University of Arkansas Health Experts Selected to Present at SEC Symposium

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Matthew Ganio, Rodolfo Nayga

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Two health experts at the University of Arkansas have been selected to present their research at the Southeastern Conference’s annual showcase of academic excellence of its member institutions.

Matthew Ganio, an assistant professor of exercise science, and Rodolfo Nayga, a professor of agricultural economics, will be among the scheduled presenters for the 2014 SEC Symposium, scheduled for Sept. 21-23 in Atlanta.

Titled, “Prevention of Obesity: Overcoming a 21st Century Public Health Challenge,” the symposium will feature presentations from faculty and administrators from each of the 14 SEC institutions.

Ganio joined the faculty of the College of Education and Health Professions in 2011 and was named director of the university’s Human Performance Laboratory in 2012. He earned a doctorate in exercise physiology from the University of Connecticut and completed his post-doctoral training at the Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.

Nayga has a faculty appointment in the University of Arkansas System’s statewide Division of Agriculture and holds the Tyson Chair in Food Policy Economics in the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences on the Fayetteville campus. He is currently leading a child obesity research project funded by a $4.78 million grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

In addition to Ganio and Nayga, the university will be represented by student ambassador Grace Heymsfield, an Honors College Fellow majoring in food, human nutrition and hospitality in the Bumpers College. Heymsfield interned at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center at Louisiana State University in 2012 and plans to become a registered dietitian nutritionist. She is also an All-American, NCAA champion and SEC champion distance runner for the Razorbacks.

Obesity prevention and treatment are popular topics among media, lawmakers, health-care professionals and others. While the subjects have gained attention during the past decade, the United States has not seen a significant reduction in population-level obesity rates.

Researchers at the SEC Symposium hope to identify ways to markedly reduce America’s obese and overweight populations, through prevention.

This year’s topics range from genetics to technology and media to environmental influences. The symposium is divided into eight sessions of formal presentations and includes informal breakout sessions intended to foster interaction and discussion among participants.

In addition to university presenters, there will also be two keynote speakers. Nancy Brown, chief executive officer of the American Heart Association, will open the event on Sept. 21. Dr. Michael Lauer, Director of the Division of Cardiovascular Sciences at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, will deliver a second keynote address on Sept. 22.

The SEC provosts and chancellors formed the SEC Academic Consortium in 2005 as a collaborative endeavor designed to promote research, scholarship and achievement amongst the universities. It was initially housed at the University of Arkansas.

In 2011, the consortium was relocated to the SEC headquarters in Birmingham, Alabama, and renamed SECU. The SEC Symposium is a showcase for the academic excellence of its member institutions and underscores their educational and economic contributions to the vitality of the region, nation and world.

The SEC Symposium is an academic conference that also includes a reception for the SEC presidents, chancellors and provosts, poster exhibitions, and SEC University Showcase. To learn more about the 2014 SEC Symposium, go to www.secsymposium.com.

Here are the symposium’s scheduled speakers (listed in alphabetical order):

• Dr. Shari Barkin, director, Pediatric Obesity Research, Vanderbilt University
• Leann Birch, William P. "Bill" Flatt Childhood Obesity Professor, University of Georgia
• Kim Bissell, director, Institute for Communication and Information Research, University of Alabama
• Claude Bouchard, John W. Barton, Sr. Chair in Genetics and Nutrition, Louisiana State University
• Sylvia Byrd, director of didactic program in nutrition and dietetics, Mississippi State University
• Lisa Cassis, chair of the department of pharmacology, University of Kentucky
• Sarah Colby, assistant professor, University of Tennessee
• Roger Cone, chair of the department of molecular physiology and biophysics, Vanderbilt University
• Nikhil Dhurandhar, John H. Hernandez Endowed Professor in Health Promotion, Louisiana State University
• Gene Fitzhugh, associate professor, University of Tennessee
• Sara Gable, associate professor, University of Missouri
• Alison Gustafson, assistant professor, University of Kentucky
• Katie Kavanagh, associate professor, University of Tennessee
• Carol Lammi-Keefe, Alma Beth Clark Professor, Louisiana State University
• Rebecca Kelly, director of health promotion and wellness, University of Alabama
• Jihong Liu, associate professor, University of South Carolina
• Deborah Murray, associate dean for extension and outreach, University of Georgia
• Scott Owens, associate professor, University of Mississippi
• Michael Perri, dean of College of Public Health and Health Professions, University of Florida
• Bradley Phillips, Millikan-Reeve Professor, University of Georgia
• Kathleen Ragsdale, associate research professor, Mississippi State University
• Larry Reagan, associate professor, University of South Carolina
• Laura Reed, assistant professor, University of Alabama
• Leah Robinson, associate professor, Auburn University
• Mary Roseman, associate professor, University of Mississippi
• David Schlundt, associate professor, Vanderbilt University
• Joe Sharkey, director of program for research nutrition and health disparities, Texas A&M University
• Patricia Sharpe, research professor, University of South Carolina
• Melinda Sothern, professor, Louisiana State University
• Sonja Wilhelm Stanis, assistant professor, University of Missouri
• Ya-Xiong Tao, professor, Auburn University
• Patricia Thomas, professor, University of Georgia
• Melinda Valliant, associate professor, University of Mississippi
• Kristina von Castel-Roberts, professor, University of Florida
• Brynn Voy, associate professor, University of Tennessee
• Danielle Wadsworth, associate professor, Auburn University
• Judith Warren, professor, Texas A&M University
• Mark Wilson, associate dean for academic affairs, University of Georgia