International Omega-3 Learning and Education Consortium for Health and Medicine

Dr. Bruce A. Watkins is a Professor of Food Science at Purdue University and Adjunct Professor of Anatomy in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, School of Medicine, Indiana University. He also has a courtesy appointment of Professor in the Department of Basic Medical Sciences in the School of Veterinary Medicine at Purdue University.

In 1999, he was one of the first professors to be named a University Faculty Scholar at Purdue University. Bruce obtained his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Nutrition from Colorado State University and the Ph.D. degree in Nutrition and Physiological Chemistry from the University of California, Davis in 1985. He received the 1990 PSA Young Investigator Award and in 1994 was presented the Bio Serv Award from the American Society of Nutritional Sciences for his research on bone. He was the recipient of the 1999 Research and Development Award from IFT and the 2004 Babcock-Hart Award from ILSI and IFT.

The major aim of his research is to determine how muscle and bone communicate. Investigations focus on how dietary lipids including omega-3 fatty acids and phytochemicals attenuate disuse atrophy and how these dietary factors alter genes of osteoblast differentiation and proteomics associated with bone formation and osteoclastogenesis.

Dr. Watkins was appointed to serve as the director of the Center for Enhancing Foods to Protect Health (EFPH) at Purdue University when it was founded in 1999 and is the current director. As director he coordinated and served as the principle investigator for a grant of $2 million to fund the EFPH in 2000. The mission of the center was to conduct research on nutraceuticals, phytochemicals and delivery systems for developing foods that reduce disease risk and improve health. In 2005, the EFPH transitioned from a comprehensive effort on food and health research to narrowing the focus of discovery activities based on the strengths of the participants. This self examination process occurred over 1.5 years and included discussions with the directors of similar centers, Purdue faculty, biomedical researchers and federal agencies. It was clear from these discussions that the opportunity in discovery was in diet and disease. The enduring strength of the Center resided in the participation of faculty in the School of Veterinary Medicine and Indiana University School of Medicine. Grants from industry (Kraft, Iams, P&G, Mead Johnson and Eli Lilly) and federal agencies carried the EFPH as did funding to support learning and development of educational tools. Over the years, about $4 million was received in grant and gift funds for the EFPH center.

In 2007, a core group of faculty in the Center was awarded a grant to form the International Omega-3 Learning and Education Consortium for Health and Medicine. This new consortium on education and the research in diet and medicine will be the direction for many of the faculty members that were affiliated with EFPH. Dr. Watkins is the Director and PI of the grant for the International Omega-3 Learning and Education Consortium for Health and Medicine.

Dr Watkins has authored more than 130 publications and presented 80 invited talks since 1992. He is a fellow of the ESCOP/ACOP Leadership Development Program for 2000, and the CIC Academic Leadership Program in 2001. He teaches courses on lipid chemistry, nutritional sciences, and phytochemicals and directs efforts in science visualization by developing CD-ROM and Internet educational products (The Pizza Explorer and the Phytochemical Learning Resource).

Dr. Watkins has no financial conflict of interest to declare in participating in this consortium.