Jennifer Sacheck Installed as Sanofi Professor of Prevention and Wellness

Dr. Sacheck, a nationally recognized leader in nutrition and exercise science, joined GW in January.

April 9, 2018

SPH

Dean Lynn Goldman (left), GW President Thomas LeBlanc, Jennifer Sacheck, Adam Gluck and Provost Forrest Maltzman celebrate Dr. Sacheck’s installation as the Sanofi Professor of Prevention and Wellness. (Photo: Dave Scavone)

Jennifer Sacheck, chair of the Milken Institute School of Public Health’s Department of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, was officially installed as the Sanofi Professor of Prevention and Wellness on Wednesday.

Dr. Sacheck is a nationally recognized expert in nutrition and physical activity, with a special focus on keeping children fit and healthy. She came to GW in January from Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, where she had been a faculty member since 2005.

Dr. Sacheck is excited to advance GW’s vision for public health and collaborate with partners across the university, she said.

“I’m looking forward to basically being successful through the success of others,” she said. “That is going to be my litmus test.”

The Sanofi Professorship was made possible with a grant from global health care company Sanofi US. Sanofi is a global biopharmaceutical company committed to health care solutions from prevention to treatment. Lynn Goldman, the Michael and Lori Milken Dean of Milken Institute SPH, said the endowed professorship will allow GW to continue building an academic and research infrastructure that “allows us to continue our drive to be the best school of public health in the world.”

During the installation ceremony, GW President Thomas LeBlanc shared a list of Dr. Sacheck’s achievements, which includes receiving federally funded grants that have influenced the national dialogue on public health, membership in the National Academy of Medicine and her career as a competitive rower.

“This very brief summary of Dr. Sacheck’s distinguished career to date gives you some indication of why we are so proud to install her as the Sanofi Professor of Prevention and Wellness here at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at the George Washington University,” he said.

During her tenure at Tufts University, she led several large community-based studies with a primary focus on nutrition, physical activity and health disparities among underserved school children.

Dr. Sacheck was appointed a member of the National Academy of Medicine’s committee on Fitness and Health Outcomes in Youth and is a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine, where she serves on a number of advisory committees on national health policy and youth sport/health initiatives.

Provost Forrest Maltzman thanked Sanofi for supporting important research projects in SPH and the School of Medicine and Health Sciences over the past two decades.

“The impact of this gift will extend beyond the walls of this school,” he said. “With cutting-edge research aimed at prevention and treatment of obesity and other clinical conditions, with innovations and collaborations that will drive improvements in health, it will enhance and save lives.”

Adam Gluck, head of U.S. external affairs at Sanofi, said partnerships with academia, physicians, patients and other stakeholders are key to tackling the complex health challenges the world faces today. Dr. Sacheck will be an asset in meeting those challenges, he said.

“We look forward to working with you in years to come, seeing your vision for prevention and wellness come to fruition and really making a meaningful impact in communities around the country and the world,” Mr. Gluck said.

Dr. Sacheck is a competitive master’s-level rower and an avid runner. Her passion for physical activity started in high school when she discovered rowing and was a member of a crew team that won a national title her senior year. That was followed by a full athletic scholarship to Syracuse University, where she was crew team captain, named Academic All-American, and graduated with a B.S. in biology.  She was inducted into the Syracuse Rowing Hall of Fame in 2015.

Dr. Sacheck’s friend and mentor Christina Economos, a professor and chair at Tufts University, said the strength, flexibility, endurance and balance Dr. Sacheck has developed through rowing has made her successful in the field.

“She has had a major impact on physical activity in America,” Dr. Economos said. “I can only imagine what she will do next.”