“I wake up every morning and realize
how happy I am to be a New Orleanian.”
—Dr. David A. Newsome
Dr. David A. Newsome completed the
first scientifically valid study that showed that appropriate nutritional
supplementation would slow eyesight loss in persons with age-related eye
disease. In response to the controversy created by his study, the National
Institutes of Health mounted a nearly ten-year counterstudy, which only served
to confirm Dr. Newsome's findings. The knowledge from this study and his sudden
weight gain at middle age inspired Dr. Newsome to delve into scientific
literature on appetite, nutrition, and related topics. After speaking with then
acquaintance Chef Besh about his concerns for himself and his family's
nutrition, Dr. Newsome invited Chef Besh to collaborate on a book combining New
Orleans cuisine with information on healthy lifestyle choices.
Dr. Newsome was born and raised in
Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He attended Duke University and earned his MD
at Columbia University in New York. After working in Washington, D.C. at the
National Institutes of Health, he moved to Boston for a residency and fellowship
at Harvard. Upon his return to Washington, Dr. Newsome became head of the
Retinal Disease Section of the National Eye Institute, National Institutes of
Health. From 1982 to 1985 he worked for Johns Hopkins Medical School, and in
1985 was hired as professor of ophthalmology with LSU Medical Center in New
Orleans. Three years later, he became a clinical professor of ophthalmology at
Tulane University School of Medicine, a position he held until 1995.
Currently he is the president of
the Retinal Institute of Louisiana, located in New Orleans. In addition to his
accomplishments as an eye surgeon and research scientist in the field of
nutrition and diseases of the eye, Dr. Newsome founded Meals on Wheels, New
Orleans Fund, and Eye Care Haiti.
Dr. Newsome is the father of two
teenage girls and lives in New Orleans.