Simin Nikbin Meydani is an Iranian-American nutrition scientist and professor who is the Vice Provost of Research at

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university in Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts, United States, with additional facilities in Boston and Grafton, as well as Talloires, France. Tufts also has several Doctor of Physical Therapy p ...

. She is the lab director of the Nutrition and Immunology Lab at the Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University (HNRCA), Professor of Nutrition and Immunology at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and th
Tufts Sackler Graduate Program in Immunology

Biography

Meydani was born in

Tehran, Iran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

and was educated at Hadaf High School in Tehran. She received her D.V.M. degree in Veterinary Medicine from

University of Tehran The University of Tehran (UT) or Tehran University (, ) is a public collegiate university in Iran, and the oldest and most prominent Iranian university located in Tehran. Based on its historical, socio-cultural, and political pedigree, as well as ...

in 1975, a master's degree in nutrition from

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University Syst ...

in 1977 and a Doctor of Nutrition degree from

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...

in 1981. She was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Nutrition at the

Harvard School of Public Health The Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health is the public health school at Harvard University, located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. It was named after Hong Kong entrepreneur Chan Tseng-hsi in 2014 following a US$350 ...

from 1981 to 1983 and then was appointed Senior Research Associate in the Department of Biology at

Brandeis University Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...

from 1983 to 1984. She additionally earned a certificate in Molecular Immunology at the

Marine Biological Laboratory The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) is an international center for research and education in biological and environmental science. Founded in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, in 1888, the MBL is a private, nonprofit institution that was independent ...

, Woods Hole, MA in 1985. In 1984, Meydani joined the

Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging The Jean Mayer Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA), located in Boston, Massachusetts, is one of six human nutrition research centers in the United States supported by the United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Ser ...

(HNRCA) at Tufts University as a visiting scientist. After 6 years of research positions there, she became Lab Director of the Nutritional Immunology Laboratory at the Center in 1990. She was also a Hedwig van Amerigen Executive Leadership fellow in the Academic Medicine Program at

Drexel University College of Medicine Drexel University College of Medicine is the medical school of Drexel University, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The medical school represents the consolidation of two medical schools: Hahnemann Medical College, orig ...

in Philadelphia, PA in 2006.

Vice Provost for Research at Tufts University

Meydani was named the Vice Provost for research in September 2016.

Scientific work

According to her profile at Tufts, her scientific interests include'' the impact of nutrition on the aging process and age-associated diseases; role of nutrition on immune and inflammatory responses and predisposition to infectious diseases in developed and less developed countries''.

Awards and recognitions

Awards

* Iowa State University, Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award, 2013 * Helen LeBaron Hilton Distinguished Alumni Award, Iowa State University, 2011 * Food Science and Human Nutrition Alumni Impact Award, Iowa State University, 2011 * Robert H. Herman Award in Clinical Nutrition, American Society of Nutrition, 2008 * Denham Harman Life Time Research Achievement Award, American Aging Association, 2003 * Grace Goldsmith Award. American College of Nutrition, 2001 * American Institute of Nutrition Lederle Award in Human Nutrition, 1998 * Tufts University Faculty Recognition for Outstanding Achievement (1995–96, 1997–1998) * International Nutritional Immunology Group Award, 1993 * International HERMES Vitamin Research Award, 1993 * Denham Harman Lecture Award of American College of Advancement in Medicine, 1990 * USDA-ARS Citation of Merit for manuscript "Vitamin E Enhances Cell-Mediated Immunity in Healthy Elderly Subjects," Meydani et al., Am J Clin Nutr 52:557-563, 1990." * Pahlavi Royal Gold Medal for outstanding Tehran University college graduate, 1975 * Alborz Institute Award as valedictorian of Tehran University Veterinary School class, 1975

Honors

* 2012-13 Vice-President elect,

American Society for Nutrition The American Society for Nutrition (ASN) is an American society for professional researchers and practitioners in the field of nutrition. ASN publishes four journals in the field of nutrition. It has been criticized for its financial ties to the ...

, President 2014 * Jean Andrews Centennial Visiting Professorship,

University of Texas, Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 20 ...

, Texas, 2010 * Hedwig van Amerigen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine Program (Drexel University College of Medicine), 2005-2006 * President, American Aging Association, 2005-2006 * Malcolm Trout Annual Visiting Scholar.

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

, 2001 * Welcome Visiting Professorship,

, 1998

Other activities

* Co-chair and Organizer, FASEB Summer Conference on Nutrition and Immune Response, 2003, 2007, 2011 * Co-organizer, Women in Science & Medicine Symposium for American Society for Nutrition at Experimental Biology 2010, Anaheim, California. * Chair, Tufts Women in Science, Engineering and Medicine Symposium, 2008, Boston, MA * Organizer and Chair: Aging: Mechanism and Prevention: 35th Annual Meeting of AGE, Boston, June 2006. * Organizing Committee, First and Second International Aging and Immunology Meeting, 1998, 2001 * Chair and Organizing Committee, International Life Sciences Institute Conference on Nutrition and Immunity, 1997

Professional affiliations

* American Society of Nutrition, Vice President-Elect * American Aging Association, Board Member * American College of Nutrition, Chair, Council on Immunology, Hematology, and Oncology

Selected publications

Her most cited papers are *Meydani S, Meydani M, Blumberg JB, et al. "Vitamin E Supplementation and In Vivo Immune Response in Healthy Elderly Subjects: A Randomized Controlled Trial". ''

JAMA ''JAMA'' (''The Journal of the American Medical Association'') is a peer-reviewed medical journal published 48 times a year by the American Medical Association. It publishes original research, reviews, and editorials covering all aspects of b ...

''. 1997; 277(17):1380-1386. doi:10.1001/jama.1997.03540410058031 (cited by 560 articles in Google Scholar) *S N Meydani, et al. "Vitamin E supplementation enhances cell-mediated immunity in healthy elderly subjects. " ''

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition ''The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition'' (''AJCN'') is a monthly peer-reviewed biomedical journal in the fields of dietetics and clinical nutrition. The journal was established in 1952 as the ''Journal of Clinical Nutrition'', edited by S ...

'' September 1990 vol. 52 no. 3 557-563 *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Meydani, Simin Nikbin Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American people of Iranian descent Scientists from Tehran Academics from Tehran Tufts University faculty University of Tehran alumni Colorado State University alumni Iowa State University faculty Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health faculty Brandeis University faculty Presidents of the American Society for Nutrition