Frank B. Hu (; born 1966) is a Chinese American nutrition and diabetes researcher. He is Chair of the Department of Nutrition and the Fredrick J. Stare Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology at the

Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is the public health school of Harvard University, located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. The school grew out of the Harvard-MIT School for Health Officers, the nation's first ...

, and Professor of Medicine at the

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

. Hu is also the Director of the Epidemiology and Genetics Core of the Boston Obesity Nutrition Research Center; and co-director of the Program in Obesity Epidemiology and Prevention at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Hu was elected into the

National Academy of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), formerly called the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, Eng ...

(NAM) in 2015, one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine.

Education

A native of

Hubei Province Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...

, China, Hu received his M.D. from the Tongji Medical University (now Tongji Medical College of the

Huazhong University of Science and Technology The Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST; ) is a public research university located in Guanshan Subdistrict, Hongshan District, Wuhan, Hubei province, China. As a national key university directly affiliated to the Ministry of E ...

) in

Wuhan Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei Province in the People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the ninth-most populous Chinese city an ...

in 1988, and his Ph.D. from the

University of Illinois at Chicago The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the University of Illinois ...

in 1996.

Research

Hu's research has focused on diet/lifestyle, metabolic, and genetic determinants of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease (CVD). His group has conducted detailed analyses of many dietary and lifestyle factors and risk of diabetes and CVD, including sugar-sweetened beverages, coffee, red meat, saturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, iron, and dietary patterns. These findings have contributed to current public health recommendations and policies for prevention of chronic diseases. Dr. Hu's group has also identified novel biomarkers (e.g., adipokines and nutrient metabolites) and gene-environment interactions in relation to risk of obesity and diabetes by integrating cutting-edge omics technologies into epidemiological studies (Systems Epidemiology approach). In addition, Dr. Hu has been collaborating with researchers from China to study nutrition transition, metabolic phenotypes, and cardiovascular disease in Chinese populations. His researches have also extended to global nutrition, obesity and policy issues. In 1997, he published a study showing that types of fat are more important than total amount of fat in determining risk of heart disease in the

Nurses' Health Study The Nurses Health Study is a series of prospective studies that examine epidemiology and the long-term effects of nutrition, hormones, environment, and nurses' work-life on health and disease development. The studies have been among the largest in ...

. His recent work shows that unsaturated fats, especially polyunsaturated fats, and/or high-quality carbohydrates can be used to replace saturated fats to reduce coronary heart disease risk in the

and Health Professionals Follow-up Study. In 2001, Hu published a study to quantify the preventability of type 2 diabetes through diet and lifestyle, showing that up to 90% of diabetes cases can be prevented by eating a healthy diet, maintaining normal weight, exercising regularly, not smoking tobacco, and consuming alcohol moderately. Hu has conducted extensive research on sugar-sweetened beverages and the risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Dr. Hu is a recipient of the Kelly West Award for Outstanding Achievement in Epidemiology from the American Diabetes Association in 2010. He served on the IOM Committee on Preventing the Global Epidemic of Cardiovascular Disease: Meeting the Challenges in Developing Countries (2009-2010), and the AHA/ACC Obesity Guidelines Expert Panel (2008-2013). Dr. Hu also served on the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee, USDA/HHS. He is the principal author of a textbook on Obesity Epidemiology (

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, 2008).

References

External links

Frank Hu
at

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hu, Frank 1966 births Living people Harvard School of Public Health faculty Chinese emigrants to the United States Scientists from Hubei University of Illinois Chicago alumni American food scientists American nutritionists Huazhong University of Science and Technology alumni Harvard Medical School faculty American public health doctors Members of the National Academy of Medicine