Janine Higgins, PhD 1

Janine Higgins, PhD

Current Position

Associate Professor, School of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics

Director of Operations, Colorado Clinical and Translational SciencesInstitute (CCTSI)

Nutrition Research Director, CCTSI

Education

University of SydneyBachelor of Science (Hons Class I)1991

University of SydneyDoctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry1995

Academic Appointments

University of Colorado Denver, Department of PediatricsAssociate Professor2012 - present

University of Colorado Denver, Department of PediatricsAssistant Professor2006 - 2012

University of ColoradoDenver, Department of PediatricsInstructor2000 - 2006

University of Wollongong, Biomedical & Life SciencesLecturer1996 - 1999

University of Sydney, Department of BiochemistryLecturer1992 - 1995

Professional Positions

Colorado Clinical and Translational SciencesInstitute Director of Operations2014 - present

Colorado Clinical and Translational SciencesInstituteNutrition Research Director2007 - present

Gelesis Inc.Scientific Advisory Board2009 - 2012

Pediatric Clinical and Translational Research CenterManager, Nutrition Core 2003 - 2007

University of WollongongLaboratory Manager1996 - 1999

University of SydneyResearch Assistant1995 - 1996

University of SydneyLaboratory Demonstrator 1992 - 1995

Honors, Special Recognition, and Awards

  • Australian Diabetes Society/Rhône Poulenc Rorer Career Development Award
  • Pharmacia Award for Excellence in Molecular Biology
  • Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations Australian Postgraduate Award

Membership in Professional Organizations

  • Fellow of the Obesity Society
  • Fellow of the American Society for Nutrition
  • Member of the National Association of Bionutritionists

Major Committee and Service Responsibilities

Departmental

  • Department of Pediatrics Mentorship Committee
  • CCTSI Nutrition Research Director

- Oversight of all adult and pediatric CTRC Nutrition Core services and data collection for over70 protocols, including production of over 1,000 weighed, metabolic meals per month

- Supervision of 10+ staff members, including new hires

- Responsible for team building, dispute resolution, and staff disciplinary action

- Responsible for providing expert Nutritional advice for investigators submitting grant applications and requesting CTRC support for a protocol

- Responsible for budget management and productivity, setting/tracking metrics for program success

- Process improvement: between 2009 and 2011, 50% increase in productivity with no budget increase, 14% increase in customer satisfaction ratings across all client types (investigators, subjects, etc.)

- Establishment/maintenance of Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) which have been adopted nationally by the National Association of Bionutritionists (NAB)

  • Mentorship of at least seven trainees per year

Institutional

  • Department of Pediatrics representative to the Faculty Senate (2011-2015)
  • Member of the CCTSI Clinical Research Resourcesand Facilities (CRRF) oversight committee
  • Member of Pediatric and adult CTRC Scientific Advisory and Review Committees (SARC)
  • Member of Children’s Hospital Colorado Obesity Committee
  • Member of Children’s Hospital Colorado Healthy Hospital Initiate working group, Nutrition sub-committee

National

  • Chair, TODAY Ancillary Studies Committee
  • Member, TODAY Recruitment and Retention Committee
  • Member, TODAY Forms and Manuals of Procedure (MOP) Committee
  • Co-chair, New Treatment Paradigms Session, FASEB Summer Research Conference: The Physiological Basis of Obesity Therapeutics, Snowmass, Colorado (2009)
  • Chair, Exercise as a perturbation to energy balance session, Recent Advances and Controversies in the Measurement of Energy Metabolism (RACMEM), (2008)

International

  • Scientific Expert, American Association of Cereal Chemists International (AACC Int) Expert Committee for Recommendations on Glycemic Carbohydrate Definition
  • Panelist, International Life Sciences Institute (ILSI), North America chapter, Future Research Needs (FRN) Assessment for Fructose/Sugar and Health Outcomes
  • Chair, Diet and Energy Balance Session, International Conference on Obesity, Sydney Australia (2006)
  • International scientific expert on resistant starch and dietary fiber

- 14 international press appearances, 15 international television and radio broadcast appearances

Review and Referee Work

  • Grant reviews for Diabetes UK, United Kingdom. Expert external reviewer for grant subjects of fiber and resistant starch. Grants reviewed since 2008.
  • Grant reviews for the Scottish Executive(United Kingdom). Expert external reviewer for grant subjects of glycemic index/load, fiber, and resistant starch. Grants reviewed 2006-2008.
  • Member, CCTSI PreK and K to R grant review programs
  • Ad hoc reviewer for international peer-reviewed journals including, but not limited to (2002-present):Journal of Nutrition, British Journal of Nutrition, International Journal of Food Chemistry, Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior, Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, Diabetes, Obesity Research, International Journal of Obesity Research
  • International Masters and PhD thesis reviews for the University of Sydney, Australia.

Invited Extramural Lectures, Presentations and Visiting Professorships

International

  • J Higgins (2011) The metabolism of sugarsversus starches: Are Dietary Guidelines for Added Sugar Warranted? Boden Institute of Obesity, Nutrition and Exercise Symposium ‘Added Sugars: Science vs Dogma’, Sydney, Australia.
  • J Higgins (2009) Carbohydrates: Impact on human health and weight. International Food Technology Annual Meeting, Anaheim, California.
  • J Higgins and I Brown (2008) The effects of resistant starch on energy metabolism. STARCH 2008, Nottingham, England.
  • J Higgins (2006) Resistant Starch: a novel approach to improving food quality. International Food Technology Annual Meeting, Orlando, Florida.
  • J Higgins (2005) Resistant starch and fat oxidation – a new dimension emerges. International Focus on Resistant Starch Meeting, Sydney and Melbourne, Australia.
  • J Higgins (2004) Glycemic and insulinemic responses to resistant starch ingestion: effect of cooking and metabolic ramifications. International Food Technology Annual Meeting, Las Vegas.
  • J Higgins (2002) The Role of Resistant Starch in Energy metabolism. Australian Institute of Food science Technology Annual Meeting, Sydney, Australia.

National

J Higgins (2015) Can resistant starch be used to treat inflammatory bowel disease? American Society for Nutrition Annual meeting (at EB), Boston, MA.

  • J Higgins (2014) Resistant starch and inflammation: Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Cancer Risk. Symposium on Resistant Starch and Health, Iowa State Unversity, Ames, Iowa.

J Higgins (2013) The Skinny on Resistant Starch: Is it Really a Weight Loss Wonder Food? Colorado State University College of Health and Human Science Seminar series, Fort Collins, CO.

J Higgins (2012) Novel Anorexia Nervosa Refeeding Strategies: From Human to Rat and Back Again.Development Psychobiology Research Group Biennial Meeting, Morrison, CO.

J Higgins (2011) Resistant Starch and the “Second Meal Effect”: Why is it so hard to predict blood glucose readings?RMADE (Rocky Association of Diabetes Educators) Annual Meeting, Denver, CO.

  • J Higgins (2009) Carbohydrate quality in health and disease: Using research data in clinical care. American Diatetics Association Annual Meeting. Denver, Colorado. CDE accredited lecture.
  • J Higgins and I Brown (2009) Resistant starch and obesity: Obesity treatment and prevention via food design. FASEB Summer Research Conference: The Physiological Basis for Obesity Therapeutics. Snowmass, Colorado.
  • J Higgins (2008) Carbohydrates: Glycemic impact and implications for weight management. American Diabetes Association Annual meeting, San Francisco. CME accredited lecture.
  • J Higgins (2008) Radioactive tracers in energy balance studies. Recent Advances and Controversies in Metabolism and Energy Measurement, Denver, Colorado.
  • J Higgins (2007) Metabolic Effects of Resistant Starch: Impact on fat oxidation, satiety, and weight gain. American Dietetics Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia. CDE accredited lecture.
  • J Higgins (2007) Resistant Starch: Improving quality of life through food quality. Inaugural Symposium on Functional Foods and Health, Iowa State Unversity, Ames, Iowa.
  • J Higgins (2005) Burn fat the easy way: eat more resistant starch. Nutracon Annual Meeting, Anaheim, California.
  • J Higgins (2005) Health benefits of resistant starch. National Symposium on Dietary Fiber, Chicago, IL.
  • J Higgins (2000) The metabolic effects of resistant starch consumption. American Dietetic Association Annual Meeting, Denver, Colorado. CDE accredited lecture.

Teaching Record

Postgraduate Didactic Teaching

  • Biochemistry for Pediatric Dental Residents2005 – present

- Course Director; developed course curriculum

  • Nutrition Assessment Methods lecture for CLSC 7400: Theory and application of techniques for the study of human metabolism in vivo 2009 – present
  • Lab Management Skills Workshop (Office of Postgraduate Education)2013 –present

- Course Director; developed course curriculum

Mentorship

  • Director, CCTSI Nutrition Internship; mentoring at least seven interns per year(65 since 2007) and developing core and student-specific curriculum and materials

- 75% of CCTSI Nutrition trainees who applied to an American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Accredited Dietetic Internship Program were accepted into the most challenging and highly ranked programs in the country (average acceptance 50%). 80% of all CCTSI Nutrition trainees are currently actively employed or training in the field.

  • Mentor (current):onePediatric Endocrinology Fellow, one Pediatric Gastroenterology Fellow, one adult endocrine Fellow,and threePost-Doctoral Fellows

- 75% of all former post-graduate trainees currently have NIH or other external funding. Given the low funding rate of grants that currently prevails, this shows considerable success. The research publication rate for these trainees averages 3.5 during their training and immediate post-training (+ 2 years) period.

  • Chair, Nutrition journal club which meets weekly to discuss and promote evidence-based best practice techniques

Grant Support

Ongoing Research Support

1UL1 RR025780 (PI Sokol)

NIH/NCRR09/26/2013 – 4/30/2018

Colorado Clinical Translational Research Institute (CCTSI)

Objective of the grant is to provide education and research training to new and established investigators, invest in novel research methodology/equipment, and provide the infrastructure for performance of clinical (patient-oriented) investigation in infants, children and adolescents, and adults.

Role: CCTSI Director of Operations and Nutrition Research Director.

In this role, I am responsible for the day-to-day operations and financial tracking for the nursing, lab, and nutrition Cores at all affiliated CTRCs. As CCTSI funding decreases over the course of this grant cycle according to new NCATS budget formulas, it is my responsibility to introduce workflow and process improvements to increase the efficiency of all units and maintain financial transparency. As Nutrition Research Director, I assist investigators and trainees with preparation of the nutritional component of grant and protocol applications and oversee CCTSI Nutrition Core staff as they design, prepare, and dispense metabolic diets; conduct dietary counseling, dietary intake, and anthropometric assessments; and perform indirect calorimetry.

2-U01DK061230-12 (PI Zeitler)

NIH/NIDDK03/03/2012 - 07/31/2016

TODAY (Treatment Options for Type 2 Diabetes in Adolescents and Youth)

This is a multi-center clinical trial to assess the efficacy and safety of potential treatment options for Type 2 diabetes mellitus in adolescents.

Role: Co-Investigator.

I am Chair of the Ancillary Studies Committee and the Body Composition Writing Group for the TODAY study. I have been a co-investigator from the UCD site since study inception and have been on committees for data collection and development of MOPs. I was the secondary Physical Activity and Lifestyle Coach (PAL) for the duration of the lifestyle invention which was based on weight loss via dietary and physical activity changes.

1P50 HD073063 (PI Kohrt)

NIH/NIDDK5/1/2012 – 4/30/2017

Bioenergetic and Metabolic Consequences of the Loss of Gonadal Function

The long term goal of this project is understand how the development of obesity prior to menopause alters the menopausal transition and its impact on disease. In this sub-clinical aim of the overall project, we use rodent models of obesity and menopause to examine the overarching hypothesis that premenopausal obesity establishes a unique set of homeostatic circumstances, pitting the protective effects of extra-ovarian estrogen production against the detrimental consequences of pre-existing metabolic dysfunction.

Role: Co-Investigator.

I am responsible for study design and implementation, co-mentoring post-doctoral Fellows working on this project, data analysis and interpretation, and manuscript preparation.

1R01 DK100796-01A1A (PI Sazonov)

NIH/NIDDK09/26/2014 – 06/30/2019

Assessing Food Intake with the Automatic Ingestion Monitor (AIM)

The goal of this award is validate the use of a small wearable ingestion monitor that estimates the mass of food intake from chews and swallows in free living adults. A prototype has been previously validated in a controlled, laboratory environment. The current work will focus on refining and reducing the size of the device and validating it in free living adults

Role: Co-Investigator.

I am responsible for study design, nutritional data collection and analysis, and manuscript preparation.

R01 DK10836612/01/15 - 11/30/2020

NIH/NIDDK (PI Palmer)

This study will determine the effects of a Western high fat diet (HFD) on the HIV-associated gut microbiome and inflammatory/metabolic co-morbidities, by studying individuals in rural and urban Zimbabwe who are expected to consume relatively Agrarian versus Western diets, and in individuals in the US who areconsuming controlled Agrarian versus Western-type diets during a 4 week diet intervention.

Role: Co-Investigator.

I am responsible for study design, design and delivery of intervention diets, nutritional data collection and analysis, and manuscript preparation.

PENDING

2R01 HL107120-0512/01/2016 - 11/30/2021

NIH: Dual ICs NIDDK/NIA (PI Seals)

Translational Studies of Age-Associated Arterial Dysfunction, Western Diet, and Aerobic Exercise: Role of gut Microbiome

This translational set of studies aims to characterize the role of the gut micrbiome and its effect on inflammation on the arterial dysfunction that occurs with age. The contribution of diet and lifestyle to these factors will be examined in both rodent models and clinical studies.

Role: Co-Investigator.

I am responsible for study design, design and delivery of intervention diets for human studies, nutritional data collection and analysis, and manuscript preparation.

Contribution to Science

1. Childhood type 2 Diabetes. My research background in obesity and insulin resistance led me to collaborate with Dr. Philip Zeitler to submit a grant application to the NIH RFP for Studies to Treat or Prevent Pediatric type 2 diabetes (STOPP-T2D). We were selected as a site for the treatment arm of this consortium, subsequently known as the Treatment Options for Type 2 Diabetes in Adolescents and Youth (TODAY) study. I contributed to protocol development and writing, establishing MOPs and data collection forms, and national training on study procedures and questionnaires (OGTT, nutrition and physical activity assessments). I was part of the Lifestyle Intervention Committee which developed the TODAY Lifestyle Program (TLP) and associated materials which targeted weight loss for individuals assigned to this arm. I also acted as the primary back-up to the Physical Activity and Lifestyle Coach (PAL) to deliver the TLP intervention at the UCD site. I am currently Chair of the Ancillary Studies Committee and the Body Composition Writing Group.

a) Copeland KC, Higgins J, El ghormli L, Delahanty L, Grey M, Kriska AM, Lipman TH, Pyle L, Washington G, Shepherd J, Hirst K. for the TODAY Study Group (2013) Treatment effects on measures of body composition in the TODAY clinical trial. Diabetes Care. 36(6):1742-8. PMID: 23704673

b) Copeland KC, Zeitler P, Geffner M, Guandalini C, Higgins J, Hirst K, Kaufman FR, Linder B, Marcovina S, McGuigan P, Pyle L, Tamborlane W, Willi S; TODAY Study Group (2011) Characteristics of adolescents and youth with recent-onset type 2 diabetes: the TODAY cohort at baseline. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 96(1):159-67. PMID: 20962021

c) TODAY Study Group (2010) Design of a family-based lifestyle intervention for youth with Type 2 diabetes: the TODAY study. Int J Obesity 34: 217-226. PMID: 19823189

d) The TODAY Study Group (2007) Treatment Options for Type 2 Diabetes in Adolescents and Youth (TODAY): a study of the comparative efficacy of metformin alone or in combination with rosiglitazone or lifestyle intervention in adolescents with type 2 diabetes. Pediatric Diabetes 8: 74–87. PMID: 19823189

2. Weight management and energy balance. Through my initial work on resistant starch and metabolism combined with my investigations into insulin sensitivity/fuel trafficking, I became interested in obesity and weight management. My move from Australia to the University of Colorado Denver (UCD) provided me the opportunity to study weight management in the context of energy balance. UCD has a cadre of experts and outstanding facilities, including a whole room calorimeter, to study energy balance. I have been PI or a co-investigator on numerous rat and human studies investigating the effects of diet, physical activity, and sleep on energy balance and body weight. During these studies, I have provided diet design, meal delivery, and study-specific dietary and behavior change counseling to a variety of populations, including those that are resistant to change. These studies prompted my interest in expanding my expertise to another field of study that needed more energy balance research, namely anorexia nervosa in adolescents.

a) Giles ED, Hagman J, Pan Z, MacLean PS, Higgins JA. (2016) Weight restoration on a high carbohydrate refeeding diet promotes rapid weight regain and hepatic lipid accumulation in female anorexic rats.

Nutr Metab (Lond). 2016 Mar 1;13:18. PMID: 26937246

b) Higgins J, Hagman J, Pan Z, MacLean P. (2013) Increased physical activity not decreased energy intakeis associated with inpatient medical treatment for anorexia nervosa in adolescent females. PLoS One. 18;8(4):e61559. PMID: 23637854

c) Markwald RR, Melanson EL, Smith MR, Higgins J, Perreault L, Eckel RH, Wright KP Jr. (2013) Impact of insufficient sleep on total daily energy expenditure, food intake, and weight gain. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 110(14):5695-700. PMID: 23479616

d) Thomas EA, Higgins J, Bessesen DH, McNair B, Cornier MA. (2015) Usual breakfast eating habits affect response to breakfast skipping in overweight women. Obesity (Silver Spring). 23(4):750-9. PMID: 25755093

3. Measurement of dietary intake in free living populations. My energy balance studies rely on the accurate measurement of dietary intake and energy expenditure. This is easy to achieve in clinical inpatient studies conducted at the CTRC. However, measurement of free living energy intake is currently subjective and relatively inaccurate so I have developed an additional line of methodology research to improve the estimation of energy intake in free living children and adults of all ages. The goal of this research is to develop an objective method of measuring dietary intake that does not involve self-report, reduces the subject burden of recording energy intake, and is relatively inexpensive. In addition, development of tools that are automated will facilitate use by those who have language barriers or cannot understand how to use traditional instruments.

a) Higgins JA, LaSalleAL, ZhaoxingP, KastenMY, BingKN, RidzonSE, and WittenTL (2009) Validation of photographic food records in children: are pictures really worth a thousand words? Eur J Clin Nutr 2009 63(8):1025-33. PMID: 19259111