David J. A. Jenkins, DM, DPhil, DSc

Dr. David J. A. Jenkins is a professor in the Departments of Nutritional Sciences and Medicine at the University of Toronto, the director of the Clinical Nutrition and Risk Factor Modification Center, a staff physician in the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism and a Scientist in the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute of St. Michael’s Hospital. He was educated at Oxford University, obtaining his DM, DPhil and DSc. He is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (London) and of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada. He was elected as Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada and appointed Officer of the Order of Canada for his work on therapeutic diets and public health. He has served on committees in Canada and the United States that formulated nutritional guidelines for the treatment of diabetes and recommendations for fiber and macronutrient intake under the joint US–Canada DRI system (RDAs) of the National Academy of Sciences. He also served as a member of Agriculture Canada’s Science Advisory Board (2004–2009) on the future direction of Canada’s agriculture and agricultural research. He has spent much time working with the food industry to develop healthy products for the supermarket shelf and, for example, helped to initiate Loblaw’s ‘Too Good To Be True’ and most recently their popular ‘Blue Menu’ line of products. His research area is the use of diet, with a focus on plant foods and their components, in the prevention and treatment of hyperlipidemia and diabetes. He has over 300 original publications on these and related topics. His team was the first to define and explore the concept of the glycemic index of foods and demonstrate the breadth of metabolic effects of viscous soluble fiber, including blood glucose and cholesterol lowering. His group developed the cholesterol lowering concept of the dietary portfolio that has entered guidelines in many jurisdictions (e.g. Canadian Cardiovascular Society, Heart UK etc.). He believes in the therapeutic value of plant based diets and that diets have to be environmentally sustainable.