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John W. Erdman, Jr., PhD

Emeritus Professor of Food Science and Human Nutrition
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Urbana, Illinois, United States

John W. Erdman Jr. is Emeritus Professor of Food Science and Human Nutrition at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has an active research program with a particular interest in nutritional aspects of carotenoids and vitamin E, especially in relation to brain development and function. Previously, his laboratory extensively evaluated the impact of lycopene on prostate cancer, the use of quantitative ultrasound to detect early stages of NAFLD, how food processing and other factors altered the bioavailability of minerals and carotenoids, and published human clinical trials on soy protein and cholesterol reduction. He has authored over 285 original research articles and over 475 total publications (h-index is 73). He is a Fellow and past president of the American Society for Nutrition, and Fellow the Institute of Food Technologists and the American Heart Association. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM). He has served on over two dozen committees for the NAM and was most recently Chair of the Standing Committee for the Review of the Dietary Reference Intakes Framework. He has received numerous honors for research, teaching and mentoring. His B.S., M.S., M.Phil. and Ph.D. are in Food Science from Rutgers University.

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