Harold Aukema recognized for distinguished service in nutrition
The Canadian Nutrition Society (CNS) recently announced that Harold Aukema, professor in Food and Human Nutritional Sciences, has been awarded the Earle Willard McHenry Award for Distinguished Service in Nutrition. It was presented at the CNS Annual Conference held May 2-4 in Edmonton, AB.
This prestigious award is given annually in recognition of distinguished service in the field of nutrition in Canada. The award is given for merit in teaching, in inspiring students and colleagues, in providing leadership through professional associations leading to progress in nutrition, in giving administrative or material support towards the development of outstanding nutrition programs, and in research achievement.
The CNS citation reads:
Dr. Harold Aukema’s research has made significant contributions to our understanding of diet (lipid and protein types) for kidney health and in disease. His expertise with oxylipins has led to the development of a novel method for determining ALA (α-linolenic) requirements, and an appreciation of the role of oxylipins in various tissues and disease states, including the effects of sex differences. Dr. Aukema has published 134 papers (H-index 33; 3,717 citations in 2,521 documents), 228 abstracts, 3 book chapters, and has 1 published patent. His papers are published in key nutrition journals [Nutrition (n=17), Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry (n-8), British Journal of Nutrition (n=9), Applied Physiology Nutrition and Metabolism (n=6)] as well as specialty journals for lipids and renal areas. His most cited paper is a review in Advances in Nutrition (Gabbs et al 2015, Advances in our understanding of oxylipins derived from dietary PUFAs; 483 citations, including 7 thus far in 2024). In 2020, this review paper was recognized as the most cited article in the 2015 volume of Advances in Nutrition (10th anniversary collection). Many researchers express their appreciation for this comprehensive scoping review and indicate this review is being used in many graduate courses in nutrition as a key source of understanding of oxylipins.
Dr. Aukema has been a leader of CanU, a program that serves youth with untapped potential by bringing them to the University of Manitoba, and exposing them to various disciplines including nutrition, and in turn, this has created experiential learning opportunities for undergraduate nutrition students to coordinate and deliver the nutrition program via hands-on learning activities for food and nutrition skills. Dr. Aukema is a founding board member (2011-present) of CanU Canada. Since 2011, over 2000 children in Winnipeg have been able to participate in nutrition programs on campus. This has enabled over 170 University of Manitoba nutrition students the opportunity to enhance their nutrition training by acting as coordinators and facilitators in delivering these programs via experiential learning. Dr. Aukema has trained 33 graduate students (6 PhD and 23 MSc completed; 2 MSc and 2 PhD in progress), 3 post- doctoral fellows, 40 undergraduate students (several of these students more than one summer), and many technicians/research associates over the years. The trainees are first authors on the publications and many have been recognized at a number of national and international conferences.
Dr. Aukema chaired the Graduate Program for 13 years, during which time he initiated 2 major revisions of the graduate courses. He has been the Department’s Associate Head for 8 years, was Acting Department Head for 1.5 years, and he is currently on the Leadership team at the Canadian Centre for Agri-Food Research in Health and Medicine (CCARM) where his laboratory is located. Dr. Aukema has also served on both NSERC and CIHR review panels, he has been an Associate Editor for both Lipids and for Applied Physiology Nutrition and Metabolism (APNM) for 8-9 years and has reviewed papers for many journals and grant for several organizations on an ad hoc basis.