Melinda Beck
Melinda Beck (nutritionist) | |
|---|---|
| Born | Melinda Annetta Beck |
| Alma mater | University of California, Berkeley California Polytechnic University Ohio State University |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | University of North Carolina University of Nebraska Omaha |
| Thesis | Regulation of cell-mediated immunity during reinfection with influenza virus (1987) |
| Website | onlinemph |
Melinda Annetta Beck is an American nutritionist and professor at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she also serves as interim department chair.[1] Her research investigates the relationship between nutrition and immune response to infectious disease. She was elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2022.
Early life and education
[edit]Beck studied zoology at the University of California, Berkeley.[citation needed] She moved to the California Polytechnic State University for doctoral research, where she studied medical microbiology.[2] Her graduate dissertation developed an immunofluorescent test to detect Gardnerella vaginalis.[3] She then moved to Ohio State University, where she studied cell-mediated immunity during re-infection with influenza.[4]
Research and career
[edit]After her PhD, Beck was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Nebraska Omaha.[5] Beck joined the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1992. She was awarded a Fellowship in the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Center. She was made associate professor in 1998, full professor in 2004 and department chair in 2022.[5]
Beck studies the relationships between host nutrition and how the immune system responds to infectious disease. In particular, she has studied how obesity impacts response to influenza, and the mechanisms that impact adult response to flu vaccines.[6] She has shown that following influenza infection, obese mice have a higher mortality rate than their lean counterparts, and that obese individuals do not sustain anti-flu antibodies.[7][8] She showed that deficiency in antioxidant nutrients can give rise to viral mutations that make viruses pathogenic.[7] Her research was the first to show that nutritional deficiency in the host can permit a non-virulent virus to become virulent, indicting that the nutritional status of the host can drive infection.[7]
Awards and honors
[edit]- 2001 E.L.R. Stockstad Award[9]
- 2023 Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science[10]
Selected publications
[edit]- Obesity is associated with impaired immune response to influenza vaccination in humans[11]
- Selenium deficiency and viral infection[12]
- Individuals with obesity and COVID-19: A global perspective on the epidemiology and biological relationships[13]
References
[edit]- ^ Melinda Beck publications from Europe PubMed Central
- ^ Research, Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Military Nutrition (1999). Biographical Sketches. National Academies Press (US).
- ^ Beck, Melinda (1982). Development of an indirect immunofluorescent test for the detection of Gardnerella vaginalis. worldCat.org (MS thesis). California Polytechnic State University. OCLC 9510637.
- ^ Beck, Melina (1987). Regulation of cell-mediated immunity during reinfection with influenza virus. worldcat.org (PhD thesis). Ohio State University. OCLC 17185672. ProQuest 303480456.
- ^ a b "Beck to serve as interim chair for Gillings School's Department of Nutrition". UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. Retrieved 2023-05-05.
- ^ "Melinda Beck, PhD". UNC-MPH. Retrieved 2023-05-05.
- ^ a b c "Dr. Melinda Beck | College of Education and Human Sciences". cehs.unl.edu. Retrieved 2023-05-05.
- ^ "Flu shot less effective for obese adults". EurekAlert!. Retrieved 2023-05-05.
- ^ "American Society for Nutrition and ASN Foundation Awards Recipients" (PDF).
- ^ "Beck named AAAS faculty fellow". UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. Retrieved 2023-05-05.
- ^ P A Sheridan; H A Paich; J Handy; et al. (25 October 2011). "Obesity is associated with impaired immune response to influenza vaccination in humans". International Journal of Obesity. 36 (8): 1072–1077. doi:10.1038/IJO.2011.208. ISSN 0307-0565. PMC 3270113. PMID 22024641. Wikidata Q30408577.
- ^ Melinda A. Beck; Orville A. Levander; Jean Handy (May 2003). "Selenium deficiency and viral infection" (PDF). Journal of Nutrition. 133 (5 Suppl 1): 1463S–7S. doi:10.1093/JN/133.5.1463S. ISSN 0022-3166. PMID 12730444. Wikidata Q28202394.
- ^ Barry Popkin; Shufa Du; William D Green; et al. (26 August 2020). "Individuals with obesity and COVID-19: A global perspective on the epidemiology and biological relationships". Obesity Reviews. doi:10.1111/OBR.13128. ISSN 1467-7881. PMC 7461480. PMID 32845580. Wikidata Q98730075.
| Authority control databases: Academics |
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- Living people
- American nutritionists
- Women nutritionists
- 20th-century American scientists
- 20th-century American women scientists
- 21st-century American scientists
- 21st-century American women scientists
- University of California, Berkeley alumni
- California Polytechnic State University alumni
- Ohio State University alumni
- University of Nebraska Omaha people
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty
- Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science