Dr. Carlson's exciting work was featured in the recent research publication, From the Bench and Beyond.
Dr. Carlson received her BS in Home Economics at Washington State University in 1969 and her Ph.D. in Nutrition (Minors in Biochemistry and Physiology) from Iowa State University in 1975. She had NICHD postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Wisconsin in the Dept. of Pathology (1975-1977) and at the University of South Florida in the Dept. of Pediatrics (1978-1979).
Dr. Carlson was a faculty member in several medical school departments of Pediatrics, mainly in Divisions of Newborn Medicine from 1979-1997 rising through the ranks to Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology and Biochemistry at the University of Tennessee in Memphis. Her major research interest was on the effects of fatty acids that compose a large percent of brain membranes and that are found in human milk but not in vegetable oils typically used in the production of US formulas.
Dr. Carlson moved to the University of Missouri Kansas City in 1997 and to the University of Kansas Medical Center in 1999. While at these universities, she has continued intervention studies of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and arachidonic acid (AA) supplementation of infants and branched out into studies of DHA supplemented pregnant women. The latter studies have been done in collaboration with the research team led by Dr. John Colombo at the University of Kansas.
Dr. Carlson and Dr. Colombo are currently doing a large clinical trial of infant DHA supplementation and have recently been funded for another intervention trial providing a large amount of DHA to women entering their second trimester of pregnancy. The goal of these trials is to evaluate the effect of DHA provided pre- and postnatally on visual development and behavior of infants, toddlers and, eventually, preschoolers.
Dr. Carlson’s work has been recognized nationally and internationally with numerous invitations to conferences. In 2002, DHA and AA were added to US infant formulas. In Nov. 2002, she was made an honorary member of the American Dietetic Association in recognition for her pioneering work in identifying DHA as a conditionally essential nutrient for developing infants. Dr. Carlson will receive the 2008 March of Dimes Agnes Higgins Award for outstanding achievement in the field of maternal-fetal nutrition at the American Public Health Association meeting in San Diego in October 2008.
Since 2002, Dr. Carlson has taken an active role in the education of US pediatricians, obstetricians, nurses and dietitians about the roles of DHA in maternal and infant health. As part of her role, she has been involved nationally and internationally in evaluating the quality of evidence and establishing best practice guidelines for intake of DHA by infants and pregnant women.
Dr. Susan E. Carlson was named the AJ Rice Professor of Nutrition in the Department of Dietetics and Nutrition at an investiture ceremony held April 29, 2008 at KUMC. Here she is shown with the AJ Rice Trustees. The ceremony celebrated AJ Rice whose wishes included increasing work to improve nutrition of mothers and their infants.
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