My major research interests include:
- the nutritional management of acute and persistent diarrhea,
- micronutrient trials in developing countries to prevent diarrhea and respiratory infections, and
- general aspects of energy and protein metabolism in catabolic diseases.
My colleagues and I have performed studies evaluating the formulation and effectiveness of oral rehydration solutions (ORS) for the treatment of acute diarrhea. In several resource poor settings, we have performed clinical trials of ORS, the results of one such study resulting in the first significant change in the composition of ORS since its inception in the late 1960's. In collaboration with colleagues at HSPH and Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, we are evaluating the efficacy of micronutrient supplementation in infants and young children born to women with or at risk of HIV infection. With colleagues at St John's Research Institute in Bangalore, India, we are evaluating the effects of maternal vitamin B12 supplementation on biochemical and clinical parameters during pregnancy. Also at St. John's, we are expanding educational efforts in Nutrition at the undergradute and graduate level.
In both developing and industrialized countries, we have completed studies on the micronutrient status of children, including those with cystic fibrosis, malaria, undernutrition, and short bowel syndrome. We are applying state of the art nutritional assessment techniques (e.g., stable isotopes, indirect calorimetry, body composition methodologies) to patients with a variety of catabolic illnesses, including HIV/AIDS, inflammatory bowel disease, short bowel syndrome and cancer.
I have been an active member in several large multi-center clinical trial groups, including the CHOICE (a multinational group evaluating an ORS of reduced osmolarity) and ZAP groups (a multinational group evaluating the effects of supplemental zinc therapy in children with acute malaria), as well as the Glaser Pediatric Research Network.