Professor Tom Brenna

Professor Tom Brenna is a professor of pediatrics at Dell Medical School, part of the University of Texas at Austin. He moved to Austin after 28 years as a professor of human nutrition, chemistry, chemical biology and food science at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

Tom’s research – through his research group, the Brenna Lab – couples nutrition and chemistry in a broadly interdisciplinary program. The Brenna Lab’s basic research into the chemical, biochemical, metabolic, genetic and ecological aspects of fatty acids have had a decisive influence on modern knowledge of these key nutrients and made a significant impact towards improving human nutrition through basic advances in chemical analysis. The Brenna Lab was among those contributing to the recognition that dietary omega-3 fatty acids are required for proper brain and retinal function in developing infants.

On receiving the AOCS Herbert J. Dutton Award in 2020, Tom said:

“Science is advanced chiefly by those obsessed with making sense of the world. First is required a single-minded dedication to good technical measurements. Everything starts there. Second is an obsession for organizing empirical results into models accessible to the human mind – we call those theories. Third, is an underlying recognition of the primacy of humanity, a desire to apply the best ideas to improve the human condition.”