Annual Lillian Fountain Smith Conference Brings National Health and Nutrition Experts to Colorado State University

Note to Editors: Media representatives are invited to attend the annual Lillian Fountain Smith Conference June 14-15 at the Fort Collins Marriott, 350 E. Horsetooth Road. To arrange interviews or attendance, contact Dell Rae Moellenberg at (970) 491-6009 or e-mail [email protected].

National experts will discuss diet and exercise, personalized diets based on genomics and breastfeeding at the annual Lillian Fountain Smith conference June 14-15.

The premier nutrition conference, hosted by Colorado State University, will feature speakers from Harvard School of Public Health, Cornell University, University of California-Davis, University of North Carolina at both Greensboro and Chapel Hill and national experts from Colorado State University.

The Lillian Fountain Smith Conference for Nutrition Educators will be held from 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 14, and from 8:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. on Friday, June 15, at the Fort Collins Marriott, 350 E. Horsetooth Road.

In its 29th year, the conference is specifically designed for physicians, nurses, physician assistants, dieticians, nutritionists, exercise physiologists and other health educators. The conference provides participants with the most current, objective and authoritative information available in important and emerging areas of human nutrition.

Large-scale epidemiology studies reveal the potential contributions of various types and intensities of physical activity and specific dietary practices to prevent heart disease, diabetes and cancer. The conference will open with discussions on this topic, focusing on evolving public health related to nutrition and exercise epidemiology and heart disease prevention. A panel discussion with the morning’s experts will follow.

Afternoon sessions will feature information about nutrigenomics, a new and controversial area of nutrition in which attempts are made to uniquely tailor one’s diet to specific aspects of genetic makeup. Participants in the afternoon session will hear discussion on whether broad-scale dietary recommendations are effective at lowering disease risk or if measurements of individual genetic differences to personalize diets would achieve better outcomes. Interactions between genetics and nutrients within individuals and the role nature vs. nurture plays in these interactions will be discussed, along with the possibility of using nutrigenomics in promoting health. A panel discussion with presenters will follow.

Friday sessions will focus on the nutritional quality of breast milk for infants, the benefits to the mother’s health, challenges to successful breast feeding and strategies to increase breast feeding in the United States. The day will conclude with a panel discussion.

The annual Lillian Fountain Smith Conference for Nutrition Educators draws health professionals from around the nation because of its outstanding reputation among nutrition researchers and professionals.

"Exciting new science combining nutrition and genetics may provide significant assistance to people who currently struggle with serious health issues," said Chris Melby, chair of the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition. "Experts also continue to make great scientific strides in discovering new information related to epidemiology and exercise and diet, as well as the importance of breast feeding. We’re excited to share this information with professionals who work directly with individuals and who provide health education through numerous avenues.

"For nearly 30 years, Colorado State’s Lillian Fountain Smith conference has been an outstanding resource for health professionals."

Lillian Fountain Smith was a 1918 graduate in home economics at Colorado State University. Recognizing the importance of nutrition in her own life and the lives of her family members, Smith chose to assist the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at Colorado State in improving and extending its nutrition outreach activities.

The annual Lillian Fountain Smith Conference is sponsored by the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition in the College of Applied Human Sciences at Colorado State through an endowment established by the family of Lillian Fountain Smith.

To attend the conference, contact Pam Blue at (970) 491-7435 or e-mail [email protected]. More information can be found at http://www.cahs.colostate.edu/fshn/lfsc.

The full schedule follows.

Thursday, June 14

8 a.m. – Registration at the Fort Collins Marriott Hotel, salons A-H.

8:50 a.m. – Conference opening remarks. April Mason, dean of the College of Applied Human Sciences, Colorado State.

9 a.m. – Session 1: "Nutrition and Exercise Epidemiology: Evolving Public Health." Moderated by Chris Melby, department head, Food Science and Human Nutrition, Colorado State.

"Physical Activity and Heart Disease Prevention: How Much Exercise Do I Need?" I-Min Lee, associate professor, Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health.

10:15 a.m. – "Diet and Health: A Progress Report." Eric Rimm, associate professor, Departments of Epidemiology and Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health.

Noon – Lunch.

1:15 p.m. – Session 2, "Nutrigenomics: Are We Ready for Personalized Diets?" Moderated by Mike Pagliassotti, Lillian Fountain Smith endowed professor, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Colorado State.

"Genome-Nutrient Interactions: What Makes a Difference – Nature or Nurture?" Patrick Stover, professor and division director, College of Human Ecology, Cornell University.

2:30 p.m. – "Nutritional Genomics: The Next Frontier in Promoting Health?" Raymond Rodriquiz, director, National Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities Center of Excellence for Nutritional Genomics and professor of molecular and cellular biology at the University of California-Davis.

3:30 p.m. – Panel discussion.

4:15 p.m. – Ajourn.

Friday, June 15

8 a.m. – Registration.

8:30 a.m. – Session 3, "Breastfeeding and Its Benefits: The Good, the Better and the … Why Not More?" Moderated by Susan Baker, Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Colorado State.

"Benefits of Breastfeeding for Child Health: The Gift that Keeps on Giving." Kay Dewey, professor, Department of Nutrition, nutritionist in Agricultural Experiment Station; associate director, Program in International and Community Nutrition, University of California-Davis.

9:40 a.m. – "The Benefits of Breastfeeding for the Mother." Cheryl Lovelady, professor and director of the undergraduate dietetics program, University of North Carolina at Greensboro.

10:35 a.m. – Brunch.

11:35 p.m. – "Why Women Don’t Breastfeed – How Do we Break Down Barriers?" Mary Rose Tully, director of Lactation Services at UNC Health Care; adjunct instructor, Department of Maternal and Child Health and Department of Pediatrics, at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

12:30 p.m. – Panel discussion.

1:30 p.m. – Adjourn.

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