Two UNCG students were among twelve graduate students around the country last year to win an abstract competition sponsored by the Bethesda, MD-based American Society for Nutritional Sciences.

“We’re a small school and we were going up against universities like Harvard and Johns Hopkins. So to get two from UNCG was exciting,” said J. Mark Brown, a Department of Nutrition doctoral student, who along with fellow student, Corinth Auld, received $750 travel grants to present their papers at the ASNS' annual meeting in San Diego.

Auld, a Raleigh native, was also one among three of the twelve attendees to win $500 in an oral competition held during their trip. During the competition, Brown and Auld had 15 minutes to present their data in front of an international audience who later asked questions.

The Winston-Salem-born Brown is working with Professor Michael K. McIntosh, PhD, on a study that examines why CLA, a fatty acid found in some meat and dairy products, can, ironically, help reduce fat.

“Most people think of all fat as being bad,”
said Brown. “There are certain fats, like CLA, that can be beneficial and we’re trying to figure out why.”

According to Brown, fat isn’t simply burned if we eat more meat or dairy products. “If you eat more meat and dairy, there are a lot of other fatty acids and nutrients that are going to make you gain weight,” he explained. “Ice cream, for example, would have relatively high amounts of CLA, but ice cream has a lot of sugar and other fats, too. We’d have to make CLA into a food supplement to get the effect.”

Auld is in her third year as a doctoral student working with Assistant Professor Ron F. Morrison, PhD, on an inquiry into how and why increases in fat cell number occur in obese children and “morbidly obese” adults.

“My specific project is trying to determine how adipocytes, or fat cells, divide or grow in number because in the majority of obesity studies, the focus has been on how cells grow in size," says Auld.

The awards from ASNS were not the first for Auld and Brown. In 2002, Brown received a pre-doctoral fellowship from ASNS. In 2003, Auld also received a pre-doctoral fellowship from ASNS/McNeil Nutritionals.

“It was very exciting to receive recognition from an organization outside the university,” said Auld. “It’s one thing when you’re excited in the lab with your professor and other students, but when someone outside is excited about what you’re doing, it makes me feel good.”