Steven Zeisel

Steven H. Zeisel, M.D., PhD is a Kenan Distinguished University Professor in Nutrition and Pediatrics; former Chairman, Department of Nutrition; Director Nutrition Research Institute, Director UNC Human Clinical Nutrition Research Center, Director UNC Center for Excellence in Children’s Nutrition, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. (MD, Harvard, 1975; PhD, M.I.T., 1980) .

Background

Dr. Zeisel is the director of a new research institute, the Nutrition Research Institute, which is housed in a 120,000 sf building located on the Kannapolis North Carolina Research Campus. This new institute focuses on using genetic and metabolomic methods to discover why there is individual variation in responses to, and requirements for nutrients. Dr. Zeisel’s research focuses on dietary requirements for the nutrient choline, genetic variation as a source of individual differences in requirements for and responses to nutrient, effects of choline and folate on stem cell proliferation and apoptosis and resulting effects on neurogensis in fetal brain. Exposure to extra choline during pregnancy in the rat and mouse markedly improves the memory of offspring throughout life. Dr. Zeisel finds that development of the hippocampus is influenced by the availability of choline because of changes in mitosis and apoptosis in neuronal cells. A human study on the effects of choline during pregnancy is underway in which he studies effects of choline on cognition in young infants. His research team works with cells, mouse models, and human clinical studies. Dr. Zeisel is the principal investigator for a clinical study, Human Requirements for the Nutrient Choline that is funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) and seeks to identify the recommended daily allowance for choline (a nutrient that was just recently recognized as being essential for humans). His work on brain development is funded by the National Institute of Aging (NIA) and the work on cognition is funded by the Gerber Foundation. Dr. Zeisel is a leader in the development of an innovative nutrition curriculum used by more than 155 medical schools. This work is funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Dr. Zeisel is the center director of the NIDDK-funded UNC Clinical Nutrition Research Unit. This center is one of eight in the nation and supports clinical nutrition research at UNC. The United States Department of Agriculture is working with Dr. Zeisel to determine the choline composition of the foods that we eat.