1

3) Adrienne Clark, an under-

graduate student working

with Dr. Brenda Davy and who

is our May Fralin Student

Spotlight. She examines how

water affects glucose toler-

ance and weight among over-

weight adults.

We also include

pictures of the

Cancer Biology

Seminar series

held May 23,

2012 and dis-

cuss activities

our SURF

(Summer Under-

graduate Re-

search Fellow-

ship) and

Scieneer students will be in-

volved in this summer.

According to cnbc.com,

Americans spend 60 billion

dollars per year on

“products, services, diets

and food designed to help

us lose weight.” Meanwhile,

as the weather heats up,

warranting less

clothing, many are

not only thinking

about how to keep

cool, but how to

stay in shape as

well.

The Fralin Life

Science Institute

has several affiliat-

ed researchers

who look at ways

to stay fit and

healthy.

In this issue of Inside Fralin,

we highlight researchers

and students working in our

Obesity research focus area

including:

1) Dr. Paul Estabrooks,

whose research focuses

on the implementation of

healthy behavioral change

among diverse popula-

tions.

2) Dr. Brenda Davy, who

researches how diet, exer-

cise and water influence

health.

In case you missed it:

Last month’s student

spotlight highlighted

Adrienne Clark, an under-

graduate student working

with Dr. Brenda Davy who

was recently recognized by

the Virginia Dietetic Asso-

ciation. We offer it again

here:

'Eat healthier, drink water,

and exercise every day!' In

today's society, we are

often confronted with the-

se sorts of messages, but

rarely do we stop to exam-

ine the research driving

the advice.

Adrienne Clark, an under-

graduate student working

with Brenda Davy, associ-

ate professor of Human

Nutrition, Foods and Exer-

cise, recently found that

older, overweight adults

will lose more weight and

reduce their risk of Type

2 diabetes if they drink

two cups of water before

every meal and eat a low

calorie diet.

The original research project,

conducted by former PhD

student Liz Dennis, lasted 12

weeks and involved splitting a

sample of overweight adults

between 55 and 75 years old

into two groups. Participants

in one group were instructed

to drink two glasses of water

(16 oz.) before every meal

while on a low calorie diet.

The other group did not con-

sume two glasses of water,

but was on a low calorie diet.

Continued on page 2...

The Fralin Life Science Institute

INSIDE

Inside this issue:

Student Spotlight 2

Dr. Estabrooks 2

Student Spotlight continued

2

Dr. Davy 3

Surf insight 3

Fralin Info 4

Cancer Biology Seminar photos

4

7/11/12 June/July Newsletter

Alerts:

We are on twit-

ter and Face-

book! Follow us

and like us!

2

Dr. Estabrooks investigates

how to increase healthy be-

haviors across varying popu-

lations.

His studies have included

individuals of all de-

mographics, including chil-

dren, parents, college-aged

adults, working adults, older

adults, and people of differ-

ent races and income levels.

He has utilized various inter-

ventions with these different

populations and hopes to

instill long term healthy be-

havior change. This change

may involve increased physi-

cal activity, eating more fruits

and vegetables or weight

loss.

The main mission of his re-

search is to understand the

characteristics of interven-

tions that make them more

likely to be adopted in prac-

tice and to benefit a wide

variety of people.”

Estabrooks also analyz-

es “the process by which

we translate evidence-based

interventions into practice.”

The ‘holy grail’ of his re-

search would be to discover

the minimum intervention

necessary (i.e., lowest cost)

to achieve significant behav-

ioral change.

Dr. Estabrooks

professor of psychology at

Virginia Tech. The interdisci-

plinary research project ex-

amines how resistance train-

ing influences blood glucose

levels and other diabetes

markers in older, pre-

diabetic adults. Davy's stu-

dents are responsible for

evaluating physical changes

and characteristics in the

participants such as glucose,

body mass index, and weight

changes, while Winett's stu-

dents look at differences in

the nutrition trainer's ap-

proach, and how that influ-

ences participant behavior.

According to the U.S. Nation-

al Library of Medicine, diabe-

tes is a dangerous disease

that can lead to skin infec-

tions, foot and leg amputa-

tions, vision problems, in-

creased risk for heart attack,

kidney damage, diabetic co-

ma and diabetic ketoacidosis.

It occurs when the hormone

insulin is unable to break

down the carbohydrate glu-

cose in order to move it

from the bloodstream to

muscle, fat and liver cells

where it can be stored or

used for energy.

Diabetes can occur in

three forms: Type 1, Type

2 and gestational. Type 1

diabetes is often diag-

nosed in young children

and is a result of a lack of

production of insulin;

when these patients are given

insulin daily, this usually

treats the disease. Gestational

diabetes occurs when a wom-

an who is otherwise not dia-

betic experiences high blood

sugar during pregnancy. Type

2 diabetes makes up most

cases and is largely preventa-

ble.

LINK

Student Spotlight Cont’nd The group that consumed the

extra water lost an average of

7 kg, whereas participants in

the control group lost an

average of only 1 kg.

"We found that increasing

water consumption on a low

calorie diet resulted in

better glucose tolerance,"

Clark said. "Thus, if a reg-

istered dietitian is ever

counseling someone in

this population he or she

can advise them to drink

two glasses of water per

day before each meal to

improve glucose tolerance

which may then decrease

the likelihood of develop-

ing diabetes."

Clark's poster took second

place among 26 contestants

at the 83rd annual Virginia

Dietetic Association meeting

held in March at the Inn at

Virginia Tech, in which stu-

dents from all over Virginia

submitted research posters.

Through her work with Davy,

Clark is also involved in the

Resist Diabetes Project, led by

Davy and Richard Winett,

Page 2 INSIDE Fralin

Paul Estabrooks

Professor, Human Nutrition,

Foods, & Exercise

His research has:

· Resulted in people increas-

ing physical activity by

60-90 minutes per week.

· Helped individuals increase

servings of fruits and

vegetables by a couple

servings a day.

· Provided less expensive

interventions than many

community practices.

· Helped target populations

lose 3-5% of their body

weight.

· Implemented childhood

obesity programs, that

can sustain behavioral

change well after the

intervention is complete.

“Money won't buy happiness, but it will pay the salaries of a large research staff to study the problem.”

-Bill Vaughan

3

All student summer research

work will be presented at the

Undergraduate Research

Symposium, held on August

3, 2012 at the Inn at Virgina

Tech.

In photo: Tomalei Vess, Di-

rector of Undergraduate Re-

search, SURFers and

Scieneers.

In photo: Team 4, Bay City

Kitties, participating in ice-

breaker activity.

CALENDAR

SURF’ers & Scieneers join forces this summer!

This summer, 82 Scieneering

and SURF students are join-

ing forces to create the larg-

est group yet! At an orienta-

tion held Tuesday, May 29,

2012, Life Sciences Director

Dennis Dean introduced him-

self and kicked off the sum-

mer research program.

You can expect the Fralin

auditorium to be filled with

undergraduate researchers

every Wednesday morning for

group activities and speaker

presentations.

Page 3 June/July Newsletter

Dr. Davy

Dr. Davy’s current research

focuses on two primary areas:

(1) the prevention and treat-

ment of obesity and related

comorbidities, and (2) the

influence of dietary factors

such as water consumption on

calorie intake and body weight

regulation.

Her Resist Diabetes project

contains a sample of over-

weight individuals who qualify

as pre-diabetic. Without

intervention, these indi-

viduals are very likely

to progress to diabe-

tes.

Unfortunately, many

individuals with pre-

diabetes are not aware

that they have this con-

dition. In general, many

people find commonly

recommended lifestyle

strategies (e.g., diet,

exercise) to manage

weight and health chal-

lenging to adopt and

maintain. If health be-

haviors are not improved,

there is a high likelihood that

these people will be diag-

nosed with diabetes within 10

years. This is why intervention

is necessary.

In collaboration with Richard

Winett, Heilig Meyers profes-

sor of psychology, the Resist

Diabetes research team is

investigating whether or not

pre-diabetic individuals can

adopt, and maintain a re-

sistance training program.

The training is administered

for three months and then

monitored for the next

twelve months to see if it

improves glucose tolerance

among these pre-diabetic

adults.

The research will help deter-

mine approaches to help

individuals continue to train

long-term.

Meanwhile, because sugary

beverage consumption has

risen steadily over the years,

Dr. Davy has several ongo-

ing projects addressing wa-

ter and beverage consump-

tion and health, with a long-

er term goal of promoting

water as an alternative to

sugar-sweetened beverages.

Recently this topic made

major headlines when mayor

Michael Bloomberg banned

sugary beverages over 16

ounces for New York resi-

dents. Davy’s research may

provide ways to evaluate and

promote healthier beverage

consumption strategies, and

determine the health benefits

of increasing water consump-

tion.

This research was also a

springboard for collaboration

with Andrea Dietrich, profes-

sor of civil and

environmental

engineering, and

Susan Duncan,

professor of food

science and tech-

nology. The team

of collaborators is

interested in un-

derstanding

health percep-

tions related to

water consump-

tion, and in pro-

moting and valu-

ing tap water. The

team is working

with different

populations with regards

to the palatability of water,

water aesthetics, water safety

and consumption.

Understanding why people

choose, or do not choose,

water as a beverage may ulti-

mately help to determine how

intervention programs can

lead people towards making

healthier beverage choices.

Laboratory for Eating Behaviors

and Weight Management

Department of Human Nutrition, Foods and Exercise

Research Areas:

Improving Health

Behaviors: Diet and

Physical Activity

Water Consumption

and Body Weight

Management

Appetite Control and Food

Intake Regulation

Brenda Davy

Associate Professor,

Human Nutrition, Foods &

Exercise

“I have not

failed, I have

found 10,000

ways that did

not work”

- Thomas

Edison

4

Fralin Life Sciences Center

West Campus Drive, Room 101

Virginia Tech 0346

Blacksburg, Virginia 24061

About Fralin:

The Fralin Life Science Insti-

tute is an investment institute

committed to supporting re-

search, education, and out-

reach in Virginia Tech’s life

sciences community. Residents

of the institute's four flagship

buildings are automatically

considered affiliated faculty

members and all other life sci-

ence researchers on campus

are invited to become affiliated

faculty members. Affiliated

faculty members are given re-

sources necessary to explore

new, innovative science that

benefits people in the New Riv-

er Valley, the Commonwealth

of Virginia, and the world.

Fralin Life Science Institute

If you would like your research to be

included in next months newsletter,

please email Ceci Elpi at

ceciliae@vt.edu, THANKS!

We are on the Web!

www.fralin.vt.edu

Fralin Cancer Biology Seminar series launches!

July 11, 2012

Like us on:

Follow us on:

The Fralin Cancer Biology

Seminar series serves as an

interdisciplinary forum for

ongoing cancer biology

research at Virginia Tech.

The seminars are designed

to afford graduate stu-

dents, post-doctoral fellows

and principal investigators

an opportunity to present

their research and gain in-

sights from multidiscipli-

nary discussion. Seminars

are generally held on the

third Wednesday of the

month in Room 1040 at the

ILSB. The series will resume

in the Fall, so stay tuned!

L to R, first row: Josh Nicholson, a graduate student working with Daniela Cimini, presents

his research on aneuploidy in cancer. Amanda Shea, a graduate student working with Eva

Shmelz, presents her research on obesity and cancer.

L to R, second row: Amanda Shea, a graduate student working with Eva Shmelz, presents

her research on obesity and cancer. Elitsa Ananieva, a research scientist working with Su-

san Hutson, presents her research on an isozyme expressed in the majority of cancer

cells.