Richard J. Deckelbaum is the Robert R. Williams Professor of Nutrition and the immediate past Director of the Institute of Human Nutrition at Columbia University, where he also holds professorships in pediatrics and epidemiology. He founded and directed divisions of pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology, and nutrition at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Columbia. In addition to his basic research in the cell biology of lipids, he has been active in translating basic science findings to practical application in humans with a long involvement in issues of human nutrition and cardiovascular diseases. His primary laboratory-based interests bridged from human plasma, lipoproteins, and now the metabolism of intravenous lipid emulsions, to cellular and gene regulatory effects of dietary fats and different types of fatty acids. His recent research has emphasized molecular mechanisms whereby acute injections of omega-3 lipid emulsions provide cardio- and neuro-protection after acute organ injury. This latter work led to establishing DeckTherapeutics Inc., a Columbia University spin-out developing novel first-in-class intravenous omega-3 diglyceride emulsions for blocking the adverse molecular pathways of devastating and costly organ injuries caused by acute hypoxia-ischemia, such as in ischemic stroke, myocardial infarction, and hypoxia near delivery in newborns. Richard has led program projects relating to gastrointestinal diseases in the Mideast and the USA, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), in addition to programs funded by industry.
Richard has published over 400 research and other publications, as well as being Co-Editor of a number of books, such as Preventive Nutrition, now in its 5th edition. He has chaired task forces for the American Heart Association, the European Atherosclerosis Society, the Institute of Medicine, and the March of Dimes, and has served on and/or chaired advisory committees of the NIH, RAND Corporation, the USA National Academy of Sciences, and WHO.
Richard has coordinated working groups on “eco-nutrition”, an evolving field integrating agriculture and ecology with food security, climate change, and nutrition. He served on the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Sciences, and is a Senior Fellow of the Synergos Institute. Among named lectureships and other honors, he is the recipient of the lifetime achievement awards from the Global Health Education Consortium and McGill University. He received his education at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.
