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1
3) Adrienne Clark, an under-
graduate student working
with Dr. Brenda Davy and who
is our May Fralin Student
Spotlight. She examines how
water affects glucose toler-
ance and weight among over-
weight adults.
We also include
pictures of the
Cancer Biology
Seminar series
held May 23,
2012 and dis-
cuss activities
our SURF
(Summer Under-
graduate Re-
search Fellow-
ship) and
Scieneer students will be in-
volved in this summer.
According to cnbc.com,
Americans spend 60 billion
dollars per year on
“products, services, diets
and food designed to help
us lose weight.” Meanwhile,
as the weather heats up,
warranting less
clothing, many are
not only thinking
about how to keep
cool, but how to
stay in shape as
well.
The Fralin Life
Science Institute
has several affiliat-
ed researchers
who look at ways
to stay fit and
healthy.
In this issue of Inside Fralin,
we highlight researchers
and students working in our
Obesity research focus area
including:
1) Dr. Paul Estabrooks,
whose research focuses
on the implementation of
healthy behavioral change
among diverse popula-
tions.
2) Dr. Brenda Davy, who
researches how diet, exer-
cise and water influence
health.
In case you missed it:
Last month’s student
spotlight highlighted
Adrienne Clark, an under-
graduate student working
with Dr. Brenda Davy who
was recently recognized by
the Virginia Dietetic Asso-
ciation. We offer it again
here:
'Eat healthier, drink water,
and exercise every day!' In
today's society, we are
often confronted with the-
se sorts of messages, but
rarely do we stop to exam-
ine the research driving
the advice.
Adrienne Clark, an under-
graduate student working
with Brenda Davy, associ-
ate professor of Human
Nutrition, Foods and Exer-
cise, recently found that
older, overweight adults
will lose more weight and
reduce their risk of Type
2 diabetes if they drink
two cups of water before
every meal and eat a low
calorie diet.
The original research project,
conducted by former PhD
student Liz Dennis, lasted 12
weeks and involved splitting a
sample of overweight adults
between 55 and 75 years old
into two groups. Participants
in one group were instructed
to drink two glasses of water
(16 oz.) before every meal
while on a low calorie diet.
The other group did not con-
sume two glasses of water,
but was on a low calorie diet.
Continued on page 2...
The Fralin Life Science Institute
INSIDE
Inside this issue:
Student Spotlight 2
Dr. Estabrooks 2
Student Spotlight continued
2
Dr. Davy 3
Surf insight 3
Fralin Info 4
Cancer Biology Seminar photos
4
7/11/12 June/July Newsletter
Alerts:
We are on twit-
ter and Face-
book! Follow us
and like us!
2
Dr. Estabrooks investigates
how to increase healthy be-
haviors across varying popu-
lations.
His studies have included
individuals of all de-
mographics, including chil-
dren, parents, college-aged
adults, working adults, older
adults, and people of differ-
ent races and income levels.
He has utilized various inter-
ventions with these different
populations and hopes to
instill long term healthy be-
havior change. This change
may involve increased physi-
cal activity, eating more fruits
and vegetables or weight
loss.
The main mission of his re-
search is to understand the
characteristics of interven-
tions that make them more
likely to be adopted in prac-
tice and to benefit a wide
variety of people.”
Estabrooks also analyz-
es “the process by which
we translate evidence-based
interventions into practice.”
The ‘holy grail’ of his re-
search would be to discover
the minimum intervention
necessary (i.e., lowest cost)
to achieve significant behav-
ioral change.
Dr. Estabrooks
professor of psychology at
Virginia Tech. The interdisci-
plinary research project ex-
amines how resistance train-
ing influences blood glucose
levels and other diabetes
markers in older, pre-
diabetic adults. Davy's stu-
dents are responsible for
evaluating physical changes
and characteristics in the
participants such as glucose,
body mass index, and weight
changes, while Winett's stu-
dents look at differences in
the nutrition trainer's ap-
proach, and how that influ-
ences participant behavior.
According to the U.S. Nation-
al Library of Medicine, diabe-
tes is a dangerous disease
that can lead to skin infec-
tions, foot and leg amputa-
tions, vision problems, in-
creased risk for heart attack,
kidney damage, diabetic co-
ma and diabetic ketoacidosis.
It occurs when the hormone
insulin is unable to break
down the carbohydrate glu-
cose in order to move it
from the bloodstream to
muscle, fat and liver cells
where it can be stored or
used for energy.
Diabetes can occur in
three forms: Type 1, Type
2 and gestational. Type 1
diabetes is often diag-
nosed in young children
and is a result of a lack of
production of insulin;
when these patients are given
insulin daily, this usually
treats the disease. Gestational
diabetes occurs when a wom-
an who is otherwise not dia-
betic experiences high blood
sugar during pregnancy. Type
2 diabetes makes up most
cases and is largely preventa-
ble.
LINK
Student Spotlight Cont’nd The group that consumed the
extra water lost an average of
7 kg, whereas participants in
the control group lost an
average of only 1 kg.
"We found that increasing
water consumption on a low
calorie diet resulted in
better glucose tolerance,"
Clark said. "Thus, if a reg-
istered dietitian is ever
counseling someone in
this population he or she
can advise them to drink
two glasses of water per
day before each meal to
improve glucose tolerance
which may then decrease
the likelihood of develop-
ing diabetes."
Clark's poster took second
place among 26 contestants
at the 83rd annual Virginia
Dietetic Association meeting
held in March at the Inn at
Virginia Tech, in which stu-
dents from all over Virginia
submitted research posters.
Through her work with Davy,
Clark is also involved in the
Resist Diabetes Project, led by
Davy and Richard Winett,
Page 2 INSIDE Fralin
Paul Estabrooks
Professor, Human Nutrition,
Foods, & Exercise
His research has:
· Resulted in people increas-
ing physical activity by
60-90 minutes per week.
· Helped individuals increase
servings of fruits and
vegetables by a couple
servings a day.
· Provided less expensive
interventions than many
community practices.
· Helped target populations
lose 3-5% of their body
weight.
· Implemented childhood
obesity programs, that
can sustain behavioral
change well after the
intervention is complete.
“Money won't buy happiness, but it will pay the salaries of a large research staff to study the problem.”
-Bill Vaughan
3
All student summer research
work will be presented at the
Undergraduate Research
Symposium, held on August
3, 2012 at the Inn at Virgina
Tech.
In photo: Tomalei Vess, Di-
rector of Undergraduate Re-
search, SURFers and
Scieneers.
In photo: Team 4, Bay City
Kitties, participating in ice-
breaker activity.
CALENDAR
SURF’ers & Scieneers join forces this summer!
This summer, 82 Scieneering
and SURF students are join-
ing forces to create the larg-
est group yet! At an orienta-
tion held Tuesday, May 29,
2012, Life Sciences Director
Dennis Dean introduced him-
self and kicked off the sum-
mer research program.
You can expect the Fralin
auditorium to be filled with
undergraduate researchers
every Wednesday morning for
group activities and speaker
presentations.
Page 3 June/July Newsletter
Dr. Davy
Dr. Davy’s current research
focuses on two primary areas:
(1) the prevention and treat-
ment of obesity and related
comorbidities, and (2) the
influence of dietary factors
such as water consumption on
calorie intake and body weight
regulation.
Her Resist Diabetes project
contains a sample of over-
weight individuals who qualify
as pre-diabetic. Without
intervention, these indi-
viduals are very likely
to progress to diabe-
tes.
Unfortunately, many
individuals with pre-
diabetes are not aware
that they have this con-
dition. In general, many
people find commonly
recommended lifestyle
strategies (e.g., diet,
exercise) to manage
weight and health chal-
lenging to adopt and
maintain. If health be-
haviors are not improved,
there is a high likelihood that
these people will be diag-
nosed with diabetes within 10
years. This is why intervention
is necessary.
In collaboration with Richard
Winett, Heilig Meyers profes-
sor of psychology, the Resist
Diabetes research team is
investigating whether or not
pre-diabetic individuals can
adopt, and maintain a re-
sistance training program.
The training is administered
for three months and then
monitored for the next
twelve months to see if it
improves glucose tolerance
among these pre-diabetic
adults.
The research will help deter-
mine approaches to help
individuals continue to train
long-term.
Meanwhile, because sugary
beverage consumption has
risen steadily over the years,
Dr. Davy has several ongo-
ing projects addressing wa-
ter and beverage consump-
tion and health, with a long-
er term goal of promoting
water as an alternative to
sugar-sweetened beverages.
Recently this topic made
major headlines when mayor
Michael Bloomberg banned
sugary beverages over 16
ounces for New York resi-
dents. Davy’s research may
provide ways to evaluate and
promote healthier beverage
consumption strategies, and
determine the health benefits
of increasing water consump-
tion.
This research was also a
springboard for collaboration
with Andrea Dietrich, profes-
sor of civil and
environmental
engineering, and
Susan Duncan,
professor of food
science and tech-
nology. The team
of collaborators is
interested in un-
derstanding
health percep-
tions related to
water consump-
tion, and in pro-
moting and valu-
ing tap water. The
team is working
with different
populations with regards
to the palatability of water,
water aesthetics, water safety
and consumption.
Understanding why people
choose, or do not choose,
water as a beverage may ulti-
mately help to determine how
intervention programs can
lead people towards making
healthier beverage choices.
Laboratory for Eating Behaviors
and Weight Management
Department of Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise
Research Areas:
Improving Health
Behaviors: Diet and
Physical Activity
Water Consumption
and Body Weight
Management
Appetite Control and Food
Intake Regulation
Brenda Davy
Associate Professor,
Human Nutrition, Foods &
Exercise
“I have not
failed, I have
found 10,000
ways that did
not work”
- Thomas
Edison
4
Fralin Life Sciences Center
West Campus Drive, Room 101
Virginia Tech 0346
Blacksburg, Virginia 24061
About Fralin:
The Fralin Life Science Insti-
tute is an investment institute
committed to supporting re-
search, education, and out-
reach in Virginia Tech’s life
sciences community. Residents
of the institute's four flagship
buildings are automatically
considered affiliated faculty
members and all other life sci-
ence researchers on campus
are invited to become affiliated
faculty members. Affiliated
faculty members are given re-
sources necessary to explore
new, innovative science that
benefits people in the New Riv-
er Valley, the Commonwealth
of Virginia, and the world.
Fralin Life Science Institute
If you would like your research to be
included in next months newsletter,
please email Ceci Elpi at
[email protected], THANKS!
We are on the Web!
www.fralin.vt.edu
Fralin Cancer Biology Seminar series launches!
July 11, 2012
Like us on:
Follow us on:
The Fralin Cancer Biology
Seminar series serves as an
interdisciplinary forum for
ongoing cancer biology
research at Virginia Tech.
The seminars are designed
to afford graduate stu-
dents, post-doctoral fellows
and principal investigators
an opportunity to present
their research and gain in-
sights from multidiscipli-
nary discussion. Seminars
are generally held on the
third Wednesday of the
month in Room 1040 at the
ILSB. The series will resume
in the Fall, so stay tuned!
L to R, first row: Josh Nicholson, a graduate student working with Daniela Cimini, presents
his research on aneuploidy in cancer. Amanda Shea, a graduate student working with Eva
Shmelz, presents her research on obesity and cancer.
L to R, second row: Amanda Shea, a graduate student working with Eva Shmelz, presents
her research on obesity and cancer. Elitsa Ananieva, a research scientist working with Su-
san Hutson, presents her research on an isozyme expressed in the majority of cancer
cells.