HNRCA New Director

Simin Meydani Heads HNRCA
Tufts University Names New Director of the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging

BOSTON (March 16, 2009) - Simin Nikbin Meydani, DVM, PhD, becomes the fourth director of the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (USDA HNRCA) at Tufts University effective March 16, 2009. Meydani served as Associate Director of the USDA HNRCA for the last four years.

"I look forward to working with Dr. Meydani in this expanded leadership role," said Jamshed Bharucha, PhD, Provost, and Senior Vice President of Tufts University. "She is a model colleague, maintaining an impressive research program while excelling as an academic leader," he added.

Meydani arrived at Tufts in 1984 to conduct research on the effects of nutrients on aging, immune system response and infection at the USDA HNRCA and to teach at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts. As senior scientist and director of the Nutritional Immunology Laboratory at the USDA HNRCA, Meydani has received numerous grants from the USDA and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and has been repeatedly recognized by her peers as president of the American Aging Association from 2005-2006 and the recipient of distinction awards from the American Society of Nutrition, American College of Nutrition, and American Aging Association as well as international organizations. She has served and continues to serve on several governmental committees and editorial boards of scientific journals. Meydani is involved in university-wide initiatives like the Women in Science, Engineering and Medicine Symposium and Postdoctoral Task Force and continuously works toward the benefit of the USDA HNRCA, Tufts University and the field of nutrition and aging as a whole.

"Over the last 30 years research conducted by the USDA HNRCA scientists has helped shape nutrition policy in the United States and abroad," said Meydani. "I am very excited to have the opportunity to work closely with my colleagues to ensure continuation of high quality research with significant impact for the health of older Americans and those around the world," she added.

Meydani succeeds Professor Emeritus Robert M. Russell, MD, who stepped down as director of the USDA HNRCA in July. One of six human nutrition research centers in the United States supported by the USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS), the USDA HNRCA is charged with exploring the relationships between nutrition, aging, and health.

Meydani will continue to serve as a professor at The Friedman School and The Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts University. She holds a doctorate in veterinary medicine from Tehran University as well as a PhD in nutrition from Iowa State University.