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Eric Ravussin, PhD

About

Eric Ravussin, PhD is Associate Executive Director for Clinical Sciences at Pennington Biomedical and a Boyd Professor at Louisiana State University. Dr. Ravussin is an internationally recognized translational investigator in obesity and type 2 diabetes research. Over his more than 35 year career, he has conducted numerous clinical investigations on measures of energy expenditure, body composition, carbohydrate metabolism and biomarkers of aging in health and disease states. Over the past 15 years he has also established a wet lab studying skeletal muscle and adipose tissue cross talks and the relationship of these two tissues on inflammation, nutrient partitioning and insulin sensitivity. His research now focuses on the molecular basis of obesity and its co-morbidities. His studies are aimed at understanding the molecular mechanisms that determine the inter-individual variability in energy expenditure, fat oxidation and energy balance in response to caloric restriction, increased or decreased physical activity, overfeeding or physiological conditions such as puberty, pregnancy or menopause.

Key Publications

  • Ravussin E, Bogardus C. Thermogenic response to insulin and glucose infusions in man: a model to evaluate the different components of the thermic effect of carbohydrate. Life Sci. 1982 Nov 1;31(18):2011-8.  PMID: 6757619.
  • Ravussin E, Lillioja S, Anderson TE, Christin L, Bogardus C. Determinants of 24-hour energy expenditure in man. Methods and results using a respiratory chamber. J Clin Invest. 1986 Dec;78(6):1568-78. PMID: 3782471; PMCID: PMC423919.
  • Ravussin E, Lillioja S, Knowler WC, Christin L, Freymond D, Abbott WG, Boyce V, Howard BV, Bogardus C. Reduced rate of energy expenditure as a risk factor for body-weight gain. N Engl J Med. 1988 Feb 25;318(8):467-72. PMID: 3340128.
  • Heilbronn LK, de Jonge L, Frisard MI, DeLany JP, Larson-Meyer DE, Rood J, Nguyen T, Martin CK, Volaufova J, Most MM, Greenway FL, Smith SR, Deutsch WA, Williamson DA, Ravussin E. Effect of 6-month calorie restriction on biomarkers of longevity, metabolic adaptation, and oxidative stress in overweight individuals: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2006 Apr 5;295(13):1539-48.  PMID: 16595757; PMCID: PMC2692623.
  • Johannsen DL, Tchoukalova Y, Tam CS, Covington JD, Xie W, Schwarz JM, Bajpeyi S, Ravussin E. Effect of 8 weeks of overfeeding on ectopic fat deposition and insulin sensitivity: testing the “adipose tissue expandability” hypothesis. Diabetes Care. 2014 Oct;37(10):2789-97. PMID: 25011943; PMCID: PMC4170127.

Education

  • PhD, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland, 1980
  • MS, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland, 1974
  • BS, Gymnase Cantonal Scientifique, Lausanne, Switzerland, 1969

Eric Ravussin, PhD

Director

Boyd Professor of Metabolic Chambers and Human Translational Physiology

Associate Executive Director, Clinical Sciences

Douglas L. Gordon Chair in Diabetes and Metabolism

Contact Information
eric.ravussin@pbrc.edu • Phone: (225) 763-3186