Dr. Joanne R. Lupton, distinguished professor of nutrition and food science, has been selected as a member of the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine.
Lupton was one of 65 newly chosen members elected this year to the Institute which has honored nearly 1,800 influential leaders since its founding in 1970.
"I was not expecting this and was very pleasantly surprised when I received congratulations from the various societies that I belong to, and even a round of applause when I attended the first meeting of my National Academy Decadal panel after I was elected," Lupton said.
In order to be elected for membership, the candidate must have changed the course of research in their particular area and served on panels or taken leadership roles in their specific discipline.
"It doesn't take long for anyone to recognize that she is a consummate professional," said Nancy Turner, associate professor for the Department of Nutrition and Food Science. "She excels in teaching, research and in translating research into public policy that is targeted to help all people."
Her journey to A&M came when Lupton was offered an assistant professor position at the University.
"My preparation for the position was research that I had done at the University of California- Davis for my dissertation which was on diet and colon cancer," Lupton said.
At that time, she was appointed to the Department of Animal Science which had a division of human nutrition.
"Dr. Lupton is one of the top fiber researchers in the world and easily one of the best nutritionists in the United States," said Gail Hyden, business administrator for Department of Nutrition and Food Science. "She is highly cited in journals and has served as the 'go to' scientist in regard to nutrition, whether working with NASA to ensure the health and nutrition of our astronauts or with the Food and Drug Administration to develop criteria used to evaluate scientific evidence for health claims."
Lupton received the award on her tremendous research on the effect of diet on colon cancer.
"Cancer is a disease of cells losing control of their normal activities and the triggers that make a cell behave differently and other factors, such as nutrition, that affect these cells intrigued me," Lupton said. "I chose colon cancer to work on because of all the cancers it is part of the gastrointestinal tract which means that foods and food products travel through the colon and colon cancer is the second leading cause of death from cancer in the United States today. "
Along with Robert Chapkin and Laurie Davidson, Lupton also have a patented technique to recover colon cells that are sloughed off into the fecal material. They also look at changes in gene expression patterns from these cells.
"The goal of this research is to develop a fingerprint of specific gene expression markers that can be used to detect colon cancer at a very early stage so that it can be prevented or removed before it is injurious to the host," Lupton said.
" 'Healthier people are happier people' is her mantra and she has dedicated her life to finding ways to help people help themselves," Hyden said.
Lupton said Aggie students should enjoy what they do while they're doing it.
"Don't keep thinking that you'll begin to enjoy it next year. The process is as important as the product."
