June 21, 2011
Dr. Philip May

Dr. Philip May

A new nutrition professor at the University of North Carolina’s Nutrition Research Institute (NRI) will expand the Institute’s expertise and research in the field of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). Philip A. May, PhD, was appointed research professor at UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health on April 1 and arrives at NRI this week.

 
FASDs are a group of physical, behavioral and cognitive conditions that can occur in a person whose mother drank alcohol during pregnancy. The disorders are preventable if the mother does not use alcohol while pregnant.
 
May earned a master’s degree in sociology at Wake Forest University and a sociology doctorate from the University of Montana. His professional career has included service as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Public Health Service. Most recently, he was professor of sociology and family and community medicine at the University of New Mexico at Albuquerque (UNM).
 
In addition to his appointment at UNC’s public health school, May will maintain his role as Extraordinary Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology on the health sciences faculty at The University of Stellenbosch, Tygerberg, in Cape Town, South Africa.
 
Widely recognized as a leader in the FASD research, May has received several prestigious awards for his work. Most recently, he was selected to deliver the University of New Mexico’s 56th Annual Research Lecture, one of the highest honors that can be awarded to a UNM faculty member. His lecture, titled “Adventures in Public Health Research: Four Decades of Shoe-Leather Epidemiology and Prevention,” shared key areas of his critical research, including suicide and alcohol epidemiology among a number of tribes of American Indians of the western states.
 
For the past four decades, May has led research on behavioral issues that directly relate to public health. He has conducted extensive research on the epidemiology of and risk factors for FASD, including alcohol use and abuse, and how FASD relates to mental health and deviance. May’s specialty areas also extend to demography and medical sociology, focusing much of his research on community-wide prevention of the disorder.
 
At the NRI, May has begun a study designed to reveal the prevalence and specific characteristics of FASD. The project, recently funded by a grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, part of the National Institutes of Health, includes studies in both the United States and South Africa. In the project, May will combine the knowledge gained in the United States and South Africa with the Institute’s advancements in developing an individualized approach to nutrition.
 
“We have made great progress identifying the demographic and behavioral risk factors for FASD,” May said. “Now we must look at individual risk factors and nutrient deficiencies – genetics and epigenetics may come into play.”May’s work and experience will introduce a new facet to the research at the NRI and highlight the importance of epidemiological work in conjunction with established lab work.

“My lab is the community,” May said. “It is important for behavioral, basic and clinical scientists to work together for a full understanding of the etiology and remediation of most of today’s public health problems. Understanding how health problems are intertwined with particular lifestyles and influenced by unique social and cultural conditions advances translation of knowledge to effective intervention, prevention, and cures.”

Steven Zeisel, MD, PhD, director of UNC Nutrition Research Institute, said he was pleased to welcome May to the NRI. “We expect that his significant perspective on fetal alcohol spectrum disorders will further broaden our reach in the nutrition science field,” Zeisel said. “His work will create new discoveries for science and intervention opportunities for individuals.”

More information about FASDs is available on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.

Learn more about the Nutrition Research Institute online.

 

UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: Ramona DuBose, director of communications, (919) 966-7467 or ramona_dubose@unc.edu.

 

 

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