Tom Brenna Explained

James Thomas Brenna (born October 15, 1959) is an American scientist specializing in analytical chemistry, mass spectrometry, and in human nutrition and foods, specifically fats. He is a professor of Pediatrics and chemistry at Dell Medical School, having previously been a professor of human nutrition, chemistry, chemical biology and food science at Cornell University.[1]

Career

Floyd Landis trials

Brenna was the key expert witness in the action of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) against 2006 Tour de France first place finisher Floyd Landis, adjudicated in a hearing of the Tribunal Arbitral du Sport/Court for Arbitration in Sport held in Malibu, California. He testified to the accuracy of Carbon Isotope Ratio (CIR) tests conducted by the French Antidoping laboratory at Châtenay-Malabry.[2] [3] Landis conducted a high profile, multimillion dollar defense but lost the 2007 original hearing[4] with the decision relying for technical opinion on Brenna’s testimony.[5] Landis later lost a 2008 de novo case before the American Arbitration Association also relying on Brenna’s testimony[6] and was stripped of his title. Years later Landis revealed he was doping and filed a whistle-blower lawsuit under the federal False Claims Act against Lance Armstrong that was settled with multimillion dollar payments by Armstrong.[7]

DHA in Infant Formula

Brenna visited the FDA infant formula team in late 2001 to encourage omega-3 DHA to be included in infant formula. A few weeks later the FDA issued its “no questions” letter accepting this suggestion and citing his work.[8]

Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee

Brenna was a member of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee advising on the 2015 U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans.[9] He was one of four members of the Food Sustainability and Safety subcommittee whose work on sustainability was excluded from consideration by an act of Congress.[10]

Coconut oil

Comments in the New York Times about the healthfulness of coconut oil in late 2015[11] [12] were covered in 200+ newspapers globally. Brenna opined that 21st-century virgin coconut oil does not cause heart disease but that earlier coconut oils may cause heart disease due to process contaminants.[13]

Vegetarian gene

In 2016 he was co-lead of a team that discovered an insertion-deletion polymorphism, rs66698963, is under positive selective pressure depending on whether ancestral diets were primarily animal/seafood-based or plant-based.[14] [15] [16] Global news widely reported that it would lead to potentially greater risk of disease,[17] though this was corrected later.[18]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Tom Brenna, Ph.D. . Dell Medical School . 28 March 2024 . en-us.
  2. Expert Testifies in Landis Doping Case. By EDDIE PELLS. The Washington Post. Wednesday, May 23, 2007; 2:52 PM
  3. Griffiths . Rajendrani Mukhopadhyay and Jennifer . 2007-12-01 . The science behind Floyd Landis's guilty verdict . Analytical Chemistry . en . 79 . 23 . 8823–8825 . 10.1021/ac0719960 . 0003-2700.
  4. News: 2007-09-20 . Doping: Arbitrators find Floyd Landis guilty of doping, The Associated Press has learned . 2024-07-04 . The New York Times . en-US . 0362-4331.
  5. The North American Court of Arbitration for Sport/AAA Panel. Arbitration Award, Case No: 30 190 00847 06. September 21, 2007.
  6. Web site: Hiltzik . Michael A. . 2008-07-01 . Sports court upholds Landis' doping charges . 2024-03-23 . Los Angeles Times . en-US.
  7. News: Hart . Matt . 2018-04-19 . The Man Who Brought Down Lance Armstrong . 2024-03-23 . The Atlantic . en . 2151-9463.
  8. GRAS Notice No. GRN 000080, Dec 11, 2001, FDA to Mead John Nutritionals.
  9. Scientific Report of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee. https://health.gov/sites/default/files/2019-09/Scientific-Report-of-the-2015-Dietary-Guidelines-Advisory-Committee.pdf
  10. New Dietary Guidelines Will Not Include Sustainability Goal. https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/10/06/446369955/new-dietary-guidelines-will-not-include-sustainability-goal
  11. Web site: Rabin . Roni Caryn . 2015-12-24 . Ask Well: Is Coconut Oil a Healthy Fat? . 2024-03-23 . Well . en.
  12. News: Rabin . Roni Caryn . Egan . Sophie . 2018-08-21 . Is Coconut Oil Good or Bad for You? . 2024-07-04 . The New York Times . en-US . 0362-4331.
  13. Liu et al., Food Chem Toxicol. 2019 May;127:135-142. Glycerol derived process contaminants in refined coconut oil induce cholesterol synthesis in HepG2 cells. doi: 10.1016/j.fct.2019.03.005.
  14. Kothapalli . Kumar S. D. . Ye . Kaixiong . Gadgil . Maithili S. . Carlson . Susan E. . O’Brien . Kimberly O. . Zhang . Ji Yao . Park . Hui Gyu . Ojukwu . Kinsley . Zou . James . Hyon . Stephanie S. . Joshi . Kalpana S. . Gu . Zhenglong . Keinan . Alon . Brenna . J.Thomas . 2016. Positive Selection on a Regulatory Insertion–Deletion Polymorphism in FADS2 Influences Apparent Endogenous Synthesis of Arachidonic Acid . Molecular Biology and Evolution . 33 . 7 . 1726–1739 . 10.1093/molbev/msw049 . 0737-4038 . 4915354 . 27188529.
  15. Web site: Are we what we eat? . 2024-03-23 . ScienceDaily . en.
  16. Web site: Nield . David . 2016-03-30 . A Vegetarian Diet Could Cause Long-Term Genetic Changes . 2024-03-23 . ScienceAlert . en-US.
  17. Web site: 2016-04-11 . Vegetarian Diet Not So Healthy After All; Could Make Indians More Prone To Heart Disease! . 2024-03-23 . IndiaTimes . en-IN.
  18. Web site: 2016-04-06 . Vegetarian diet does NOT increase cancer risk: Researchers clarify . 2024-03-23 . The Indian Express . en.

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