Amy A. Brewer, MS, RD, LDN, MDXL is retiring after 36 years as a research nutritionist at UTHSC

Over the past 3 ½ decades Amy has been an integral part of nutrition intervention research here at UTHSC. She worked 19 years in the Department of Preventive Medicine under Dr. William Applegate and later Dr. Karen Johnson managing the nutrition interventions for the Trials of Hypertension Prevention Phase I and Phase II (TOHP I , TOHP II) (1988-1993), Trial of Non-Pharmacological Intervention in the Elderly (TONE) (1991-1994) , Women's Health Initiative, (1994-2005) and the Look Ahead Study (1994-2013). Amy was chosen by her peers to be part of many quality control, oversight and writing committees for these studies.

In 2007 Amy joined to the Division on Endocrinology (2007-2013) under Dr. Kitabchi/Dr. Dagogo-Jack. She pulled up their intervention compliance ranking in Look Ahead from 19^th to 2^nd of 21 clinical centers. Amy's creative genius and enthusiasm for group sessions set the attendance rate for interventions apart from all the rest. Amy also coordinated group education sessions in the DPPOS trial during her time in Endocrinology.

Then in 2013, as the Look Ahead clinical trial ended, Amy joined the staff at the General Clinical Research Center (GCRC) under Dr. Samuel Dagogo-Jack (2013-present). She singularly managed the nutrition interventions of 2 feeding studies for Dr. Kitabchi (2013-2015 ) and Dr. Frankie Stentz (2018-present) which have sought to determine if a higher protein diet could reverse pre-diabetes and diabetes in adults. Amy made key design suggestions for the interventions for these successful feeding trials and co-authored journal publications.

Also, during her tenure at the GCRC Amy designed, organized, planned, and managed nutrition staff and the nutrition interventions for the Pathobiology and Reversibility of Prediabetes in a Biracial Cohort (PROP ABC) (2013-2018) under Dr. Dagogo-Jack . The trial showed early nutrition intervention after the transition from normoglycemia to prediabetes was successful at reducing important risk factors and the results have been published.

In 2021 Amy expanded her professional skills by completing the requirements for a Medical Xray Limited Scope license allowing her to operate the Hologic DEXA at the GCRC. With this expertise she developed an orientation presentation for the Endocrinology Fellows to enhance their skills at reading and understanding DEXA scan results.

Finally, Amy has been a professional preceptor for many master's and PhD level students/interns over the decades. She has worked with students at the University of Memphis (1994-1998), Southwest Tennessee Community College (2007-2008) and the VA Memphis Medica Center (2012-2023).

Amy says her "best days" at UTHSC were the days she led group sessions for study participants and the days she mentored students.

Please join us, if you will, in our heartfelt send-off for Amy and in celebration of all her contributions to UTHSC research on June 28^th, from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm at 920 Madison Ave, Suite 300A, Division of Endocrinology on the UTHSC campus. Inquiries, please contact Bridgette Cain at 516-2212