Dr. Robert S. Chapkin has been appointed to the William W. Allen Chair in Nutrition at Texas A&M University in College Station.

Chapkin is also a Distinguished Professor, Regents Professor and University Faculty Fellow in the Program in Integrative Nutrition and Complex Diseases, as well as a Texas A&M AgriLife Senior Faculty Fellow. He is a National Cancer Institute R35 Outstanding Investigator and is co-director of a National Institutes of Health-funded nutrition, biostatistics and bioinformatics training grant.

Dr. Robert S. Chapkin has been appointed to the William W. Allen Chair in Nutrition at Texas A&M University in College Station. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo)

The Allen Chair was established in 1990 to support the research of foods, which influence human health and nutrition including the development of new, genetically altered foods, which can prevent diet-related disease. Allen was a longtime research chemist for Dow Chemical Company and also served as a consultant for the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. He was moved by the hunger and malnutrition he witnessed in the world to start the Allen Foundation supporting education and research in human nutrition.

“We are extremely pleased to announce Dr. Chapkin’s appointment,” said Dr. Alan Sams, executive associate dean in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M. “His work is broad reaching and has made significant contributions in cancer chemoprevention and inflammation biology.”

“Dr. Chapkin is recognized nationally and internationally for his outstanding contributions to the understanding of nutrition and cancer,” said Dr. Boon Chew, head of the department of nutrition and food science at Texas A&M. “For this, he is very deserving of his appointment to serve as the Allen Chair ‘to support research of foods, which influence human health and nutrition. We enthusiastically look forward to Dr. Chapkin’s leadership and team building to advance the nexus of foods and health in serving the global community.”

Chapkin’s expertise is in dietary and botanical modulators related to prevention of cancer and chronic inflammatory diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease. His research centers on colon cancer prevention by investigating the impact of dietary fat, fiber and gut microbiota status on chronic disease processes.

He has received a number of awards for his work, including the Osborne and Mendel Award from the American Society for Nutrition, NASA Space Act Award and Bio Serv Award in Experimental Animal Nutrition from the American Society for Nutrition.

Chapkin also is a member of numerous professional societies and has authored or co-authored numerous scientific research publications.