Jean Andrews Distinguished Professor 2022

Emily Oken, MD, MPH

Dr. Emily Oken received a M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1996 followed by an internship and residency in internal medicine and pediatrics at the Harvard Combined Program.  She earned a MPH in Public Health from the Harvard School of Public Health in 2003. She is currently a Professor in the Departments of Nutrition at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health and Population Medicine at the Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute.  Within the Department of Population Medicine, she is Vice-Chair, Director of Faculty Development, and site director for the Harvard General Medicine fellowship. 

Dr. Oken’s ground-breaking research examines the role of nutrition, toxicants, and other modifiable factors on pregnancy, early childhood, and long-term maternal and child health. Her work addressing the risks and benefits associated with fish consumption during pregnancy has shaped the current approach to national guidelines that consider both the healthy and unhealthy consequences of specific types of nutrient intake during pregnancy.  Dr. Oken has also conducted numerous studies analyzing the long-term health effects of breastfeeding, maternal weight gain and gestational diabetes in the peripartum period, and how modifiable behaviors during pregnancy influence risk for obesity among mother and child.  

Past Speakers

2021 Dr. Anne McTiernan		Dr. Anne McTiernan is a Research Professor at the University of Washington Schools of Public Health and Medicine. A lot of her research thus far has focused on obesity, diet, and exercise on breast cancer risk and prognosis.
2019 Dr. Kevin Hall		Dr. Kevin Hall is the Integrative Physiology Section Chief and a Senior Investigator in the Laboratory of Biological Modeling at the National Institutes of Health. He is a nationally and internationally recognized expert in the factors that regulate energy balance.
2018 Dr. Rob Knight		Dr. Rob Knight is a Professor at the University of California, San Diego. A world leader in gut microbiomes, he is the co-founder of the American Gut Project and the Earth Microbiome Project.
2017 Dr. Edward Giovanucci		Dr. Edward Giovanucci is a Professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He spoke about nutritional, hormonal, and genetic factors related to various malignancies, especially those of the prostate and large bowel.
2016 Dr. Bruce Spiegelman		Dr. Bruce Spiegelman is the Stanley J. Korsmeyer Professor at Harvard Medical School and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
2015 Dr. David Heber		Dr. David Heber is a Professor of Medicine and Public Health and Founding Chief of the Division of Clinical Nutrition in the Department of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles.
2014 Dr. Randy Jirtle		Dr. Randy Jirtle is Professor of Epigenetics at the Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences, University of Bedfordshire, Bedford, UK and a senior scientist at McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
2013 Dr. Walter Willett		Dr. Walter Willett is the Fredrick John Stare Professor of Epidemiology and Nutrition, Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health.
2012 Dr. John Milner		Dr. John Milner is Chief of the Nutritional Science Research Group in the Division of Cancer Prevention of the National Cancer Institute.

History of lectureship

The Jean Andrews Centennial Faculty Fellowship in Human Nutrition was established by the Board of Regents of The University of Texas System on June 17, 1983, for the benefit of the College of Natural Sciences. Gift funds were provided by Jean Andrews, Ph.D. of Austin, Texas, a 1944 graduate of The University of Texas at Austin College of Natural Sciences. 

 Dr. Jean Andrews