Researchers Honored at Experimental Biology 2012

WASHINGTONDiane Birt, Ph.D., and Oliver Chen, Ph.D., were awarded the Mary Swartz Rose Senior Investigator Award and the Mary Swartz Rose Young Investigator Award, respectively, at the American Society for Nutritions (ASN) scientific sessions and annual meeting held in conjunction with Experimental Biology 2012 in San Diego last week.

The Mary Swartz Rose awards are jointly presented by ASN and the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN), to recognize their research on the safety and efficacy of bioactive compounds for human health.

We are pleased to have the opportunity to partner with ASN for a fifth consecutive year in granting these awards of high achievement in nutrition research and practice," said Taylor Wallace, Ph.D., senior director, scientific and regulatory affairs, CRN. Doctors Birt and Chen deserve recognition for their contributions to the scientific community. Were honored to present them with these awards."

Birt, distinguished professor in the Food Science and Human Nutrition department at Iowa State Universitys College of Agriculture, has conducted nearly three decades of research on mechanisms of dietary factors modulating carcinogenesis. Her research emphasizes identifying and studying mechanisms for cancer prevention using novel dietary constituents and studying mechanisms for cancer enhancement that result from overeating and obesity. She has published over 100 publications and has been very active with the American Society for Nutritional Sciences (ASNS) and the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR). 

            Chen, a scientist at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging and assistant professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Tufts University, conducts research on molecular mechanisms of antioxidant action, the effect of flavonoids on fetal origins of adult disease, and polyphenol metabolism in the microbiome.

These awards are named in honor of the late Mary Swartz Rose, founder and president of what was then the American Institute of Nutrition (now ASN). The Mary Swartz Rose Senior Investigator Award is given to an investigator with ten years or more of postgraduate training, for outstanding preclinical and/or clinical research on the safety and efficacy of dietary supplements as well as essential nutrients and other bioactive food components that may be distributed as supplements or functional food components. The Mary Swartz Rose Young Investigator Award is based on the same qualifications, but is given to an investigator with ten years or less of postgraduate training.

            Made possible by a $50,000 grant from CRN to fund the awards over five consecutive years, this is the fifth year that CRN has presented this award. The 2011 winners for the Senior Investigator and Young Investigator awards were Xiang-Dong Wang, Ph.D., and Mario Ferruzzi, Ph.D.