Lynn Bailey, Folic Acid Expert, Receives March Of Dimes Award

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Lynn Bailey (352) 392-1991, ext.213

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ATLANTA — Lynn Bailey, professor of human nutrition in the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, today (10/22) received the March of Dimes Agnes Higgins Award for outstanding achievements in the field of maternal-fetal nutrition.

The award was presented to Bailey by Jennifer Howse, president of the March of Dimes, at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association in Atlanta.

Bailey is an internationally recognized authority on the B vitamin folic acid and its metabolism and requirements in pregnancy. Her research, which spans more than two decades, has focused primarily on determining the requirements of folic acid, a key vitamin essential for normal maternal health and fetal growth.

She has been major contributor to the understanding that consumption of this vitamin prior to pregnancy can help prevent serious birth defects of the brain and spine known as neural tube defects.

Bailey has served as a scientific advisor to many government agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). She served as a member of the NAS committee that wrote new dietary intake recommendations for folic acid and other B vitamins.

As a teacher and mentor for many graduate students in UF’s College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, Bailey has helped raise the quality of maternal-fetal nutritional care. She is frequently invited to speak at scientific conferences and professional meetings for health care practitioners.

She is editor of Folate in Health and Disease (Marcel Dekker, 1995) and the author of numerous scholarly publications and book chapters. Her achievements have been recognized by many organizations, including USDA, which presented her with the Secretary’s Award for Superior Service in Research. In 1997, 1999 and 2001, she received UF’s Professional Excellence and Research Professorship Awards.

Bailey, who joined the faculty in UF’s food science and human nutrition department in 1977, received a bachelor’s degree in biology from Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina and a master’s degree in nutrition from Clemson University. She earned a doctorate and completed post-doctoral training in nutrition at Purdue University.

The March of Dimes is a national voluntary health agency whose mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects and infant mortality. Founded in 1938, the March of Dimes funds programs in research, education, community services and advocacy to save babies.

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Posted: October 22, 2001


Category: UF/IFAS



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