Richard Bruno Ph.D., R.D.
Richard Bruno is an Assistant Professor and Principal Investigator in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Connecticut. He received his Ph.D. from The Ohio State University in Human Nutrition and completed his Post-Doctoral training at the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University. In addition, he is also Registered Dietitian.
His research program is focused on developing and evaluating dietary strategies that will be effective in preventing and/or ameliorating oxidative stress-mediated processes involved in the pathogenesis of chronic diseases. In particular, he is interested in understanding the mechanisms by which endogenous and exogenous oxidative stresses contribute to the pathogenesis of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) – a constellation of relatively asymptomatic liver diseases that may ultimately result in liver failure and have paralleled the ongoing obesity epidemic which has resulted in greater than 60% of Americans currently be overweight or obese. Tragically, it is estimated that approximately 40 million Americans are afflicted with some form of NAFLD and it is expected that this costly disease will continue to be problematic, since current treatments strategies are essentially limited to weight loss and co-morbidity management.
Complementary research interests also include understanding the extent to which that dietary interventions, such as those with antioxidants, phtyonutrients and/or functional foods, can favorably modulate oxidative stress biomarkers and if such alterations result in favorable health outcomes. Collectively, these contributions could potentially lead to the development of additional dietary strategies to promote optimal health in humans.
