Rudolph honored by alma mater for health contributions

Rudolph honored by alma mater for health contributions
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Rice professor
Fred Rudolph has received one of the highest awards from
the alumni association of his alma mater, Iowa State University.

Rudolph, the
Ralph and Dorothy Looney Professor of Biochemistry and Cell
Biology and chair of the department, received the Distinguished
Achievement Citation, which honors extraordinary achievements
and preeminent contributions to agriculture, arts, business,
education, industry, public service, science or other endeavors.

A world-class
scientist with an international reputation, Rudolph, who
received his doctorate in biochemistry from Iowa State in
1971, has conducted work in a number of biological areas,
including enzymes and metabolism; but it is his nutritional
studies that have had a significant impact on the health
of the general population, particularly infants.

His research
led to the discovery of a previously unrecognized nutritional
requirement for a source of preformed nucleotides in the
diet. Nucleotides are compounds that are the building blocks
of DNA. They serve many critical functions in the body,
but in the past it was not known that they were required
in the diet. The absence of nucleotides results in decreased
immune function, reduced intestinal development in infants
and slower wound healing.

Rudolph’s
findings have led to new infant formulas that better approximate
human milk and improve infant immune function and intestinal
development. New clinical diets also have resulted in reduced
length of hospital stays by lowering infection rates and
improving immune function.

A Rice faculty
member since 1972, Rudolph, who also is executive director
of the Institute of Biosciences and Bioengineering, earned
a bachelor’s of science from the University of Missouri.
He also was a National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow
at the University of Wisconsin.