LINUS
PAULINGINSTITUTE
OREGON STATE UNIVERSITYRESEARCH NEWSLETTERFALL 2020

20th Anniversary of the Micronutrient Information Center LOOK INSIDESHAPING THE FUTURE OF HEALTH
New Leadership for the Linus Pauling Institute

In July 2020, we welcomed our new director of the Linus Pauling Institute, Dr. Emily
Ho, who has been an investigator at the Institute for 17 years. After her first monthin the director’s chair, we sat down for an interview with Dr. Ho to discuss her
approach to leadership, her inspiration, and the future of the Pauling legacy.

IN THIS ISSUE
Shaping the Future ofHealth....................1
From the Director....2
In Memoriam...........2

What inspires your approachto science?
What I love about science and what getsme excited every day is that I have endlessproblems to solve.

Nutrition is a scientific field that affects
everyone every day. We all need to eat!
I believe that by understanding the best
food and supplement choices, I can bea champion for people in their journey
through life.

I think this stems from family. My father
is a retired engineer, my mother is aretired public health nurse, and two of mygrandparents were schoolteachers.

As a scientist, I also believe that it is
my responsibility to make sure ourdiscoveries are accessible to the people
we are trying to help.

I would like to think that I have inherited allof their best qualities, including an analyticalmind, as well as their drive, determination,and commitment to empower others.

This feeds my deep commitment toteaching the next generation of scientists
and health leaders.
Continued on page 4

Reader
Questions...............3
20th Anniversary of
the Micronutrient
Information
Center...................6

FROM THE DIRECTOR
Let me take the opportunity to say hello!
Our previous edition of the newsletter
went to press just before I assumed
my new role, so please allow me tointroduce myself as the next directorof the Linus Pauling Institute.

Emily Ho, PhD
Endowed Chairand Director,
Linus Pauling Institute

On August 26th, Dr. Emily Hopresented her vision of theInstitute’s future. The videoof this event is available at:youtu.be/PgS28qB-CgIFirst, I would like to thank Dr. Richard
van Breemen for his years of leadershipat the Institute. Dr. van Breemen willcontinue his outstanding research at theInstitute, so expect to hear more about
his botanical discoveries in the future.
This issue of the newsletter features aninterview with me (see cover). This iscomplemented by my webinar aboutthe Linus Pauling Institute, now
available online (see sidebar).
Also in this issue, we highlight the20th anniversary of the Micronutrient
Information Center (see page 6). From
its debut in 2000, this website has beena valuable resource for the world.

Transcripts are available
upon request.

The Micronutrient Information Centerhas published well over 150 articles inthree different languages – an impressive
feat. This is due in no small part by thefoundation laid by the late Dr. JaneHigdon and the hard work of Dr. Victoria
Drake and her team of researchers.
In closing, I would like the Institute tofocus on more frequent interactions withour supporters. As part of this initiative,
this newsletter will now be coming to
you quarterly instead of twice a year.
I also hope you enjoy our new “ReaderQuestions” feature (see page 3).
Be sure to look for other opportunities
to interact with the Institute in the nearfuture.
Enjoy the issue. Stay healthy and well.

Emily Ho, PhD

IN MEMORIAM
It is with great sadness and loss that weshare the passing of Melinda (Mindy)
Chérie Myzak, MD, PhD.
Mindy was a part of the Linus Pauling
Institute from 2001-2006 and was wellknown for her drive and conviction.
Initially a student worker, she was later
supported by an endowed graduate
student fellowship. This gave her theopportunity to work in the laboratories ofboth Drs. Emily Ho and Rod Dashwood.
Mindy completed her PhD in record timefor the Institute. This was only one of themany achievements that would define
her career.
Mindy earned her MD at the Universityof Vermont and then completed her
residency in Internal Medicine at Oregon
Health & Science University. She also
completed an oncology fellowship atJohns Hopkins University and an2

advanced fellowship at Mayo Clinic.
More recently, Mindy worked to develop
cancer medications and treatment at
AbbVie, Inc.
Mindy’s lifelong passion was the fightagainst cancer. She was dedicated toher patients, who she considered partof her family.
All of us at the Institute will remember her
love of animals, the tales of her travels,and her boundless energy. We especiallyremember the laughter and joy she
brought to the people around her.
Mindy was a talented and thoughtfulscientist and physician. Overall, she wasan amazing person. She will be missed.
If you wish to honor Mindy’s life andcareer, please consider making a
donation in Mindy’s name to the Oregon
Humane Society at oregonhumane.org

READER QUESTIONS
Richard Cheng has been
Q. Dr.
administering IV vitamin C to COVID-19
patients in China to great effect.
Why isn’t the Linus Pauling Instituteendorsing these findings andpromoting this research?
– Various emails
have been reviewing Dr. Cheng’s research
A. Isince
the COVID-19 outbreak began. His
reports are very impressive, but they areoften not supported by data. This makes itvery difficult to properly evaluate his claims.
In a webinar to the NIH this spring,
Dr. Cheng reported that IV vitamin C
reduced pro-inflammatory biomarkers
and improved organ function in COVID-19patients. He also suggested that patients
receiving IV vitamin C were released from
hospital care earlier than those who did
not receive this therapy.
However, this was just a slide in a webinar
and not published or peer-reviewed data.
To advance the Linus Pauling Institute’s
mission to promote evidence-based
therapies, we need more details about theintervention, the patient population, andthe outcomes before sharing.
– From Dr. Alexander Michelsrole does vitamin D play against
Q. What
COVID-19?
– S.A. New York City, New YorkD plays an important role inA. Vitaminthe function of the immune system andits responses against infection. It also
plays an important role in regulating theproduction of inflammatory signals.
If your blood levels of vitamin D are toolow, your immune system could go into
overdrive in response to a viral infection
and overproduce inflammatory cytokines,
leading to a condition termed the“cytokine storm.”
This “storm” is a hallmark of serious, lifethreatening cases of infection. It occurs
when the immune system is completely
out of control. This overabundance ofinflammation often leads to lasting injury
or death.

Vitamin D appears to act as a brake,
preventing the immune system fromgetting out of control.
Do low blood levels of vitamin D makeyou more susceptible to COVID-19?
Recent research suggests vitamin D
deficiency increases risk of bothcontracting the SARS-CoV-2 virus andhaving severe complications of thatinfection. There are ongoing studies
to see if vitamin D supplements areuseful in this disease.
Ideally, everyone should have bloodvitamin D levels at 30 ng/ml or higher.
Follow the LPI recommendations orwork with your physician to help you
achieve that goal.
– From Dr. Adrian Gombart
zinc really “boost” yourQ. Does
immunity?
– K.A. Fort Wayne, Indiana
is some evidence that zinc canA. Therehelp your body fight a cold if taken
within the first 24 hours of symptom
onset. It is not known how effective zinc
may be in other respiratory infections.
It is really important to make surethat you are getting enough – avoid
zinc deficiency. When your body is
low in zinc, the immune system iscompromised and doesn’t work well.
One problem is that blood tests are nota good indicator for adequate zinc, so
it is difficult for you to know if you are
getting enough.
If you are thinking of taking zinc
supplements, be careful not to taketoo much. Keep your intake from foodand supplements combined to under
40 mg of zinc per day. High dose zincsupplements don’t cause harm directly,
but taking too much zinc can be harmful
by interfering with copper and ironabsorption.
I think it is best to rely on food sources ofzinc like nuts, seeds, and meat instead ofsupplements for most of your zinc needs.
– From Dr. Emily Ho3

Do you have aquestion forour experts?
Send us yourquestions by regularmail or an email tolpi@oregonstate.edu.
When sending yourquestion, pleaseindicate if we havepermission to
publish your name.

Continued from coverWho are some of your mostinfluential mentors?

“I asked Dr. Phillips,‘Is it possible toimprove antioxidant
status to help disease?’
He replied, ‘Yes, many
antioxidants areavailable in the foods
that we eat.’That’s when a lightbulb went off, andI wanted to find out
more about food.”“Dr. Tammy Bray joined
Oregon State University
as a Dean and Linus
Pauling Instituteresearcher in 2002.
This was just anotherreason for me to jointhe Institute.”

Emily with her two sons.
Photo credit: Audra Terry

When I was an undergraduate at theUniversity of Guelph, I had a summer
fellowship to work with Dr. John P. Phillips ina genetics lab. He was studying how defects
in the enzyme superoxide dismutase
caused health problems in fruit flies.
Up until that point, my career path wasleading towards veterinary school. Workingwith Dr. Phillips was my introduction to free
radicals and antioxidants. He is the one
who revealed to me that food is a major
source of antioxidants and might be a key
to better health. This is the moment when I
started to get interested in nutrition.

What do you like to do for fun?
When out of the laboratory – or out frombehind a desk – I love spending time
outdoors, especially with my family. In any
season of the year, it means getting out toexplore what Oregon has to offer.
Did I mention that I am also a cardio
kickboxing instructor? I love the energy I
get from both teaching and participating ingroup exercise classes.
I also enjoy cooking and baking, and I lovea good meal. My boys have also started to
become “foodies,” so it is forcing me to stepup my home cooking game.

Dr. Phillips introduced me to Dr. Tammy
Bray at the Nutrition Department in Guelph.

If you had an unlimited budget,
what are some dream projects
for research?

Soon after, I had the nutrition science bug:I changed my major to Nutrition Sciences,
investigated the role of antioxidants indiabetes, and completed my PhD under
Dr. Bray’s mentorship at the Ohio StateUniversity.

I think the goal in research should be morethan just asking tough questions. Ultimately,
I want to make sure that research projects canmake a difference in people’s lives. Scientists
call this “translation”: how scientific inquiry
focuses on application to our everyday lives.

Dr. Bray introduced me to the complexitiesof nutrition and the impact that nutrition
can have on health. She inspired me to think
big and make sure to give back. Working
with her, I found my passion for research.

With the right amount of funding, we canfacilitate a path to optimal health withdifferent foods or supplements. It starts
with more intervention studies and leads tohealthier communities. How we get there
is a combination of personalized medicine(understanding what is right for you) andpopulation-based recommendations.

I also had the pleasure of being mentored
by Dr. Bruce Ames at UC Berkeley. As amentor to former LPI director Dr. Balz
Frei and current LPI faculty member Dr.
Tory Hagen, Dr. Ames is one of the mostcommitted scientists out there. We alllearned a lot from him.

And we need to share that wealth. With theright amount of support, this knowledge canbe made available to the people who reallyneed it.

What is your approach to leading
the Linus Pauling Institute?
Building the science that helps people live
healthier lives is a complicated task. Tackling
global health issues requires all of us working
together in new ways.
My plan is to use each researcher’s uniquestrengths to solve big problems. Even if
we are targeting different parts of a larger
question, this approach will amplify andaccelerate our work and mission.

4

What is your view on
Dr. Pauling’s research andhis legacy?
Our mission is to uphold the values andlegacy of Linus Pauling, and this will neverchange. The core goals of the Instituteremain: to be a source of scientificinnovations designed to improve humanhealth and to be a trusted resource ofrelevant health information for the public.
My vision for the Institute is to continue
to lead the scientific community toward
those goals. We will continue to push forinnovation in dietary components andimproving health across the lifespan.
We want to help people live longer but also
help them feel better while they live. In
other words, we want people to improvetheir healthspan.

To do this, we must work together andintegrate across multiple scientific fields, notjust the ones traditionally part of nutrition
science. The full cycle of Dr. Pauling’s legacy
is to make sure that every discovery wemake is available to everyone, especially thecommunities of greatest need.

Where do you see the Linus
Pauling Institute in 10 to 20 years?
I see the Linus Pauling Institute as the model
for integrating multiple disciplines together.
This will help all of us to age healthily bysolving some of the biggest health issues in
our nation.
We will be known for the discoveries thathelp us all “live longer and feel better”
and for making those discoveries available toeveryone, worldwide.

Why pay more taxes? You can give to the Linus Pauling
Institute with a portion of your retirement savings!
Did you know? Recent changes in US federal tax law concerning minimum distributions
have made IRA qualified charitable distribution gifts (also called charitable IRA rollovers)
more attractive than ever.
Are you over the age of 701/2 and have a traditional IRA? The change in tax law states
you must now withdraw minimum amounts from your account annually. Chances are that
this will increase your taxable income.
Avoid extra taxes! Making a qualified charitable distribution directly from your IRA to theLinus Pauling Institute allows you to avoid paying income tax on that gift and counts toward
your required minimum distribution. It’s a tax-wise gift!
Interested? Contact your IRA provider and request exact instructions for making a qualified
charitable distribution. Before sending anything to the Linus Pauling Institute, please contact
the OSU Foundation at Andrew.Norwood@osufoundation.org or 503-936-0086. We will
make sure your gift receives special handling and is used exactly as you wish.

5A BEAUTIFULLEGACYBy utilizing aqualified charitabledistribution (QCD)
from an IRA, you
can make a legacy
that will live forever.
Contact us to learn
how you can create
your Linus Pauling
Institute legacy.

CELEBRATING 20 YEARS OF THE
MICRONUTRIENT INFORMATION CENTER

Access theMicronutrient
Information Center at:
lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic
If you prefer print
resources, contact
the Linus Pauling
Institute for books
based on content from
the Micronutrient
Information Center.

In 2000, the Linus Pauling Institutelaunched a website with objective,
evidence-based information on the rolesof nutrients and dietary factors in healthand disease. Called the Micronutrient
Information Center, this site quicklyestablished itself as a comprehensive
source for scientifically accurate
information on nutrients for healthcare
professionals and the general public alike.
Initially, the website contained 14 articles:
one on each of the 13 vitamins and one
on the nutrient choline. Articles on the14 nutritionally essential minerals wereadded a year later. Over the years, theMicronutrient Information Center
broadened its coverage beyond vitamins
and minerals with articles on food andbeverages, various phytochemicals, andlife stages.

Although each article on a particularnutrient or dietary factor reviews studieson disease prevention and treatment, a
Health and Disease expansion allows users
to directly access nutrition information
pertinent to a specific health or disease
condition. This section currently includes
23 different health and disease topics,
including articles on heart disease,
Alzheimer’s disease, and certain cancers.
Over the past two decades, the Micronutrient
Information Center has become a popular
resource both domestically and internationally.
Spanish and Japanese translations havebeen added over the years to extend thisglobal reach. Most recently, content has
been specifically developed for healthcareprofessionals in the form of two online,
continuing education courses: “Meeting
Micronutrients Needs” and “Micronutrientsfor Bone Health.”

2.2 Million Users
per Year

192 Countries Worldwide

2000

2003

Articles on food andbeverages

Micronutrient Information Centerlaunched by Jane Higdon, PhD

2004
62006
Articles on various
phytochemicals

New manager,
Victoria Drake, PhD

Article
Breakdown

The Micronutrient Information Center
strives to be a global leader for providing
evidence-based information that
informs healthy dietary and supplement
choices. Articles focus on evidence fromclinical trials and other human researchrather than animal models, making theinformation more relevant to humanhealth. All articles are written by PhD
nutrition scientists with the Linus Pauling
Institute and are reviewed by experts inthe field – often research professors atother universities.
Each article contains extensive references:readers are directed to peer-reviewed
studies whenever possible. Hyperlinks
take readers directly to the US National
Library of Medicine’s PubMed database
where the study summary, if not theentire scientific publication, is found.

While we celebrate 20 years of theMicronutrient Information Center, we alsoplan for the future. We rely on generous
donations from our readers to update ourexisting content. Each update requires
up to eight weeks of full-time, focused labor
to review the research published since
the previous update. This entails sorting
through hundreds of relevant scientificpublications, and then reading andevaluating the most relevant to determine
if they should be included in the update.
Without your support, we would not be able
to maintain this valuable public resource.
Please go online and check out what theMicronutrient Information Center has
to offer, and join our $20 for 20 years
campaign at: bit.ly/MIC20for20

Micronutrients48%

Healthand Disease
26%
Other
Dietary Factors
14%
Food andBeverages
12%

Top 5 Articles
in 2020• Vitamin C• Zinc• Essential FattyAcids• Vitamin C and Skin
Health• Supplemental
Forms of Vitamin C2013
2011

Micronutrientsin life stages

Spanish version
published

2016
7

2018

Japanese version
published

Health &Disease section

2019

Professional
education courses

LINUS PAULING INSTITUTERESEARCH NEWSLETTER
Alexander Michels, Newsletter Editor
Victoria J. Drake, Associate Editor
Sandra Uesugi, Assistant Editor
Oregon State University
307 Linus Pauling Science Center
Corvallis, Oregon 97331
phone: 541-737-5075
fax: 541-737-5077
email: lpi@oregonstate.edu
website: lpi.oregonstate.edu

LINUS PAULING’S VISION – YOUR LEGACY
WE ARE PLEASED AND GRATEFUL to recognize the following Legacy Society members
who have included the Linus Pauling Institute in their will or estate. Estate gifts create
opportunities that continue the momentum of the Institute’s growth and leave alasting legacy.
To learn more, visit lpi.oregonstate.edu/legacy

Audrey Carlan

Catharine Farrell

Patricia A. Reynolds & Michael B. Camillo

Barbara Kanegis

Sue Roderick Fisher & McLane Fisher

Charles L. Kyte, III

Barry J. Forman

Shirley & Herbert Martian

Judith Atwood Youde & James G. YoudeSharon London Person

Judith M. Berman & Dennis P. Berman

Bill Roe

Ruth T. Brantley

Rute Santos

Julie Craker

Kari Swarztrauber

Alan P. Cutter

Emerson & Elisabeth Willard

A2082

LINUS PAULING INSTITUTE
OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY - 307 LPSC
2900 SW CAMPUS WAY
CORVALLIS OR 97331-8648
Thank you for supporting the Linus Pauling Institute

Join us for our 20th anniversary celebration!
FOR THE LAST 20 YEARS...
the Micronutrient Information Centerhas been a source for evidence-based
information about diet and supplements.
Let us know what this valuable resourcemeans to you at:
http://bit.ly/MIC-contact