The search for a professor of human nutrition and metabolism, which began more than two years ago, has been concluded.  Dr. Joseph L. Napoli, PhD, was officially approved for the position in July and in September was pretty much moved into his lab (150 Morgan, formerly the teaching lab).

     Dr. Napoli received his PhD in Medicinal Chemistry from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, in 1975.  He comes to this department from the Department of Biochemistry in the School of Medicine at SUNY-Buffalo, where he was a professor of biochemistry.

    His research lies in the field of vitamin A.  His accomplishments in this field are impressive.  He identified and quantitated the complete array of vitamin A metabolites in tissues in the physiological steady state; he elucidated the biogenesis of retinoic acid from b-carotene; he established the use of sophisticated enzyme kinetics and mathematics to show that the cellular retinoid-binding proteins were not merely retinoid transporters but that they also regulated the retinoid pool sizes; and he cloned the rate-limiting enzyme in retinoic acid synthesis and found that it also functions in androgen synthesis, thereby establishing the close relationship between steroid and retinoid metabolism.

    Dr. Napoli's work continues to expand.  Currently, using various approaches, he seeks to determine the mechanisms that regulate retinoic acid synthesis and metabolism during health and disease.

    We are pleased to welcome Dr. Napoli to the department.

    Joanne Ikeda, a nationally recognized expert on pediatric obesity and the dietary practices of ethnic and immigrant populations, has received the 1999 Outstanding Outreach Award from the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources. The award, which includes a plaque and cash, is presented annually by the Division’s Affirmative Action Office to academics with Cooperative Extension, the University’s outreach arm.

    As a Cooperative Extension nutrition education specialist and codirector of the Center for Hunger and Obesity in the College of Natural Resources at UC Berkeley, Ikeda has been a leader in efforts to refine approaches to the prevention and treatment of pediatric obesity at the local, state and national levels.  She is author or coauthor of several books and training manuals designed to help healthcare professionals, paraprofessionals and parents instill healthy eating habits and encourage physical activity in children and adolescents. These publications include the training kit and accompanying videotape Children and Weight, What Health Professionals Can Do About It, coauthored with Patricia Crawford, also a nutrition specialist in the College of Natural Resources; and Kids Module: Parents and Children Sharing Food Tasks, produced with UC Berkeley Staff Research Associate Rita Mitchell.  Ikeda recently provided in-service training for pediatricians who care for low-income children through California Children’s Medical Services on the prevention and treatment of pediatric obesity.  She also works to eliminate discrimination based on size.  She published a commentary in the August 1999 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association promoting a size-acceptance approach to weight management with large people.

    In addition, Ikeda has been a pioneer in conducting community collaborative research on the food habits and dietary quality of California’s low-income, immigrant and ethnic populations.  Her findings are used to develop culturally sensitive and relevant educational programs for these groups, which have included Hmong families in California’s Central Valley; Vietnamese-speaking women in the Bay Area; Native Americans in Mariposa and other areas of California; and African-American women from eight California counties.  Last year she received the Nutrition Education for the Public Award of Excellence from the American Dietetic Association for the project "A Culturally Sensitive and Relevant Nutrition Education Program for Vietnamese Immigrants."  She recently completed an in-service training module on increasing cross-cultural competence in nutrition education, which is being distributed by the American Dietetic Association and the Society for Nutrition Education.

    By understanding and emphasizing the valuable dietary practices of cultural minorities, Ikeda is able to win their trust and help them maintain healthy habits without abandoning their traditional practices. "When she approached Native American communities, she emphasized the many positive Native American practices that her previous research had identified," says Professor Leonard Bjeldanes, chair of the College of Natural Resources’ Department of Nutritional Science, who nominated Ikeda for the award.  "Tribal leaders, who were inundated with grim statistics about health problems in their communities, were delighted to hear ‘good news’ and enthusiastically endorsed a nutrition education project that she developed in collaboration with their communities."

    In supporting her nomination, colleagues stressed Ikeda’s creative, innovative approaches to nutrition education. Barbara Emison Gaffield, advisor with the Pediatric Nutrition Practice Group of the American Dietetic Association, says Ikeda is "a talented, creative, innovative and visionary nutrition professional [whose] concerns are for children and adults of all cultures as individuals with strengths and needs."

    Ikeda regularly shares her expertise with state and federal agencies.  Recently she testified before the San Francisco Human Rights Commission in favor of a ban on size discrimination in city employment and housing; the commission voted unanimously in favor of the ban.  She also testified before the Food and Drug Administration’s Consumer Forum and the Federal Trade Commission for a case against a dietary supplement manufacturer charged with making false advertising claims. Commission attorneys said Ikeda’s nutrition expertise played an important role in helping them win the case.

    Ikeda’s honors have included the Society of Nutrition Education Weight Realities Achievement Award; the Ethel Austin Martin Nutrition Education Distinguished Lecturer Award from South Dakota State University; and the Alumni Award for Outstanding Volunteerism from her alma mater, Cornell University.  She has served as president of the California Dietetic Association and chair of the American Dietetic Association’s Nutrition Education for the Public Practice Group and has been active on many advisory boards and committees.
For additional information about Ikeda’s work, contact her at (510) 642-2790, jikeda@garnet. berkeley.edu.

(Article from J. Goetz' DANR news release.)

    Nancy Hudson was appointed to the Education Council of the California Dietetic Association for a two-year term starting in June, 1999.

    Dr. Jean-Marc Schwarz is pleased with his appointment as an Adjunct Assistant Clinical Professor at UCSF, which will allow him to use their facilities to perform human studies at the GCRC (General Clinical Research Center).  Incidentally, he is a co-PI with alumna Kathy Mulligan (PhD, Nutrition, '89) there.
 

Grants Awarded

Hellerstein, Marc, $83,157, UC Universitywide Task Force on AIDS, "Immunologic/Virologic Consequences of Antiretroviral Failure."

Sul, Hei Sook, $1,172,051, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, "Regulation of Pref-1 Gene in Adipocyte Differentiation."

Amy, Nancy K, $218,398, State of California Department of Health Services, "Obese Women and Ovarian Cancer:  Barrier to Care."

Bjeldanes, Leonard F, $191,118, State of California Department of Health Services, "Control of Prostate Tumor Cell Growth by Dietary Indoles."

Vulpe, Christopher D, $25,000, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Inc., "Metabolic Genomics:  A Novel Technology Assess Nutrient Status."

de Lumen, Benito, $255,000, UC Biotechnology STAR Program, "The Cancer Preventive Property of a Chromatin-binding Soybean Peptide."
 

Travels

    Nancy Hudson attended the ADA in Atlanta the week of 10/18.  Then it's off to at the Medical University of South Carolina in November to do a site visit at the dietetic internship.

    On October 1st, Joe Watson gave a talk in San Antonio, Texas to the American Society of Consulting Arboretums titled "Trees and Urban Wildlife.  Are We Creating a Sterile Environment"?  And, on October 15, he presented a paper in Tucson Arizona "How to look At Urban Habitat And What to Do About It".
 

Arrivals and Departures

Arrivals

    The Jean-Marc Schwarz family has a new member ? Emilie Laetitia, born 8/20/99, 8 lb, 13 oz, 21 3/4 " long.

    Ellen Bonnel (née Holehouse) and husband Steve announce the birth of their daughter Emily Morgan, born 8/25/99, 8 lb, 12 oz, 21" long.

    Although a bit premature to officially welcome anyone yet, a baby shower was held for Hanako Kobayashi (second year grad student in the Fleming lab) on October 1.

    The five new graduates were given a reception in the lounge on August 25.  Our new graduates are:

Na Chen, BS in Botany from Xiamen University, China;

Michael Griffin, BS in Nutrition Science from Pennsylvania State University;

Jeung Hyoun Kim, BS in Food and Nutrition from Ewha Woman's University, Seoul, Korea;

Min Lin, BS in Biochemistry from Fudan University, Shanghai, China (transfer from the Napoli lab, SUNY); and

Run Zhuang, BS, in Biochemistry from Fudan University, Shanghai, China (transfer from the Napoli lab, SUNY).

    A name familiar to some of us, Ken Abe recently graduated from Cal (Physiology and Metabolism) and is now a full-time lab assistant in the Hellerstein lab.

    Although we are a bit premature, Zouhair Attieh will begin 11/1 as a visiting postdoc in the Vulpe lab.  Dr. Attieh, PhD, Cleveland State University, comes frome Lerner Research Institute, the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.

    Stephan Bartsch, originally from Switzerland, received his PhD from the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich.  He is a postdoc from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, NY and is a visiting postdoc in the Baker lab.

    Juliet Bongianni (transfer from the Napoli lab, SUNY) is now a postdoc in the Napoli lab here.  Julie received her PhD, Biochemistry, from New Mexico State University.

    Sooyeon Cho received her PhD, Nutritional Sciences, from Cornell University and is now a visiting postdoc in the Shane lab.

    With a recent BS in Chemistry and a BA in Molecular and Cell Biology from Cal, Neil Duldulao joins the de Lumen lab as a postgrad researcher.

    Eric Oh, another recent Cal grad, BS, Molecular and Cell Biology, is a lab assistant in the Vulpe lab.

    Kichoon Lee received his PhD from the University of Georgia, Athens where he has been a postdoc at the Animal Biotechnology Center.  He is a visiting postdoc in the Sul lab.

    Another addition to the Sul lab as well as being another recent Cal grad is Arthur Wu, BS, Integrative Biology.

    With a BS in Biochemistry, Noreen Yee is a new lab assistant in the Bjeldanes lab.

    And last, but not least, Jin Wang transferred from the Napoli lab in SUNY to the Napoli lab here.  Welcome one and all.

Departures

    Keith Fagerquist left the Hellerstein lab to in the Department of Chemistry, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.

    Arun Anantharam (Viteri lab) set his bearings for Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.

    Tsung Wei Chen is gone from the Hellerstein lab to attend dental school at the University of Michigan.

    Out of the Baker lab, off to medical school is Shelly Verma.

    Also gone to attend medical school is Katherine Haddock (Hellerstein lab).

    Visiting postdoc Yu-Chen Chang has completed her time in the Bjeldanes lab and has returned to an assistant professorship at Nantai Technical University, Taiwan.

    Sarah Mertz transferred to UC Davis to continue her work in the King lab (WHNRC) there.

    Concepcion Mendoza, too, has transferred to UC Davis; we believe to continue collaborative work between the Viteri and King labs.

     Off to places unknown are Jinshan Ke (Sul lab), Alfred Galvez (de Lumen lab), Ling-Ru Lee (Schwarz lab), Gigi Huynh (Sul lab), Li Chen (Sul lab), and grad students Huiling Li, Teresa Lin, Grace (Rong) Xiao and Shan Zhao.
 

Reference Room

    On the New Book Table are the following books donated by Dr. Doris Calloway: The role of protein and amino acids in sustaining and enhancing performance,  Body composition and physical performance,and Emergingtechnologies in nutrition research. All are from the Institute of Medicine, National Academy Press 1999.

  &nb; While we're on publications, Nancy Hudson is quite pleased with her recently published Management Practices in Dietetics, a full-length textbook, which she "did completely by (her)self over the past three years."
 

Alumni News

    Stella Volpe. PhD, post-doctoral fellow in the King lab from 1992 to 1994. accepted an assistant professorship at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 1994.  She is in the Department of
Nutrition and is also now the Director of the Center for Nutrition in Sport and Human Performance as well as adjunct faculty with the Department of Exercise Science.  Her research areas are mineral metabolism and exercise, body composition/bone density, and obesity.  This year she received two awards:  The University Distinguished Teaching Award and the School of Public Health and Health Sciences Outstanding Teacher Award.

    Stella lives in Massachusetts with husband Gary Snyder (a vice principal) and
their two German Shepherds: Asko and Cenna.

    Before we leave Massachusetts, we should congratulate alumnus Barry Braun, PhD, 1993, and his wife Jane Kent-Braun, PhD, who are bound for the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in January.  They will be taking faculty positions in the Exercise Science department.  Barry interviewed for an advertised Assistant Professorship was offered the position, and then the Provost managed to create a brand-new Associate-level position for Jane. They are really excited about starting up their research programs both on campus and at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, MA;  and teaching.  Though not in same department as Stella, Barry's sure they'll hear her.  Meanwhile, Bogi (their son) just turned three this month and is totally looking forward to living in Massachusetts and has decided they must buy a big house and it has to be blue.  More good news ? their flat in San Francisco has gone on the market ? what a great time to sell!

    Alumni meeting at Experimental Biology, San Diego, April 2000.
    Kenneth Carpenter is retiring from being the faculty representative to the Nutritional Sciences Alumni Association, so he does not expect to be at San Diego.  Barry Shane will take his place.

    Barbara Sutherland is continuing to be the co-organizer for "get-togethers."  She would welcome ideas as to when and where to meet during next year's Experimental Biology meeting.  This year it was thanks to Alison Yates' local knowledge that we were able to have a pleasant and reasonably priced evening meeting in a small hospitable restaurant in Washington.

    Although Barbara is now working mainly at Davis, she still uses her mailbox in Morgan Hall, and her email address is still bsl@nature.berkeley.edu.

     Some of you alumni may be interested to know that the search for the Dean of CNR is well underway, with two candidates having been already introduced to the CNR community through talks by the candidates.

    The proposed Master's of Advanced Study in Dietetics, a part-time graduate degree program for professionals, completed a marketing study to assess interest. The next step will be curriculum development.
 

Departmental Publications

Carpenter, K.J., and L. Zhao.  Forgotten mysteries in the early history of vitamin D.  J. Nutr. 129: 923-927, 1999.

Chang, Y.-C., J. Riby, G.H.-F. Chang, B.C. Peng, G. Firestone, and L.F. Bjeldanes.  Cytostatic and antiestrogenic effects of 2-(Indol-3-ylmethyl)-3,3’-diindolylmethane, a major in vivo product of dietary indole-3-carbinol.  Biochem. Pharmacol. 58: 825-834, 1999.

Crawford, P.B., A. Drury, and S. Stern.  Childhood obesity and family SES racial differences.  Healthy Weight Journal, May/June: 42-43, 1999.

Galvez, A.F. and B.O. de Lumen.  A soybean cDNA encoding a chromatin-binding peptide inhibits mitosis of mammalian cells.  Nature Biotechnology 17: 495-500, 1999.

Galvez, A.F., M.J. Revilleza, B.O. de Lumen, and D.C. Krenz.  Enhancing the biosynthesis of endogenous methionine-rich proteins (MRP) to improve the protein quality of legumes via genetic engineering.  In:  Food for Health in the Pacific Rim.  3rd International Conference of Food Science and Technology.  J.R. Whitaker, N.F. Haard, C.F. Shoemaker, and R.P. Singh, eds.  Trumbull, CT:  Food & Nutrition Press, Inc., 1999, pp. 540-552.

Halldén, G., M. Hadi, H.T. Hong, and G.W. Aponte.  Y receptor-mediated induction of CD63 transcripts, a tetraspanin determined to be necessary for differentiation of the intestinal epithelial cell line, hBRIE 380i cells.  J. Biol. Chem. 274(39): 27914-27924, 1999.

Herrin, M., E. Parham, J. Ikeda, A. White, and L. Branen.  Alternative viewpoint on National Institutes of Health clinical guidelines.  J. Nutr. Educ. 31(2): 116-117, 1999.

Ikeda, J.P.  Hmong American Food Practices, Customs, and Holidays.  2nd edition.  American Dietetic Association and American Diabetes Association, Ethnic and Regional Food Practices Series, 1999.

Ikeda, J.  Culture, food, and nutrition in increasingly culturally diverse societies.  In:  J. Germov and L. Williams, eds.  A Sociology of Food and Nutrition ? The Social Appetite.  Oxford University Press, 1999, pp. 149-168.

Ikeda, J.P.  Culturally relevant approaches in nutrition education.  Networking News: Nutrition Education for the Public 21(4): 1-14, 1999.

Ikeda, J.P., and L. Brainen-Rodriguez.  Physicians learn to promote body satisfaction.  Healthy Weight Journal, May/June: 39-41, 1999.

Ikeda, J.P., D. Hayes, E. Satter, E.S. Parham, K. Kratina, M. Woolsey, M. Lowey, and E. Tribole.  A commentary on the new obesity guidelines from NIH.  J. Amer. Dietetic Assoc. 99(8): 918-919, 1999.

Schaldach, C.M., J. Riby, and L.F. Bjeldanes.  Lipoxin A₄:  a new class of ligand for the Ah receptor.  Biochem. 38(23): 7594-7600, 1999.

Stephensen, P.U., C. Bonnesen, L.F. Bjeldanes, and O. Vang.  Modulation of cytochrome P4501A1 activity by ascorbigen in murine hepatoma cells.  Biochemical Pharmacology 58: 1145-1153, 1999.

Tee, E.-S., M. Kandiah, N. Awin, S.-M. Chong, N. Satgunasingam, L. Kamarudin, S. Milani, A.E. Dugdale, and F.E. Viteri.  School-administered weekly iron-folate supplements improve hemoglobin and ferritin concentrations in Malaysian adolescent girls.  Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 69: 1249-1256, 1999.

Viteri, F.E.  Control of iron deficiency anaemia ? new approaches.  NFI Bulletin (Bulletin of the Nutrition Foundation of India) 20(2):5-7, 1999.

 Wolf, G.  The role of oxysterols in cholesterol homeostasis.  Nutr. Revs. 57(6): 196-198, 1999.

 Wolf, G.  A case of human vitamin A deficiency caused by an inherited defect in retinol-binding protein without clinical symptoms except night blindness.  Nutr. Revs. 57(8): 258-260, 1999.