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Professor
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Dr. Donovan received her B.S. and Ph.D. in Nutrition at the University of California at Davis in 1983 and 1988, respectively. After completing a post-doctoral fellowship in Pediatric Endocrinology at the Stanford University School of Medicine, she joined the faculty at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where she is currently Professor and Melissa M. Noel Endowed Chair in Diet and Health. Her laboratory conducts basic and translational research in the area of pediatric nutrition. On-going work in the lab is focusing on optimizing intestinal and cognitive development of neonates, development of the gut microbiome and prevention of childhood obesity and picky eating in children.Dr. Donovan has ~ 200 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters and has garnered ~$30M in extramural research funding. Her research efforts have been recognized by both national and international organizations with several awards, and her graduate students have been the recipients of prestigious fellowships, scholarships and awards for their research accomplishments. She served as President of the American Society for Nutrition for 2011-2012 and currently serves as the President of the International Society for Research on Human Milk and Lactation (ISRHML) for 2018-2020.