Charlene W Compher, PhD, RD, FADA, CNSC, LDN
Associate Professor of Nutrition Science - Clinician Educator
Contact Information
University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing
Room 134 Fagin Hall
418 Curie Blvd.
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104-4217
UNITED STATES
tel: (215) 898-3619
email: compherc@nursing.upenn.edu
Issues of weight control, therapies using nutrients to improve health, and healthy lifestyles are all part of the national consciousness. Dr. Compher provides leadership in the science of nutrition by conducting serious research in a clinical setting on the impact of nutrients in treating disease, yet provides wisdom for living and mentorship in an academic setting.
Teaching
Teaching a popular course "Obesity and Society," Dr. Compher is joined by obesity research colleagues across the Penn campus to examine issues including international obesity prevalence; heritability of obesity; eating and exercise behaviors linked with overweight; and pharmacological, surgical and behavioral treatment options. The overarching goals of this course are "to assist students in developing healthy weight management values and behaviors while giving them experience with critiquing scientific publications."
Research
Dr. Compher's current research interests are focused on nutritional and pharmacological treatments with potential impact on intestinal failure or obesity. Intestinal failure is a severe gastrointestinal disorder where patients require parenteral (by vein) nutrition to survive. Currently, Dr. Compher is examining the efficacy of a drug patterned on a human gastrointestinal hormone to reduce the requirement for parenteral nutrition in patients and the clinical outcomes of stopping the drug.
Dr. Compher leads an international pediatric obesity research group focused on the nutrition transition in Botswana. With her colleagues at the University of Botswana, Dr. Compher has begun to describe the prevalence of obesity in adolescents relative to socioeconomic status and to describe a culturally relevant intervention. Dr. Compher has been awarded a prestigious Fulbright Africa Scholar award to support her work in Botswana in the spring semester 2010.
Together with Drs. Boullata and Badellino, Dr. Compher has begun examining the role of vitamin D insufficiency in subjects with severe obesity.
• Currently Funded Grants
• Center for Biobehavioral Research
Clinical Practice
Dr. Compher is a renowned practitioner of the complex science of parenteral (by vein) and enteral (by the intestinal tract) nutrition support, a practice for which practice she maintains specialty certification in addition to her dietetic registration. With her appointment at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Compher provides outstanding care as a member of a multi-disciplinary practice to patients who require prolonged parenteral feedings.
Dr. Compher influences the practice of nutrition support nationally and internationally in her role as Editor in Chief of the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (A.S.P.E.N.)'s Clinical Guidelines. These evidence-based guidelines are a highly regarded resource for adult and pediatric clinicians. In addition, she is Principal Investigator of the A.S.P.E.N. research workshop grant, a role that supports cross-discipline and bench to bedside examination of the research supporting timely and innovative clinical topics.
• Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Honors/Credentials
Dr. Compher has been awarded the Excellence in the Practice of Research Award in 2009 and the Distinguished Service Award in 2007 by the American Dietetic Association. In 2006, she was awarded the Distinguished Nutrition Support Dietitian Award by the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition. These national-level honors recognize her leadership in research and nutrition support practice.
In addition to her roles at the School of Nursing, Dr. Compher is the Faculty Director of the Nutrition Minor. She is Associate Director of the Bionutrition Core of the Clinical Translational Research Center, where she leads a group of dietitians in provision of excellent dietetics research services to Penn investigators.
| Publications (select year) 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 and Prior | In Press | More Publications |
This is without doubt the most important time to be involved in nutrition. New research in molecular biology offers great hope for changing the state of the science and advancing the impact of nutrition in the clinical arena to offer treatment strategies for many diseases. Nutrition is poised to advance greatly in my lifetime and I'm proud to do my part to advance the science. 