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About This Program

Faculty

Faculty members include Lindsay Allen, Ken Brown, Kathryn Dewey, Jane Heinig, Lucia Kaiser, Carl Keen and Bo Lönnerdal. These faculty members are internationally known for their groundbreaking research in the area of Maternal and Child Nutrition, and have been highly influential in shaping both U.S. and international policy with respect to maternal and child health. Specific professional and research interests of participating faculty include:

  • The influence of diet during pregnancy on embryonic and fetal development
  • Zinc metabolism during pregnancy and lactation
  • Calcium homeostasis during pregnancy and lactation
  • Assessment of energy balance during pregnancy
  • Teratogenic effects of deficiencies and excesses of trace elements
  • Nutritional status, growth, and development of infants
  • Risk factors for insufficient breast milk production
  • Impact of maternal nutrition and exercise on lactation
  • Complementary feeding of breastfed infants
  • Determinants of infant feeding practices
  • Causes, complications, treatment, and prevention of childhood malnutrition in developing countries
  • Assessment of child growth in developed and developing countries
  • Association between infection and nutritional status in infants and children
  • Acculturation and food insecurity and their effect on the child-parent feeding relationship
  • Food intake and health outcomes among diverse populations
  • Predictors of overweight in pre-schoolers
  • Nutrition interventions in young children

Lindsay H. Allen, Ph.D., R.D., is the director of the USDA Western Region Human Nutrition Research Center located on the UC Davis campus. She is an expert on the prevalence, causes, and consequences of micronutrient deficiencies in developing countries and has conducted numerous interventions to assess the efficacy of micronutrient supplements and food-based approaches to improve nutritional status, pregnancy outcome, and child development. Allen has served on the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Sciences, and has been active in the development of the new Dietary Reference Intakes. She serves as an adviser to bilateral and international agencies, including World Health Organization, UNICEF, the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, PAHO, and FAO and has served as the President of the American Society of Nutritional Sciences and the president of the Society for International Nutrition Research. Allen was awarded the Kellogg International Nutrition Prize by the American Society for Nutritional Sciences in 1997.

Kenneth H. Brown, M.D., is a professor in the Department of Nutrition and director of the Program in International Nutrition at UC Davis. Brown's research program includes investigation of the causes, complications, treatment, and prevention of childhood malnutrition in low-income countries, focusing primarily on issues of child feeding (breast feeding and complementary feeding), relationships between infection and nutrition, and specific micronutrient deficiencies. Brown has also participated in a number of expert advisory committees, professional societies, and editorial boards of nutrition journals. He is currently the chair of the International Zinc Consultative Group, a former member of the Committee on International Nutrition of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and past president of the Society for International Nutrition Research. He has received the International Award for Modern Nutrition, the Kellogg International Nutrition Research Prize, and the E.B. McCollum Award of the American Society for Clinical Nutrition.

Kathryn Dewey, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Nutrition and associate director of the Program in International Nutrition at the UC Davis. She has published numerous research papers on maternal and child nutrition in both affluent and low income countries, with a focus on lactation and infant nutrition and growth. She has served as an expert consultant for the World Health Organization and UNICEF and as president of the Society for International Nutrition Research, and is currently president-elect of the International Society for Research on Human Milk and Lactation. Dewey received the Norman Kretchmer Memorial Award in Nutrition and Development from the American Society for Clinical Nutrition in 1997 and the March of Dimes Agnes Higgins Award in 2000.

Jane Heinig, Ph.D., IBCLC, is an academic administrator in the Department of Nutrition at UC Davis, executive director of the UC Davis Human Lactation Center, and the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Human Lactation. She is an international board certified lactation consultant. Dr. Heinig's research area is maternal and child nutrition, particularly during lactation. Current topics of investigation include a) nutritional factors related to infant growth and development, b) behavioral theory and its relation to infant feeding intentions and practices among diverse populations, c) benefits of breastfeeding for infants and their mothers, and d) risk factors for poor weight gain among breastfed infants.

Lucia L. Kaiser, Ph.D., R.D., is a Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Nutrition at UC Davis. Kaiser's outreach efforts include developing nutrition education materials (fact sheets and curricula) for use through the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP), the Food Stamp Nutrition Education Program, and other community programs; publishing a bi-monthly newsletter, "Maternal and Infant Nutrition Briefs;" and presenting nutrition topics at workshops and conferences throughout the state. Research interests include the impact of acculturation and food security on the child-parent feeding relationship among Latinos, development of tools to evaluate nutrition education, and diabetes prevention.

Carl L. Keen, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Nutrition at UC Davis. Keen's research group has three main areas of activities. The first concerns the influence of diet on embryonic and fetal development. A major theme in his laboratory is that a significant proportion of birth defects are the consequence of embryonic and/or fetal malnutrition. Thus, the correction of nutritional deficiencies during early development should result in a marked reduction in pregnancy complications. A second research theme in his group is the study of gene-nutrient interactions, with an emphasis on how subtle changes in cell mineral concentrations influence the expression of select genes. The third major research theme in his laboratory is the study of how diet influences oxidant defense systems, and as a consequence the occurrence of cellular oxidative damage. Keen was awarded the American Institute of Nutrition Bio-Serv Award in Experimental Animal Nutrition in 1985 and the American Institute of Nutrition Research Award (the Bordon Award) in 1995.

Bo Lönnerdal, Ph.D., is a professor in the Nutrition Department at UC Davis. Lönnerdal's research program is focused on two main areas: infant/pediatric nutrition and trace element metabolism. Current research topics include: a) studies on factors affecting breast milk composition, including maternal nutrition, hormones, and stage of lactation; b) mechanisms for nutrient uptake by mammary cells as well as expression of genes encoding human milk proteins; c) bioavailability of nutrients to infants and how this is affected by the mode of feeding, including receptor-mediated uptake mechanisms in the small intestine; d) iron, zinc, copper, and selenium nutrition of infants, children, and adolescents; e) bioactive factors in milk; f) trace element uptake and transport by biological membranes, including receptor-mediated uptake of trace elements by the placenta, intestine, liver; and g) nutrient-nutrient interactions. Lönnerdal has received numerous awards including the Nenning Throne-Holst's Award for Research in Nutritional Physiology, the Borden Award, and the International Award for Modern Nutrition.