The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), an arm of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has named Christopher Lynch director of its Office of Nutrition Research (ONR) and chief of its Nutrition Research Branch.
In his new role, Lynch will oversee NIDDK's nutrition research projects and will be tasked with the development of a new trans-NIH strategic working group.
“Dr. Lynch is a leader in the nutrition community and his expertise will be vital to guiding the NIH strategic plan for nutrition research,” NIH Director Francis Collins said. “As NIH works to expand nutrition knowledge, Dr. Lynch’s understanding of the field will help identify information gaps and create a framework to support future discoveries to ultimately improve human health.”
The ONR was launched this past August. Lynch comes to the job after 27 years at Pennsylvania State University's College of Medicine, most recently as professor and vice chair of the Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology.
“Every day, we learn more about the links between diet and life-threatening diseases such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke, and how our gut microbiome may determine food preferences,” Lynch said. “These are exciting times for nutrition research, and I’m delighted to help advance NIH-funded nutrition research.”
Lynch's research has been focused on such areas as causes of obesity and type 2 diabetes.
“Nutrition research is a key to increasing our understanding of the causes of many diseases studied by NIDDK, including diabetes, obesity, inflammatory bowel disease and others,” NIDDK Director Griffin Rodgers said. “With Dr. Lynch’s guidance, we hope to strengthen our research in nutrition, encourage innovative research through novel partnerships and help the public to better understand how nutrition influences their health.”
