Jan 17, 2007

Dr. Barry M. Popkin has been named the first Carla Smith Chamblee distinguished professor of global nutrition in the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill effective Jan. 1.

The professorship was endowed by the late Carl M. Smith to honor his daughter, Carla Smith Chamblee, a Carolina graduate with a strong belief in the benefits of good nutrition and a great interest in advancing nutritional research. The professorship is to be awarded to a faculty member who focuses on global nutrition.

Popkin, who has been a Carolina School of Public Health faculty member since 1977, is director of the university’s Inter-Disciplinary Obesity Center and a fellow with the Carolina Population Center.

Popkin conducts global research on the patterns and determinants of shifts in dietary intake, physical activity and body composition that are occurring in the developing world, collectively called the nutrition transition. He has studied these trends in many countries, including China, Russia, the Philippines, South Africa and Brazil. He also has an equally large set of research activities on similar topics in the US. More details of his research activities can be found at www.nutrans.org.