George A. Bray.George A. Bray To Present 2019 ARS W.O. Atwater Memorial Lecture
By Kim Kaplan
June 7, 2019
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, June 7, 2019—"Lessons in the Tradition of Atwater" is the title of George A. Bray's 2019 Agricultural Research Service (ARS) W. O. Atwater Memorial Lecture, to be delivered at the American Society for Nutrition's annual meeting on Sunday, June 9, in Baltimore.
Bray is a leader and pioneer in the field of obesity research. His dedication, leadership, and expertise in developing studies to help understand the biological factors that cause obesity have informed public health policy and improved the health and quality of life for millions of people.
Bray is renowned in the medical and nutrition worlds for his leadership of several major studies including the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) trial, a study of dietary patterns that is now recognized by the U.S. Dietary Guidelines Committee and by the U.S. News and World Report as a healthy diet that reduces blood pressure. The DASH diet, which is high in fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products, reduced the blood pressure of individuals participating in the study within eight weeks. In a recent follow-up study, Bray and his colleagues also showed that using full-fat dairy products in the DASH Diet reduced blood pressure as well as the original DASH diet.
Other important findings from trials that Bray conducted demonstrated that lifestyle modifications—including healthy dieting, 150 minutes of moderate exercise every week, and weight loss—can prevent or delay type 2 diabetes in individuals at high risk for the disease. He also showed that even moderate weight loss in obese individuals with type 2 diabetes can improve biomarkers of glucose, lipid control, and insulin sensitivity as well as reduce sleep apnea, liver fat, depression, kidney disease, urinary incontinence, and cardiovascular mortality.
Dr. Bray is currently a visiting scientist at the Children's Hospital of Oakland Research Institute in Oakland, California and a Boyd Professor Emeritus at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center at Louisiana State University (LSU) in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He is also a Professor Emeritus at the LSU Medical Center, School of Veterinary Medicine, and College of Agriculture.
The W.O. Atwater Lectureship was established in 1968 to honor the memory of Wilbur Olin Atwater (1844-1907) and to recognize scientists who have made unique contributions toward improving the diet and nutrition of people around the world. Considered the father of modern nutrition research and education, Atwater was the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) first chief of nutrition investigations.
The Agricultural Research Service is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific in-house research agency. Daily, ARS focuses on solutions to agricultural problems affecting America. Each dollar invested in agricultural research results in $20 of economic impact.
