The Baton Rouge Health District recently welcomed Dr. John Kirwan, executive director of LSU’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center, to its board of directors. Kirwan joined Pennington Biomedical on Jan. 1, 2018, and has nearly 30 years of research, teaching, and service experience in diabetes and obesity.
He most recently served as the director of the Metabolic Translational Research Center and professor of molecular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio. In addition, he is a professor of physiology and nutrition at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland. Dr. Kirwan has won two National Institutes of Health (NIH) awards during his career, the National Research Training Award (1989), and the National Research Service FIRST Award (1995). He is an active member of the American Diabetes Association, the Obesity Society, and the American College of Sports Medicine.
Over its 30-year history, Pennington Biomedical’s central focus has been discovering the triggers of and new treatments for chronic diseases including diabetes, obesity, heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease. “We believe biomedical research will deliver the breakthrough answers needed to solve one of the biggest health care challenges of our time – the chronic disease epidemic,” Kirwan said.
“I look forward to working with the Baton Rouge Health District and its membership, and to sharing our scientific discoveries with the Board, so that together we can continue to build a healthier environment for the entire Baton Rouge community,” Kirwan added.
Other members of the Baton Rouge Health District Board of Directors include:
· Teri Fontenot, Woman’s Hospital president and CEO
· Eric McMillen, Ochsner Medical Center-Baton Rouge CEO
· John Spain, executive vice president of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation; Chair
· Todd Stevens, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center CEO
· Edgardo Tenreiro, General Health System president and CEO
· Dr. I. Steve Udvarhelyi, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana president and CEO
· Scott Wester, Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center CEO; Secretary / Treasurer
For more information about the Baton Rouge Health District go to www.brhealthdistrict.com.