Dr. David York is the USTAR Director for the Center for Advanced Nutrition at Utah State University in Logan, Utah. He joined USU on August 1st 2006 after spending 16 years at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, a part of Louisiana State University, where he was Associate Executive Director for Basic Research for much of that time. Prior to this he had a faculty position in the University of Southampton Medical School in England. Dr York has been President of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity (NAASO) and currently is Treasurer and Executive Council member of the International Association for the Study of Obesity (IASO). His major research interests are in animal models of obesity, central and peripheral mechanisms controlling food intake and macronutrient selection, the biology of enterostatin, the glucocorticoid-dependence of animal obesities and the role of exercise in preventing neurodegeneration.

Tim is Professor & Associate Department Head of Biology and serves as the Associate Director of the Center for Advanced Nutrition. He received B.A. degrees in Biology & Psychology from the University of California-San Diego (1981) and his Ph.D. from the University of California-Davis (1991) in Dr. Martin Wilson's lab. He did a two-year post-doctoral fellowship in the laboratories of Dr. Sue Kinnamon and Dr. Stephen Roper at Colorado State University from 1991-1993. From 1993-2000, Tim was Ass't/Associate Professor of Neurobiology at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center of Louisiana State University. He relocated to Utah State University in August 2000, where he thrives in the low humidity.

Michael Lefevre arrived as a USTAR professor at USU's Center for Advanced Nutrition in September of 2007, from the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Louisiana where he served as Chief of the Division of Functional Foods Research, as well as professor in the Division of Nutrition and Chronic Diseases. He was also an adjunct professor at the School of Human Ecology at Louisiana State University. Dr. Lefevre is a fellow of the American Heart Association, belonging to the Council on Arteriosclerosis; the Council on Nutrition, Metabolism and Physical Activity; the Council on Epidemiology and Prevention; and is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Institute of Food Technology. Additionally, he serves as a consultant for a number of major food corporations and commodity groups. He earned his doctorate in nutrition with a minor in physiological sciences from the University of California Davis. Dr. Lefevre’s major research interests are in the role of diet in the prevention and delay of chronic disease, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cognitive decline with ageing.

David C. Ward is a USTAR professor in the Center for Advanced Nutrition (CAN) and shares time 20/80 between CAN and the Nevada Cancer Institute where he was appointed Deputy Director in May of 2004. Ward is internationally recognized for his research in the fields of molecular cytogenetics, cancer genetics, virology and optical imaging technology. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA and the first USU researcher to be a part of that organization. USU's Center for Advanced Nutrition is focused on exploring the impact of nutrition on such 21st century plagues as obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Ward's expertise in genetic biomarkers will strengthen CAN's ability to enter a completely new area of research that looks at the genetic side of nutrition. The end goal is to treat patients with personalized medicines designed to maximize efficacy and minimize adverse side effects. Ward's work will also complement several of USU's research emphases in the areas of autism, Alzheimer's, and hearing loss.