Kent L. Thornburg

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kent L. Thornburg (born July 11, 1945) is an American scientist, researcher and professor. He lives in Portland, Oregon and works at Oregon Health & Science University[1] (OHSU), in the School of Medicine.[2] He is the director for both the OHSU Center for Developmental Health[3] and the Moore Institute for Nutrition & Wellness[4][5]

Developmental Origins of Health and Disease[edit]

Source[6]

Thornburg uses a broad range of scientific disciplines to investigate how maternal stressors before, during and after pregnancy affect the risk for the offspring acquiring chronic diseases later in life. This field of research is known as the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD).[6] He was a friend and collaborator of Professor David Barker,[7] FRS,[8] the English physician and epidemiologist who originated the Barker Hypothesis,[9] which proposed that the environmental, social, and nutritional conditions that an embryo, fetus and early infant is exposed to, determine their risk for acquiring chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, obesity and osteoporosis later in life. 

Current research (2020)[edit]

Thornburg's research includes cardiac and pulmonary[10] (lung) physiology, placentology,[11] and developmental programming[12] - as well as epigenetics[13] and epidemiology. He studies the ways in which the fetus adapts to a variety of stressors during pregnancy, including psychosocial and nutritional stress. He also studies the roles that maternal obesity, preeclampsia and gestational diabetes play in placental and fetal growth. He collaborates with scientists in several countries, in rural Oregon and in Alaska.  

Education[edit]

1967: Bachelor of Arts in Biology (George Fox University)[14]

1970 and 1972: Master of Science in Zoology and Doctorate of Philosophy in Developmental Physiology and Embryology, (Oregon State University)[15]

1971-1973: NIH Post-doctoral fellow, Cardiovascular Sciences, Department of Physiology (now Department of Chemical Physiology and Biochemistry,[16] (Oregon Health and Science University)[17]

1974: Postdoctoral Studies: Electron Microscopy and Physics, (Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis)[18]

1989-1990: Sabbatical, Molecular Embryology (University of Manchester, UK)[19]

Academic positions[edit]

Thornburg is the M. Lowell Edwards[20] Endowed Chair for Cardiovascular Research and Professor of Medicine in the Knight Cardiovascular Institute[21] at OHSU. He holds joint professorships in the Departments of Chemical Physiology and Biochemistry, Biomedical Engineering, Anesthesiology & Perioperative Medicine and Obstetrics, and Gynecology.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Kent L. Thornburg Ph.D. | OHSU People | OHSU". www.ohsu.edu.
  2. ^ "School of Medicine | OHSU". www.ohsu.edu. Retrieved 2020-07-20.
  3. ^ "Center for Developmental Health | Knight Cardiovascular Institute | OHSU". www.ohsu.edu. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  4. ^ "The Moore Institute | OHSU". www.ohsu.edu. Retrieved 2021-02-03.
  5. ^ "Dr. Kent Thornburg Named Interim Director of Nutrition & Wellness Institute". M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust. 2011-12-31. Retrieved 2021-02-02.
  6. ^ a b Heindel, Jerrold J.; Vandenberg, Laura N. (April 2015). "Developmental Origins of Health and Disease: A Paradigm for Understanding Disease Etiology and Prevention". Current Opinion in Pediatrics. 27 (2): 248–253. doi:10.1097/MOP.0000000000000191. ISSN 1040-8703. PMC 4535724. PMID 25635586.
  7. ^ "[In memoriam: David Barker, M.D., Ph.D., FRS] | OHSU". www.ohsu.edu. Retrieved 2020-07-20.
  8. ^ "Fellows | Royal Society". royalsociety.org. Retrieved 2021-01-26.
  9. ^ Edwards, Matthew (2017), Preedy, Victor; Patel, Vinood B. (eds.), "The Barker Hypothesis", Handbook of Famine, Starvation, and Nutrient Deprivation: From Biology to Policy, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 1–21, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-40007-5_71-1, ISBN 978-3-319-40007-5, S2CID 89646607, retrieved 2021-01-26
  10. ^ Barker, David J. P.; Thornburg, Kent L.; Osmond, Clive; Kajantie, Eero; Eriksson, Johan G. (July 2010). "The prenatal origins of lung cancer. II. The placenta". American Journal of Human Biology. 22 (4): 512–516. doi:10.1002/ajhb.21041. ISSN 1520-6300. PMID 20309992. S2CID 13575075.
  11. ^ Thornburg, Kent L.; Marshall, Nicole (2015-10-01). "The placenta is the center of the chronic disease universe". American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 213 (4, Supplement): S14–S20. doi:10.1016/j.ajog.2015.08.030. ISSN 0002-9378. PMC 4593619. PMID 26428494.
  12. ^ Burton, Graham J.; Fowden, Abigail L.; Thornburg, Kent L. (2016-09-07). "Placental Origins of Chronic Disease". Physiological Reviews. 96 (4): 1509–1565. doi:10.1152/physrev.00029.2015. ISSN 0031-9333. PMC 5504455. PMID 27604528.
  13. ^ "How Portlanders Are Forging the Frontier of Epigenetics". Portland Monthly. Retrieved 2021-02-02.
  14. ^ "The 100-Year Effect - Summer 2016 George Fox Journal". George Fox University.
  15. ^ "Oregon State University". oregonstate.edu. Retrieved 2020-07-20.
  16. ^ "Chemical Physiology and Biochemistry | OHSU". www.ohsu.edu. Retrieved 2020-07-20.
  17. ^ "OHSU | Healing Begins with Discovery". www.ohsu.edu. Retrieved 2020-07-20.
  18. ^ "Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis". Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Retrieved 2020-07-20.
  19. ^ "The University of Manchester". www.manchester.ac.uk. Retrieved 2020-07-20.
  20. ^ "From fuel pump to heart valve, M. Lowell Edwards sought solutions". OHSU News. Retrieved 2020-07-20.
  21. ^ "Knight Cardiovascular Institute | OHSU". www.ohsu.edu. Retrieved 2020-07-20.

External links[edit]