Dr. Burrin will highlight his past and current research discoveries in pediatric nutrition. He will highlight the importance of the neonatal pig as a pre-clinical model in addressing important questions and challenges faced by clinicians in the nutritional support of hospitalized infants. He will also share his insights from great mentors and accomplishments of his trainees and collaborations that have inspired his career in science.

Doug Burrin obtained degrees in animal science at Purdue University and University of Nebraska. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Children’s Nutrition Research Center (CNRC) in Houston where he is currently appointed as a Research Physiologist with USDA-ARS and Professor of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM). Dr. Burrin is recognized for his knowledge and expertise in the fields of human nutrition, metabolism, and gastroenterology. Dr. Burrin has been a leader in use of pig as a translational, animal model of human pediatric nutrition and gastroenterology. His research has highlighted the importance of enteral nutrition and function of key gut hormones, such glucagon-like peptide 2 and fibroblast growth factor 19, in the pathogenesis of pediatric GI and liver disease. He has also made important contributions in understanding how parenteral nutrition and lipid emulsions impact intestinal adaptation and liver disease.

He has received national awards for his research including the Mead Johnson Award from the American Society for Nutrition, the Growth and Development Award from the American Society for Animal Science, and the ARS Senior Scientist of the Year. His leadership in mentoring has been recognized by the Excellence in Research Mentorship Award from the Department Pediatrics at BCM. He has mentored 60 postdoctoral fellows and graduate students resulting in 70 peer-reviewed articles.

He currently serves on the editorial board of the American Journal of Physiology-GI & Liver Section. Dr. Burrin is also a Director of the fellowship research training in the Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at Baylor College of Medicine. He also serves in the leadership of the NIDDK-funded Texas Medical Center Digestive Disease Center and as Director, Pilot and Feasibility Program. He has served on the ASPEN Task Force on Intravenous Lipid Emulsions and is a past member of the ASPEN Rhoads Research Foundation Grant Review Committee and Board member.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Identify the unique features of neonatal pigs as an animal model for human infants and clinical nutrition
Apply the importance of learning from mentors and the personal reward of mentoring in science to one’s own career

PRESENTER
Doug G. Burrin, PhD, Professor of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine; Research Physiologist, U.S. Department of Agriculture - Agricultural Research Service, Children’s Nutrition Research Center, Houston, TX