"Metabolomics Profiling, Precision Nutrition, and Cardiometabolic Health"
**Dr. Hu will be presenting remotely. Livestream of the talk will be presented in Behrakis auditorium for those who wish to gather.**
Abstract
Traditional epidemiology has made important contributions to the identification of key nutritional and lifestyle risk factors for chronic diseases. Recent technical advances in high-throughput metabolomics and other omics technologies in combination with advanced data analytics have allowed us to conduct “Systems Epidemiology” studies of nutrition, metabolism, and chronic diseases. This approach can enhance the biological understanding of metabolic pathways and identify novel biomarkers and intervention targets. Metabolomics analyses applied to type 2 diabetes and CVD have revealed new pathways that are potentially modifiable by diet and thus offer new opportunities for nutritional interventions. Moving forward, harnessing the resources of existing large prospective studies and randomized clinical trials within which biological samples have been archived and diet and lifestyle have been measured will enable the integration of multi-dimensional data, leading to more personalized prevention and management of chronic diseases. However, although personalized nutrition or precision nutrition has great potential, it is not ready for widespread use in clinical and public health settings. Thus, we should manage unrealistically high expectations and balance the emerging field of precision nutrition with public health nutrition strategies to improve diet quality and reduce risk of cardiometabolic diseases.
Speaker Bio
Dr. Frank Hu is Chair of Department of Nutrition, Fredrick J. Stare Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He serves as Co-director of the Program in Obesity Epidemiology and Prevention at Harvard and Director of Boston Nutrition and Obesity Research Center Epidemiology and Genetics Core. His major research interests include epidemiology and prevention of cardiometabolic diseases through diet and lifestyle; gene-environment interactions; nutritional metabolomics; and nutrition transitions and cardiometabolic diseases in low- and middle-income countries. He served on the IOM Committee on Preventing the Global Epidemic of Cardiovascular Disease, the AHA/ACC Obesity Guideline Expert Panel, and the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, USDA/HHS. He has served on the editorial boards of Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, Diabetes Care, and Clinical Chemistry. Dr. Hu was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2015.