Archive Document Historic, Do assume not content reflects current scientific knowledge, policies, or practices. W. O. Atwater Memorial Lecture U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service 19 9 4 AND FOODS, VITAMINS POLICY: THE FOLATE CASE Dr. Irwin H. Rosenberg 1994 W.O. Atwater Memorial Lecture Agricultural Research Service United States Department of Agriculture Cosponsored by Institute of Food Technologists June 28, 1994 The annual W.O. Atwater Memorial Lectureship was established by the Agricultural Research Service in 1968 to honor the memory ofagreatscientistbyrecognizingscientistswhohavemadeunique contributions toward improving the diet and nutrition of people around the world. ^5 Wilbur Olin Atwater (1844-1907), USDA's first chief of nutrition investigations, was the foremost pioneer innutrition research and educationintheUnitedStates. Heisgenerallyconsideredthefather ofmodemhumannutrition in this countrybecause ofhis research on nutrients, proteins, and food composition. Candidates may be suggested for the Lectureship each year in Januarybysendingaletterofnominationandacurrentcurriculum vitaetoLectureCoordinator,ARSInformationStaff,6303IvyLane, Greenbelt, MD 20770. An impartial committee rates all nominees and then a final selection is made by the ARS administrator. TheAgricultural Research Service, the principal scientific research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has a responsibility todevelopknowledgeandtechnologyforthebenefitoffarmersand consumers. This responsibility includes promoting optimum hu- man health and well-being through improved nutrition and in- creasing our understanding of nutritional requirements and how foods can supply them. Thisyear'scosponsorfortheW.O.AtwaterMemorialLectureisthe Institute of Food Technologists, a professional scientific society devoted to improving the world's foods through the discovery of new knowledge and the application of existing knowledge. The society's 25,000 members are active in industry, academics, and government. rwin H. Rosenberg is an internationally recognized leader in nutrition science who has made important and unique contributions to our understanding of nutrition metabolism in health and disease. He is currently the Jean Mayer Professor in Nutrition, Physiology, and Medicine at Tufts Univer- sity and director of the USDA Human Nutrition Re- search Center on Aging at Tufts. Prior to joining Tufts, Dr. Rosenberg held faculty positionsatHarvardMedicalSchoolandtheUniversity of Chicago, where he served as the first director of the Clinical Nutrition Research Center. As a clinical nutrition investigator, he has helped develop anutritionalfocuswithinthefield ofgastroen- terology. Dr. Rosenberg was among the first to apply new techniques innutritional therapeutics in the man- agement ofpatients withinflammatorybowel diseases and severe malabsorption. Early inhis professional career, he served as director of the Nutritional Survey of East Pakistan, which re- mains one of the largest and most comprehensive sur- vey of its kind. He was one of the co-founders of the clinicalresearchprogramattheCholeraResearchLabo- ratory, where he participated in the first studies onthe effects of host nutritional status on susceptibility to cholera. Dr. Rosenberg's primary research interest during the last two decades hasbeen in the area offolate metabo- lism, including the mechanism of intestinal deconjugation and absorption of folates. His work led totheisolationofpteroylpolyglutamatehydrolasefrom the intestine of experimental animals and the elucida- tion of its mechanism of action. His interest in clinical investigationhasalsopromptedacollaborationwiththe Argonne National Laboratory in which deuterium-la- beled folate was synthesized for use in studying the intestinal absorption and metabolism of folate. Recently, he has been exploring ways to better assess vitamin intake and status in older people and the ques- tionoffolatesupplementationforwomenofchildbearing age. The work of his laboratory on the relationship of folate status and blood homocysteine and vascular dis- ease has helped to redefine the diet-heart hypothesis. Among his many honors are the Josiah Macy Faculty Award, Grace Goldsmith Award (American College of Nutrition),RobertH. HermanMemorialAward (Ameri- can Society of Clinical Nutrition), and the Jonathan B. Rhoads Award of the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition. PREVIOUS LECTURERS 1993, Kenneth Carpenter, Distinguished Scholar, Univer- J. sity ofCalifornia, Berkeley. 1992, James A. Olson, Professor of Biochemistry and Bio- physics, Iowa State University. 1991,R.GaurthHansen,DistinguishedProvostEmeritusand Distinguised Professor Emeritus of Nutrition and Food Sci- ences and Biochemistry, Utah State University. 1990, Alfred E. Harper, E.V. McCollum Professor of Nutri- tion, University ofWisconsin. 1989, Helen A. Guthrie, Professor and Head, Nutrition De- partment, The Pennsylvania State University. 1988,JohnE.Kinsella,LibertyHydeBaileyProfessorofFood Chemistry and General Foods Distinguished Professor of Food Science, Cornell University. 1987, Maiden C. Nesheim, Director, Division of Nutrition, Cornell University. 1986, Elsie Widdowson, Department of Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, England. 1985, Mark Hegsted, Professor of Nutrition, New England Regional Primate Research Center. 1984, Harold H. Sandstead, Director, North Atlantic Area, Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University. 1983, George H. Beaton, Professor of Nutrition Science, Fac- ulty of Medicine, University of Toronto. 1982, Edwin M. Foster, Director, Food Research Institute, University of Wisconsin. 1981, Joaquin Craviotb, Professor of Pediatrics and Scientific Director,NationalInstituteforChildren'sHealthSciencesand Technology, Mexico City. 1980, Ancel Keys, Professor, Division of Epidemiology, Uni- versity of Minnesota. 1979, Hector F. DeLuca, Professor, Department of Biochemis- try, University of Wisconsin. 1978,RobertE.Olson,Professor,DepartmentofBiochemistry, St. Louis University. 1977, Nevin S. Scrimshaw,InstituteProfessorandHeadofthe Department of Nutrition and. Food Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 1976, Emil M. Mrak,Chancellor Emeritus, University ofCali- fornia at Davis. 1975, William Darby,President, The NutritionFoundation, J. Inc. 1974, George Harrar,President Emeritus, Rockefeller Foun- J. dation. 1973,Marina N.Whitman,ProfessorofEconomics,University of Pittsburgh. 1971, Jean Mayer, Professor of Nutrition and Lecturer on the History of Public Health, Harvard University. 1970, Philip Handler, President, National Academy of Sci- ences, and Chairman of the National Research Council. 1969, Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, Director, Institute for Muscle Research, Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massa- chusetts. 1968,Artturi LVirtanen,Director,BiochemicalResearchInsti- tute, Helsinki, Finland.