Texas A&M vice chancellor to give talk on agriculture and national security
Published Sep 18, 2019
Dr. Patrick J. Stover, vice chancellor of agriculture and life sciences for The Texas A&M University System, will deliver a lecture, "Agriculture, Food and Nutrition: The Future of National Security," on Tuesday (24 Sept.) from 12 to 1 p.m. in the Multaqa Student Center Cinema in Education City.
Stover is vice chancellor of Texas A&M AgriLife, dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Texas A&M University and director of Texas A&M AgriLife Research in the A&M System. As vice chancellor and research director, he oversees the organization’s teaching, research, extension and service missions. These vital pursuits are carried out by more than 5,000 employees of the A&M System’s statewide agricultural agencies and the Texas A&M University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. As dean, Stover leads more than 7,800 students and 400 faculty members in 14 academic departments. He earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry and molecular biophysics from the Medical College of Virginia and completed his postdoctoral studies in nutritional sciences at the University of California, Berkeley.
Abstract: Harmonizing agriculture and food systems with human, environmental and economic health is among the greatest challenges to ensure prosperity, sustainability and national security globally. Hunger still exists globally, but now coexists with undernourishment and excessive caloric intake due to a growing disconnect between our food systems and human health. Metabolic and chronic diseases, and the associated costs of medical treatment and loss of productivity, are among the greatest contemporary challenges to public and global health. There is much research required to understand human nutrition requirements and heterogeneity among humans in the diet-disease relationships. However, there is irrefutable evidence that nutrition is essential to support human development and life-long health, starting with the maintenance of healthy stem cells throughout the life cycle. Scientific innovations in food and agriculture over the past decades have led an unprecedented capacity not only to increase yields, but also to scale and manipulate the nutrient composition food with precision. While increases in global food production, done in a manner that is environmentally and economically sustainable, will be essential to keep pace with world-wide population growth, reductions in the global burden of chronic disease will require the development of culturally acceptable food system architectures that support human health and are accessible to the most vulnerable populations.