Professor
Oregon State University
Dr. Shay is a Professor of Nutrition and Food Science in the Department of Food Science and Technology at Oregon State University. Dr. Shay received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in 1990; his thesis work described the cloning of one of the first mammalian nutrient-regulated genes ever identified. Over the course of his career, Dr. Shay was named a ‘Future Leader in Nutritional Sciences’, by ILSI; a recipient of the mid-career “BioServ’ award for excellence in animal research; and most recently, named as a Fellow of the American Society for Nutrition.
After an NIH-funded postdoctoral fellowship, Dr. Shay began his career as a Principal Investigator in Food and Nutritional Sciences in 1992 at the University of Illinois. He then moved to the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Notre Dame, after which he worked for two years in the R&D group at the Kellogg Food Company, from 2005-2007, where he evaluated the efficacy and potential of novel health and wellness food ingredients. In 2007, he accepted a department head position in Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Florida and worked there for three years before accepting a Director and Professor position at Oregon State University in 2010, where he has been since.
His current interests relate to nutrient-gene interactions and the beneficial effects of the intake of phytochemicals and whole foods and their ability to remediate the negative effects of high-calorie, Western-style diets. The food components of major interest are polyphenols, omega-three fatty acids, and fiber, with a specifically focus on improvements of lipid metabolism, atherosclerosis, diabetes, and fatty liver though activation of nuclear receptors and other transcriptional mechanisms. Dr. Shay has enjoyed a steady record of peer-reviewed publications and research funding and has supervised numerous graduate students and postdoctoral trainees throughout his career. He has presented over fifty invited seminar presentations around the world. Shay recently completed twelve years of service on the editorial board for the Journal of Nutrition and is now an Academic Editor for Current Developments in Nutrition.