Dr. Eric Ravussin is a world-renowned metabolic physiologist and leading authority in obesity and diabetes research. He currently serves as Associate Executive Director for Clinical Science at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center where he also holds the Douglas L. Gordon Endowed Chair in Diabetes and Metabolism. After earning his PhD in Human Physiology from the University of Lausanne in 1980, he built a distinguished career spanning more than four decades in translational metabolism research. His academic journey includes significant leadership roles as Director of the Nutrition Obesity Research Center and as a Boyd Professor within the Louisiana State University system since 2012.
Dr. Ravussin's groundbreaking research has fundamentally transformed our understanding of energy metabolism, body composition, and carbohydrate metabolism in health and disease states. His pioneering work establishing metabolic chambers to measure energy expenditure in humans has become the gold standard for clinical metabolic research worldwide. Over the past twenty years, he has led translational studies investigating the skeletal muscle and adipose tissue cross-talk mechanisms that influence inflammation, nutrient partitioning, and insulin sensitivity. With more than 650 peer-reviewed publications and an impressive h-index of 123, his research on caloric restriction, intermittent fasting, and weight regulation has profoundly influenced clinical approaches to obesity and type 2 diabetes management.
Beyond his research achievements, Dr. Ravussin has been instrumental in training the next generation of metabolic researchers, mentoring more than sixty postdoctoral fellows who have gone on to establish their own successful research programs. He currently leads the Pennington Biomedical Clinical Center for the NIH's Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity Consortium and serves as multi-Principal Investigator for the Clinical Site of the Nutrition for Precision Health initiative. His vision for integrating multi-omics approaches with clinical metabolic phenotyping continues to drive innovation in precision nutrition. Dr. Ravussin remains dedicated to unraveling the complex metabolic mechanisms underlying obesity and diabetes while translating these discoveries into practical interventions that improve human health outcomes.
