Professor and Section Chief
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Dr. Mario G. Ferruzzi is a Professor and Chief of the Section of Developmental Nutrition in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. He serves as the Director of the Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center, a partnership between USDA-ARS and the Arkansas Children’s Research Institute with a research focus on the roles of maternal-child nutrition and physical activity in optimizing health and development. He received his B.S. (1996) in Chemistry from Duke University and Ph.D. (2001) in Food Science and Nutrition from The Ohio State University. Dr. Ferruzzi has previously served as a David H. Murdock Distinguished Professor at North Carolina State University’s Plants for Human Health Institute (2016-2021) and as. Professor in the Departments of Food Science and Nutrition Science with Purdue University (2004-2016). Dr. Ferruzzi’s research interest interface of agriculture, food, and nutrition sciences in the study of micronutrient and phytochemical bioavailability, metabolism and impact to human health. He has a particular focus on strategies that can be leveraged to improve the nutritional and functional quality of food products for at risk populations. His main efforts have focused on characterization of plant foods including exploration of the chemistries and functionalities of bioactive phytochemicals and micronutrients. His group has placed a particular emphasis on studying how food formulation and processing impact the bioavailability, metabolism and potential nutritional and health impacts of phytochemicals and micronutrients. Dr. Ferruzzi’s efforts has received research support from federal, foundational and industry sources. His efforts also include significant international food and nutrition research and translational collaborations with leading academic and government research centers and institutions. He is a professional member of the Institute of Food Technologist, the American Society for Nutrition, the American Chemical Society, the Institute for the Advancement of Food and Nutrition Sciences and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.