Alice H. Lichtenstein, D. Sc.

Dr. Lichtenstein is the Stanley N. Gershoff Professor of Nutrition Science and Policy in the Gerald J. & Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science & Policy at Tufts University and Senior Scientist and Director of the Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging. Dr. Lichtenstein holds a secondary appointment as Professor of Family Medicine and Community Health at Tufts University School of Medicine. Dr. Lichtenstein holds a secondary appointment as Professor of Family Medicine and Community Health at Tufts University School of Medicine and an honorary doctoral degree from the faculty of Medicine, University of Kuopio, Finland. She joined the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging in 1988. Her previous appointments were in the Departments of Medicine and Biochemistry at Boston University School of Medicine.

Dr. Lichtenstein completed her undergraduate work at Cornell University in Nutrition. She earned a masters and doctoral degree in Nutrition from Harvard University. Dr. Lichtenstein received her post-doctoral training in the field of lipid metabolism at the Cardiovascular Institute at Boston University School of Medicine.

At the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University Dr. Lichtenstein’s research is focused on assessing the interplay between diet and heart disease risk factors. Current studies focus on trans fatty acids, soy protein and isoflavones, sterol/stanol esters and genetically modified/selectively breed oils in postmenopausal females and older males. Selected issues are investigated in animal models with the aim of determining the mechanisms by which dietary factors alter cardiovascular disease risk. Additional work is addressing the relationship between surrogate markers of cholesterol absorption and synthesis on heart disease risk.

Dr. Lichtenstein is a member of the American Society of Nutritional Sciences; the American Society of Clinical Nutrition; and the Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis and Vascular Biology, and Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism Councils of the American Heart Association. She serves as chair of the American Heart Association Nutrition Committee. Dr. Lichtenstein is currently serving as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Lipid Research, on the Editorial Advisory Board of the Tufts Health and Nutrition Letter, and on the Editorial Board of Atherosclerosis. She served on the USDA/HHS 2000 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee and the Dietary Reference Intake Macronutrient Panel of the National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine, Food and Nutrition Board. In April 2006 she will receive the Robert H. Herman Memorial Award in Clinical Nutrition from the American Society of Clinical Nutrition.