proper nutrition.
Committee members include:
Lawrence J. Appel, MD, MPH, Professor of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md. He is a physician and clinical researcher who has conducted several studies on the effect of nutrition and lifestyle modification on blood pressure and cardiovascular risk.
Yvonne Bronner, ScD, RD, LD, Professor and Director of MPH/DrPH Program, Morgan State University, Baltimore, Md. Dr Bronner has more than 20 years of experience in research, training, and program development in nutrition and maternal and child health.
Benjamin Caballero, PhD, MD, Director and Professor of the Center for Human Nutrition and Division of Human Nutrition, Department of International, Health, John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Md. Dr Caballero is an expert in pediatric nutrition whose focus includes childhood obesity.
Carlos Arturo Camargo, Jr, MD, DrPH, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, and Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, Mass. For the past 17 years, Dr Camargo has conducted research on the "protective effects" of moderate alcohol consumption and the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
Fergus M. Clydesdale, PhD, Professor of Food Science and Dean of the College of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Mass. His research interests include physical-chemical changes in food during processing, mineral-fiber interactions in foods, and technological optimization of physiologic and functional properties and color-sensory interactions in foods.FIGURE
Vay Liang W. "Bill" Go, MD, Professor of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) School of Medicine. He is an international authority on the brain-gut connection in nutrition, especially regarding gut hormones.
Janet C. King, PhD, RD, Senior Scientist, Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute, Oakland, Calif; Professor Emerita, Department of Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology, University of California at Berkeley, Calif; Adjunct Professor, Department of Nutrition and the Department of Internal Medicine; University of California at Davis, Calif. Dr. King has published extensively and is internationally recognized for her research on energy and zinc metabolism in healthy adults and pregnant women. She led the Human Nutrition Research Center at the University of California at Davis until 2003 for the USDA.FIGURE
Penny M. Kris-Etherton, PhD, RD, Distinguished Professor of Nutrition, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pa. She has expertise in diet and coronary heart disease risk factors, as well as nutritional regulation of lipoprotein and cholesterol metabolism.FIGURE
Joanne R. Lupton, PhD, Professor of Animal Science, of Food Science and Technology, of Nutritional Sciences, and of Veterinary Anatomy and Public Health, Texas A&M University, College Station, Tex. She has conducted research on the effect of diet, primarily the consumption of fats and fiber, on the development of colon cancer. She is just completing a yearlong assignment at the Food and Drug Administration.FIGURE
Theresa A. Nicklas, DrPH, MPH, LN, Professor of Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, Children's Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Tex. Her expertise is in cardiovascular health and nutritional epidemiology, child nutrition, and health promotion and chronic disease prevention.FIGURE
Russel R. Pate, PhD, Associate Dean for Research, School of Public Health, and Professor, Department of Exercise Science, University of South Carolina, Columbia, is widely recognized for his expertise in physical activity and physical fitness in children and the overall health implications of physical activity.
F. Xavier Pi-Sunyer, MD, MPH, Director, Obesity Research Center, Professor of Medicine, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and Chief, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Nutrition, St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital, New York. He is an international expert in obesity and diabetes, focusing on the role of nutrition in the prevention and treatment of these increasingly prevalent diseases.
Connie M. Weaver, PhD, Head and Distinguished Professor, Department of Foods and Nutrition, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind. She is a leader in the nutrition community. She served as President of the American Society for Nutritional Sciences and in several leadership roles for the Institute of Food Technologists.FIGURE
The Department of Health and Human Services, which is the secretariat for this year's guidelines committee is also adding expertise to assist in the effort. New Dietary Guidelines staff members include:
Kim Stitzel, RD, formerly on staff at the ADA Washington office and the Food and Nutrition Board, and Jennifer Webber, RD, of Chapman Associates. They join Kathryn McMurray, MPH, a veteran of the last Dietary Guidelines secretariat; Carol Thomas, MD; and Woody Kessell, MD, at the Department of Health and Human Services.
Congratulations, new Dietary Guidelines members and staff!
FAO and WHO Report on Diet and Chronic Disease
A new FAO and WHO report, entitled Diet, Nutrition and Prevention of Chronic Disease, was released in April. The report outlines strategies for reducing the worldwide burden of chronic diseases.
Recommendations include:
Limit fat to 15% to 30% of total daily energy and saturated fats to less than 10%.
Carbohydrate should provide the bulk of energy requirements, with 55% to 75% of total calories.
Daily intake of salt, preferably iodized, should be restricted to fewer than 5 g a day.
Fruit and vegetables intake should be at least 400 g/day.
Recommended protein intake should be 10% to 15% of total calories.
One hour per day of moderate intensity activity on most days of the week is needed to maintain a healthy body weight.
The complete report is available at http://www.who.int/hpr/NPH/docs/who_fao_expert_report.pdf.
Robert J. Cousins, PhD, Receives Distinguished Achievement in Nutrition Research
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Robert J. Cousins, PhD, has been selected to receive the Twenty-Third Annual Bristol-Myers Squibb/Mead Johnson Award for distinguished achievement in Nutrition Research for his major contributions to micronutrient research, especially zinc, specifically his wide-ranging and continuing focus on the metabolism and function of zinc in the body.
Dr Cousins is Boston Family Professor of Nutrition at the University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla.
Dr Alan Rulis Named Senior Advisor for Applied Nutrition
The Food and Drug Administration's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) has created a new position, Senior Advisor for Applied Nutrition, which will be responsible for issues surrounding nutrition, obesity, and dietary supplements. As interim director, Dr Rulis, who is the current Director, Office of Food Additive Safety (OFAS), will focus on the Commissioner's Consumer Health Information for Better Nutrition initiative. Congratulations, Dr Rulis!
(National Academies, June 30, 2003)