For media covering the new Institute of Medicine (IOM) guidelines on vitamin D, several experts at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) are available for comment. The new guidelines updated the dietary reference intakes (DRIs) that the IOM established more than a decade ago and represent a significant change from previous limits. UMDNJ experts who are available to discuss these recommendations include:

John Bogden, MS, ScB, PhD, a professor of preventive medicine and community health at the UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School, can discuss the clinical applications of the new recommendations and can explain the values and limitations of the dietary reference intake measures included in the IOM report.

Laura Byham-Gray, PhD., RD, is an associate professor of nutritional sciences at the UMDNJ-School of Health Related Professions. Byham-Gray can identify good dietary sources of vitamin D and how individuals can maintain healthy levels of this nutrient. She can also comment on the continuing debates among nutritional scientists regarding vitamin D.

Sylvia Christakos, PhD, is a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School whose published research includes compelling evidence in animal models of the potential ability of vitamin D to prevent the growth of cancer cells and to protect against autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis.

Donald Noll, DO, a geriatrician with the New Jersey Institute for Successful Aging at the UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine, can discuss the importance of testing for vitamin D, particularly in older patients, balancing individual needs with the IOM recommendations and the health problems that older patients can encounter from a vitamin D deficiency.

The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) is the nation’s largest free-standing public health sciences university with more than 6,000 students attending the state’s three medical schools, its only dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, a school of health related professions, a school of nursing and its only school of public health on five campuses. Annually, there are more than two million patient visits at UMDNJ facilities and faculty practices at campuses in Newark, New Brunswick/Piscataway, Scotch Plains, Camden and Stratford. UMDNJ operates University Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center in Newark, and University Behavioral HealthCare, which provides a continuum of healthcare services with multiple locations throughout the state.

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Source: University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ)