William S. Harris, (also known as Bill Harris) PhD FAHA FASN is an American professor and researcher focusing on human nutrition. His work has focused on the role of Omega-3 fatty acids as they relate to

cardiovascular disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, h ...

and

neuropsychiatric disease Neuropsychiatry or Organic Psychiatry is a branch of medicine that deals with psychiatry as it relates to neurology, in an effort to understand and attribute behavior to the interaction of neurobiology and social psychology factors. Within neurop ...

Education and academic career

A 1971 graduate of Hanover College where he majored in chemistry, Harris completed a PhD in Nutrition and Food Science from the University of Minnesota in 1978 He was a Professor of Medicine at the

University of Missouri-Kansas City A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

, where he was the Daniel J. Lauer/Missouri Chair in Lipid Metabolism until 2006. He co-directed the Lipid and Diabetes Research Center at the

Mid America Heart Institute The Mid America Heart Institute (MAHI) is located in Kansas City, Missouri and is one of the first and largest hospitals developed and designed specifically for cardiovascular care. It is a subsidiary of the not-for-profit Saint Luke's Hospital ...

Saint Luke's Hospital of Kansas City Saint Luke's Hospital of Kansas City is a tertiary care hospital is located at 4401 Wornall Road in Kansas City, Missouri. It is part of the Saint Luke's Health System. History The origins of Saint Luke's Hospital of Kansas City began in 1882, wh ...

. In 2006, he joined faculty at the

University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine The University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine is the medical school of the University of South Dakota. It offers the Doctor of Medicine, master's and PhD degrees in biomedical sciences, and an MD–PhD. The dean of the school is Dr. Tim ...

, where he directed the Cardiovascular Health Research Center at the Sanford Research Center.

Industry career

Harris founded OmegaQuant in 2009 to develop the RBC omega-3 index as a research assay. This assay was later acquired by the Health Diagnostic Laboratory.

Research

His work focused on the role of lipid and lipoprotein metabolism in human disease, and specifically the development of an

RBC RBC may refer to: Media and arts * ''RBK Daily'', a general business newspaper published in Moscow, Russia. * RBK Group, a large Russian media group * RBC Ministries, now Our Daily Bread Ministries, a Christian media outlet in Grand Rapdis, Mich ...

omega-3 index. In 2009, he chaired an

American Heart Association The American Heart Association (AHA) is a nonprofit organization in the United States that funds cardiovascular medical research, educates consumers on healthy living and fosters appropriate cardiac care in an effort to reduce disability and death ...

science advisory on Omega-6 fatty acids and

. He has authored >300 manuscripts in peer-reviewed literature.

Honors and awards

Harris is a Fellow of the American Heart Association and a Fellow of the American Society for Nutrition.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, William S. Year of birth missing (living people) Living people University of South Dakota faculty University of Missouri–Kansas City faculty University of Minnesota alumni American medical researchers Hanover College alumni Nutritional scientists American medical academics