Dr. Clinton Allred, associate department head and associate professor of nutrition and food science
Between conducting cancer research, performing administrative duties as an associate department head, and teaching three nutrition courses, Dr. Clinton Allred, an associate professor of nutrition and food science, fills his schedule improving lives both inside and outside the classroom.
Through the chaos, however, Dr. Allred keeps his students as his top priority – most recently being awarded The Association of Former Students Distinguished Achievement Award for College-Level Teaching.
This award is special to Dr. Allred because the nominations came from students and, ultimately, students choose the award winners. “I think that since the nominations and evaluations all occurred independent of me is a very neat thing,” he said.
Aside from the teaching award from The Association of Former Students, Dr. Allred was also a recent recipient of the 2014 ILSI Malaspina International Scholar Travel Award.
Dr. Allred was one of only two North American recipients of this first-time, national award, allowing him to travel to the 2015 International Life Sciences Institute Annual Meeting in Arizona. “What was neat about attending the conference,” he said, “was having the opportunity to meet Dr. Alex Malaspina, the award’s namesake and founder. Dr. Malaspina been active in our field for more than 30 years.”
Photo by ILSI. Alex Malaspina International Scholars Travel Awards Back row, left to right: C. Allred; S. Muslimutan; K. Varady; A. de Souza Sant’Ana; Z. Šatalić. Front row, left to right: B. Aeri; A. Malaspina; Yukiko Nakanishi. Not shown: M. Armeno B. Mintah
Although the awards are nice, Dr. Allred’s favorite thing about his job is teaching and working with students.
“Teaching introductory major courses allows for a good opportunity to meet students when they first get in the degree,” he said, “and to hopefully start building the foundation of their knowledge in nutrition.”
“The opportunity to help someone understand something is awesome,” Dr. Allred continued. “We are very fortunate in this country that most people have a good idea of what is healthy and what is not. However, students don’t always understand why that is. Teaching in the classes that I do allows me to help them understand the ‘why’ of things and it’s extremely rewarding.”
Not only is Dr. Allred an extraordinary teacher, he is also a highly respected researcher, with funding from the American Cancer Society. His research focuses on how hormones and dietary compounds that mimic hormones influence the development in cancer.
“Specifically, we are interested in estrogen, a primary hormone found higher in women, because it appears as though estrogen suppresses the formation of colon cancer,” Dr. Allred said.
“If you look at the age match in women and men, before women become menopausal their estrogen levels are still higher and so they have a reduced risk of developing colon cancer. We are very interested in what that mechanism is,” said Dr. Allred.
“We want to know what estrogen does to this tissue that protects it against the formation of colon cancer,” he said. “We are also interested in different compounds that can mimic that hormone in the diet.”
The discovery aspect of his research is the most thrilling part for Dr. Allred. “At the end of the day,” he said, “we want to make a difference and conduct research that actually makes a real impact.”
As the associate department head and an associate professor in nutrition and food science, Dr. Allred said that his job is very rewarding.
“I really enjoy being here and the opportunity to work with students is incredibly gratifying,” Dr. Allred concluded. “Particularly, the thing that goes beyond the teaching and research that I do is the mentorship that I’m able to provide to help a student get where they want to go is by far the best part of this job.”
writer: Tara Hale