Please join us Monday, Oct. 27, at 6:30 p.m. for the March of Dimes Agnes Higgins Award Lecture and Reception honoring Dr. Susan E. Carlson, A. J. Rice Professor of Nutrition in the Department of Dietetics and Nutrition and Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Kansas Medical Center, and clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. This event is jointly sponsored by APHA’s Food & Nutrition and Maternal and Child Health Sections and will take place at the San Diego Marriott Hotel & Marina in the Marriott Hall, Salon 4.

The March of Dimes Agnes Higgins Award was developed in 1980 to recognize distinguished achievement in research, education or clinical services in the field of maternal-fetal nutrition. This year’s recipient, Dr. Susan E. Carlson, is internationally recognized for her work in maternal-fetal nutrition and specifically for her research on DHA, an omega-3 fatty acid. Dr. Carlson was the first to recognize and note the implications that human milk-fed infants had higher amounts of circulating DHA than formula-fed infants and, in 2002, was awarded honorary membership in the American Dietetic Association for her pioneering work leading to the recognition that DHA was a conditionally essential nutrient for infants. Since 2002, Dr. Carlson has taken an active role in the education of U.S. pediatricians, obstetricians, nurses and dietitians about the roles of DHA in maternal and infant health. She has been involved nationally and internationally in evaluating the quality of evidence and establishing best practice guidelines for intake of DHA by infants and pregnant women.

Dr. Carlson’s lecture, “Improving Maternal and Infant Nutrition: The DHA Story,” will be followed by a reception in her honor. Food and beverages will be served. For more information, please contact Mary Lavan, March of Dimes manager of professional education services.  The invitation for the lecture and reception is available here.