By Patrick Wascovich

Dr. Jay Horton

Dr. Jay D. Horton, Professor of Internal Medicine and of Molecular Genetics at UT Southwestern Medical Center, has been selected as the second Director of the Center for Human Nutrition, one of the institution’s longest tenured Centers of study and research.

Dr. Horton succeeds Dr. Scott M. Grundy, who directed the Center for 32 years before stepping down in 2013 while remaining on the faculty as Professor of Internal Medicine. In his new position, Dr. Horton will hold the Distinguished Chair in Human Nutrition and the Dr. Scott M. Grundy Distinguished Professorship in Human Nutrition.

“Dr. Horton was selected for this position after a national search because of his outstanding accomplishments in both biomedical science and academic leadership,” said Dr. J. Gregory Fitz, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, and Dean of UT Southwestern Medical School. “He will have the opportunity to continue the legacy established by the founding Director, Dr. Scott Grundy, at an important juncture in a time when a critical understanding of issues in metabolism, obesity, and regulation of appetite are of increasing importance as key drivers of health and well-being.”

Dr. Horton, who is also Chief of the Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases, said, “It is a great honor to be chosen to continue in the footsteps of Dr. Grundy. He, and members of the Center for Human Nutrition, have been international leaders in lipid research and their investigations have resulted in numerous groundbreaking discoveries that have not only enhanced our understanding of metabolism and physiology, but that have also led to clinical guidelines used to diagnose and treat individuals with disorders of cholesterol and fat metabolism. The challenge will be to build on the prior successes to cement UT Southwestern as the preeminent institution in metabolism research.”

The science of nutrition helps improve quality of life by offering  methods that not only treat, but also prevent illness. Research has demonstrated that nutrition plays a role in the cause of many chronic diseases, such as coronary heart disease, stroke, diabetes, osteoporosis, cancer, and even some acute illnesses. As clinical investigators, faculty involved with the Center for Human Nutrition work to understand the study of abnormal metabolism and to draw out the contributions of nutrition and genetics in human beings.

Collaboration between the Center and the Department of Clinical Nutrition allows the Medical Center to offer programs that involve the educational component to nutrition and are linked closely to the research conducted at the Center. The Center and the Department work hand-in-hand to translate laboratory discovery into patient application.

Dr. Horton said that departmental and cross-disciplinary collaborations, along with Center growth, will be priorities moving forward.

“The overarching mission of the Center for Human Nutrition will be to identify, train, and recruit new investigators who will discover and characterize the molecular, biochemical, metabolic, and physiological processes that contribute to human metabolic diseases,” he said. “The Center has served as a conduit for translational research in lipid metabolism and for the training and development of young faculty members at UT Southwestern. These fundamental functions will be continued and the role of the Nutrition Center will be broadened.”

Some of the steps and opportunities for growth include:

• creating the infrastructure necessary to facilitate interdisciplinary research in metabolism;
• recruiting and developing new investigators to expand the research base to address fundamental questions in metabolism using new approaches and novel scientific tools;
• enhancing emerging technologies that utilize mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance to study metabolism in model systems and in humans;
• developing clinical translational researchers to probe the mechanisms contributing to metabolic diseases, and
• developing a human nutrition program that provides nutritional support and expertise for patients.

Dr. Horton is an internationally acclaimed physician-scientist who is making fundamental contributions to the understanding of lipogenesis, steatohepatitis, and cholesterol metabolism.

His research focuses on key aspects of lipid synthesis, insulin action, and cholesterol metabolism. Among many accomplishments, his characterization of secreted PCSK9 and this protein’s interactions with low density lipoprotein receptors provided the foundation for a new class of agents just approved by the FDA for lowering serum cholesterol levels.

Dr. Horton has an equal commitment to UT Southwestern’s educational mission, and has trained a large number of physicians, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students, and is the Director of the Internal Medicine section of the Physician Scientist Training Program. Dr. Horton also served as Principal Investigator of a major NIH-funded institutional grant that coalesced research efforts from many campus laboratories to address Topics in Obesity Research at Southwestern (TORS).

“At UT Southwestern, we have outstanding programs in obesity, regulation of appetite and satiety, lipogenesis, and many related areas of metabolism, and we look forward to the future under Dr. Horton’s able leadership,” said Dr. David Russell, Vice Provost and Dean of Basic Research.

The search committee was chaired by Dr. David Mangelsdorf, and included Drs. Perry Bickel, Joseph Goldstein, Helen Hobbs, and Robert Toto.   

A UT Southwestern faculty member since 1997, Dr. Horton earned his medical degree from the University of Iowa in 1988. He then came to UT Southwestern to complete an internal medicine residency, a gastroenterology fellowship, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute fellowship in molecular genetics.

As a faculty member, Dr. Horton’s accomplishments have resulted in broad recognition and his selection for membership in the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians, and other honorary organizations. He also serves on many NIH and corporate advisory boards.

Center for Human Nutrition

In 1981, with the help of $1 million in support provided to the Medical Center by an anonymous family, UT Southwestern established the Center for Human Nutrition, the first such focused enterprise at an American medical school. At the time, there were only two other such endowed Centers at UT Southwestern – the Eugene McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development, founded in 1972, and the Harry S. Moss Heart Center, established in 1976.

The Human Nutrition Center’s mission was to offer a place where faculty could do their independent research of nutrition for the treatment and the prevention of disease, provide nutritional education for health professionals, to answer questions about how what humans eat affects our bodies and why, and to provide educational programs and consultation services for the community.

Within a few years, the breadth of discoveries and investigations at the Center resulted in the 1985 formation of the Friends of the Center for Human Nutrition, a group whose support helps to organize, fund, and publicize nutrition research and advancements. Founded by philanthropist Peter O’Donnell Jr., the Friends have raised about $4 million to support the Center’s fellows and faculty members throughout the years. John Levy is the current Chair of the group. Mr. O’Donnell and Roger Horchow are past Presidents of the Friends, and Charles Best, Mrs. Dan Busbee, Mrs. John Locke, C. Thomas May Jr., and Will Montgomery are past Chairs.

 ###

• Dr. Bickel, Chief of Endocrinology in the Department of Internal Medicine, holds the Daniel W. Foster, M.D. Distinguished Chair in Internal Medicine. Dr. Bickel also is Director of the Jean D. Wilson Center for Biomedical Research and Associate Professor of Internal Medicine.
• Dr. Fitz holds the Nadine and Tom Craddick Distinguished Chair in Medical Science, and the Atticus James Gill, M.D. Chair in Medical Science.
• Nobel Laureate Dr. Goldstein, Chairman of Molecular Genetics and a Regental Professor, holds the Julie and Louis A. Beecherl, Jr. Distinguished Chair in Biomedical Research, and the Paul J. Thomas Chair in Medicine.
• Dr. Hobbs, Professor and Director of the Eugene McDermott Center for Human Growth and Development, and Professor of Internal Medicine and Molecular Genetics, holds the Eugene McDermott Distinguished Chair for the Study of Human Growth and Development, the Philip O’Bryan Montgomery Jr., M.D., Distinguished Chair in Developmental Biology, and the [1995] Dallas Heart Ball Chair in Cardiology Research.
• Dr. Mangelsdorf, Chairman of Pharmacology, and Professor of Biochemistry, holds the Alfred G. Gilman Distinguished Chair in Pharmacology, and the Raymond and Ellen Willie Distinguished Chair in Molecular Neuropharmacology in Honor of Harold B. Crasilneck, Ph.D.
• Dr. Russell holds the Eugene McDermott Distinguished Chair in Molecular Genetics.
• Dr. Toto, Professor of Internal Medicine and Associate Dean for Translational Science, holds the Mary M. Conroy Professorship in Kidney Disease.

Some of the discoveries and national initiatives driven by the Center for Human Nutrition include:

• Evaluation of the potential for increasing intakes of monounsaturated fatty acids, particularly oleic acid, in the diet of Americans. Center investigators took particular interest in the diets of people in the Mediterranean region, which have traditionally been high in oleic acid from cooking fats. By 1984, the Center had reported on the safety of monounsaturated oils, which helped popularize olive oil as a cooking component and the national proliferation of the Mediterranean diet.
• Drs. Michael Brown and Joseph Goldstein received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1985 for their discoveries concerning the regulation of cholesterol metabolism. Their discoveries, in turn, led to the development of cholesterol-lowering statin drugs, used by millions of people today. These drugs are among the most widely prescribed medications in the U.S. Dr. Grundy and researchers at the Center were among the first in the world to test statin medications.
• Researchers published results of a 1991 study demonstrating that a diet fortified with calcium lowered cholesterol levels – the first significant study to show a link between a high-calcium diet and lowered cholesterol.
• In 1991, Center leaders initially called upon food manufacturers to more accurately identify the components of packaged foods, with particular attention to trans-unsaturated fats. In 2003, the Food and Drug Administration issued a regulation requiring manufacturers to list trans fatty acids, or trans fat, on food labels.
• Dr. Abhimanyu Garg was part of a landmark study in 1994 that found a diet rich in monounsaturated fats improved the heart health of patients with type 2 diabetes, when compared to a diet high in carbohydrates.
• For decades, Center researchers have studied the “metabolic syndrome,” a cluster of disorders that affects more than 47 million Americans. The disorders of the body's metabolism – such as abdominal obesity, hypertension, and insulin resistance – can increase one's risk of heart disease, dangerous plaque buildup in artery walls and non-insulin-dependent diabetes.
• Dr. Jonathan Cohen has found that genetics can determine cholesterol levels. He and fellow researcher in the Center identified a genetic mutation that can affect levels of HDL, providing some people with more natural immunity to high cholesterol and vice versa.
• Center leaders have chaired the National Cholesterol Education Program and Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults, as well as the NCEP Adult Treatment Panel II, which advocated for more aggressive cholesterol-lowering treatment for high-risk patients; modifications of low-high-density lipoprotein; new dietary and lifestyle recommendations; and identification of the metabolic syndrome as an enhancer of risk beyond elevated LDL cholesterol.