Elizabeth Mayer-Davis
{{Short description|American nutritionist and academic}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Beth Mayer-Davis
| image = Elizabeth Mayer-Davis at USDA.jpg
| caption = Mayer-Davis speaks to the US Department of Agriculture in 2019
| birth_name = Elizabeth Jane Mayer-Davis
| workplaces = UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
| alma_mater = University of California, Berkeley
University of Tennessee
University of Colorado School of Medicine
| thesis_title = Genetic and behavioral determinants of insulin concentrations in healthy twins
| thesis_url = https://worldcat.org/en/title/927418586
| thesis_year = 1992
}}
Elizabeth "Beth" Mayer-Davis is an American nutritionist who is the Cary C. Boshamer Distinguished Professor at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health. She is the Director of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Nutrition Obesity Research Center, and Dean of the UNC Graduate School. She has sought to better understand diabetes. She was awarded the 2019 American Diabetes Association Kelly West Award.
Early life and education
Mayer-Davis says she became interested in diabetes in high school because her friend was diagnosed with type 1.{{Cite web |last=Elizabeth |first=Hubscher |date=2019-08-13 |title=Chipping Away at Diabetes Research: An Interview with Dr. Elizabeth Mayer-Davis |url=https://asweetlife.org/chipping-away-at-diabetes-research-an-interview-with-dr-elizabeth-mayer-davis/}} She studied dietetics at the University of Tennessee.{{Cite web |date=2011-01-26 |title=President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts |url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2011/01/26/president-obama-announces-more-key-administration-posts |access-date=2023-05-06 |website=whitehouse.gov |language=en}} She moved to the University of Colorado School of Medicine for graduate studies, where she completed a master's in public health.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}} Mayer-Davis was a doctoral researcher at the University of California, Berkeley, where she studied the genetic determinants of insulin concentration in healthy twins.{{Cite web |title=Genetic and behavioral determinants of insulin concentrations in healthy twins {{!}} WorldCat.org |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/927418586 |access-date=2023-05-06 |website=www.worldcat.org |language=en}}
Research and career
Mayer-Davis has dedicated her career to understanding the epidemiology of diabetes.{{Cite web |last=bwbieltz |date=2022-09-07 |title=Meet Dean Beth Mayer-Davis {{!}} UNC-Chapel Hill |url=https://www.unc.edu/posts/2022/09/07/meet-dean-beth-mayer-davis/ |access-date=2023-05-06 |website=The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill |language=en-US}} She is interested in the ways nutrition impacts diabetes, and the identification of strategies to improve diabetes prognosis. Her research particularly considers youth and young adults and how to support them to manage their own disease.
Mayer-Davis led the Carolina activity for the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth study, the largest and most diverse study of diabetes among American youth. SEARCH was supported by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. The study found that many young people who had diabetes were not complying with the guidelines for diabetes care, and that this particularly impacted people from low income minority backgrounds.{{Cite journal |last=Hamman |first=Richard F. |last2=Bell |first2=Ronny A. |last3=Dabelea |first3=Dana |author-link3=Dana Dabelea|last4=D’Agostino |first4=Ralph B. |last5=Dolan |first5=Lawrence |last6=Imperatore |first6=Giuseppina |last7=Lawrence |first7=Jean M. |last8=Linder |first8=Barbara |last9=Marcovina |first9=Santica M. |last10=Mayer-Davis |first10=Elizabeth J. |last11=Pihoker |first11=Catherine |last12=Rodriguez |first12=Beatriz L. |last13=Saydah |first13=Sharon |date=2014-12-01 |title=The SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study: Rationale, Findings, and Future Directions |url=https://diabetesjournals.org/care/article/37/12/3336/29405/The-SEARCH-for-Diabetes-in-Youth-Study-Rationale |journal=Diabetes Care |language=en |volume=37 |issue=12 |pages=3336–3344 |doi=10.2337/dc14-0574 |issn=0149-5992 |pmc=4237981 |pmid=25414389}}
In 2011, Mayer-Davis was made President for Health Care and Education for the Association.{{citation needed|date=May 2023}} She joined Obama's Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion and Integrative and Public Health.{{Cite web |title=Carolina Public Health, Spring 2012, The Power of Prevention by UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health – Issuu |url=https://issuu.com/uncpublichealth/docs/cph_2012_spring_all |access-date=2023-05-06 |website=issuu.com |language=en}} In 2016, Mayer-Davis became Chair of the Department of Nutrition in the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health.{{Cite web |last=krieper |date=2023-03-06 |title=Meet Beth Mayer-Davis, graduate school dean |url=https://thewell.unc.edu/2023/03/06/meet-beth-mayer-davis-graduate-school-dean/ |access-date=2023-05-06 |website=The Well |language=en-US}} She directed the Nutrition Obesity Research Center, a National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases funded initiative to advance obesity-related research.{{Cite web |title=UNC Nutrition Obesity Research Center |url=https://norc.unc.edu/ |access-date=2023-05-06 |website=norc.unc.edu}} She was appointed to the United States Department of Agriculture 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee.{{Cite web |title=Mayer-Davis selected as member of 2020 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee |url=https://sph.unc.edu/sph-news/mayer-davis-selected-as-member-of-2020-dietary-guidelines-advisory-committee/ |access-date=2023-05-06 |website=UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health |language=en}}
In 2022, Mayer-Davis was appointed the Carolina lead of the NIH Nutrition for Precision Health Consortium,{{Cite web |title=UNC researchers to lead 2 centers for $170M NIH Nutrition for Precision Health Consortium |url=https://sph.unc.edu/sph-news/unc-researchers-to-lead-2-centers-for-170m-nih-nutrition-for-precision-health-consortium/ |access-date=2023-05-06 |website=UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health |language=en}} where she launched the All of Us program, which enrolled thousands of participants to better understand differences in metabolisms and personalized intervention strategies.
In July 2022, Mayer-Davis was appointed Dean of the UNC Graduate School.{{Cite web |title=Mayer-Davis to serve UNC as dean of The Graduate School |url=https://sph.unc.edu/sph-news/mayer-davis-to-serve-unc-as-dean-of-the-graduate-school/ |access-date=2023-05-06 |website=UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Q&A: Dean Beth Mayer-Davis begins first semester leading UNC's Graduate School |url=https://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2022/11/university-new-grad-school-dean |access-date=2023-05-06 |website=The Daily Tar Heel}}
Awards and honors
- 2017 American Society for Nutrition Nutrition Education Award{{Cite web |title=Mayer-Davis receives ASN's Excellence in Nutrition Education Award |url=https://sph.unc.edu/sph-news/mayer-davis-receives-asns-excellence-in-nutrition-education-award/ |access-date=2023-05-06 |website=UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health |language=en}}
- 2019 American Diabetes Association Kelly West Award Recipient for Outstanding Achievement in Epidemiology{{Cite web |title=Elizabeth J. Mayer-Davis, PhD, Named American Diabetes Association's® 2019 Kelly West Award Recipient for Outstanding Achievement in Epidemiology {{!}} ADA |url=https://diabetes.org/newsroom/press-releases/2019/2019-kelly-west-award |access-date=2023-05-06 |website=diabetes.org}}
Selected publications
- {{Cite Q|Q42376616}}
- {{Cite Q|Q34459718}}
- {{Cite Q|Q37278232}}
References
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Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni
Category:University of Tennessee alumni
Category:University of Colorado School of Medicine alumni
Category:University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill faculty
Category:American nutritionists
Category:20th-century American scientists
Category:20th-century American women scientists