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W&L’s Helen I’Anson to Lecture on Increased Soda and Snacks in our Diet in her Inaugural Perry Professorship Lecture

Helen I’Anson, professor of biology at Washington and Lee University, will give her inaugural lecture marking her appointment as the John T. Perry Jr. Professor of Research in Biology, on May 19, at 5:30 p.m. in Parmly 307.

The title of the lecture, which is free and open to the public, is “Soda and Snacks: Is There Any Good News?”

“I’ll begin by talking briefly about my research background, and then I’ll focus on my work on energy partitioning during development from weaning to adulthood,” said I’Anson. “Most recently, my lab has been developing an animal model that will help us to understand the mechanisms regulating the onset of childhood obesity and metabolic syndrome. These diseases are reaching epidemic proportions in Western society—a rise that is correlated with increased sodas and snacks in our diet.”

I’Anson joined the faculty of Washington and Lee in 1995. She earned her B.S. in botany/zoology from the University College of Wales and her Ph.D. in physiology from the University of Kentucky. She did two years of post-graduate work in reproductive neuroendocrinology at the University of Michigan.

I’Anson is a co-author of “Integrated Principles of Zoology” (12th-16th eds.) and was a contributing author to the 11th edition. She is the co-author of 32 refereed research articles and co-author of the book chapter Nutrition and Reproduction in “Oxford Reviews of Reproductive Biology” (1991). She is the author and co-author of 52 published abstracts and meeting presentations.

She received the 2015-16 Lenfest Sabbatical Endowment award; was the primary writer and program director for 2012-2016 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Undergraduate Science Grant ($1 million); and was the primary writer and program director for 2008-12 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Undergraduate Science Grant ($1.3 million).

I’Anson is an ad hoc journal reviewer for the Journal of Reproduction and Fertility; the Journal of Endocrinology; Neuroendocrinology; Biology of Reproduction; Endocrinology; Physiology and Behavior, and Hormones and Behavior.