Dr. Jose Ordovas, keynote speaker and director of the Nutrition and Genomics Laboratory at Tufts University.

DATE: 5/27/05

CONTACT: Dr. David Gangemi; (864) 656-6463

WRITER: Diane Palmer, (864) 656-4741

Genetics, environment and diet may hold key to good health for each of us

CLEMSON – Your genes, environment and diet may play an important role in good health, according to one of the nation’s leading researchers in nutritional genomics.

José Ordovas, director of the Nutrition and Genomics Laboratory at Tufts University, was the keynote speaker at the S.C. Alliance for Cancer Chemoprevention (SCACC) Symposium held at Clemson University May 17-18.

He holds the view that the traditional approach of recommending a low fat, low cholesterol diet for everyone may not be the right one.

He believes that within a decade doctors will be able to take genetic profiles of their patients and make dietary recommendations geared to helping them fight the diseases to which they are genetically prone.

“Removal of the major disease risk factors will increase life expectancy worldwide by 9.3 years,” Ordovas said.

He was featured in Newsweek magazine's Jan. 17 cover article, "Diet & Genes: The New Science of Nutrition and Aging." He earned his PhD in biochemistry from the University of Zaragoza, Spain. His research focus is molecular biology, nutrition and genetics, and cardiovascular disease risk.

Ordovas has published more than 360 scientific articles, participated as invited speaker for more than 200 international congresses, courses and symposiums in Europe, Asia, Central and South American as well as the United States.

Other speakers were: Dr. Tom Wagner, director of the Cancer Research Institute, Greenville Hospital System; Dr. Irene PrabhuDas of the Department of Health and Environmental Control; Dr. James Hebert of the University of South Carolina; Dr. Joseph DiPiro, executive dean of the S.C. College of Pharmacy; Dr. Panos Kalaritis of IRIX Pharmaceuticals Inc.; and Dr. Bharat Aggarwal of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center of Houston, Texas.

SCACC is working to reduce the incidence, delay the onset and decrease the severity of cancer, especially in South Carolina, with the emphasis on nutrition, natural products and pharmaceutical chemistry.

The SCACC worked with its partners to develop the first ever South Carolina Cancer Report Card. The book was distributed at the conference. It shows the cancer problem in South Carolina as compared to the rest of the nation. For instance, lung cancer deaths were number one in the state in 2002. Second were colorectal cancer deaths with breast cancer a close third.

Clemson University’s Institute of Nutraceutical Research (INR) is a part of the S.C. Nutrition Research Consortium along with the S.C. Research Authority, the University of South Carolina and the Medical University of South Carolina.

“The mission of the Institute of Nutraceutical Research is to make Clemson University the national leader in nutraceutical research,” said David Gangemi, director of INR. “Our vision is to provide an environment in which academia, government and industry can partner for the promotion of Nutraceuticals in mainstream American healthcare.”

END