Background
Dr. Dufault is recognized as a biomedical expert in the areas of inorganic mercury and fructose toxicology, nutrition, autism, ADHD, epigenetics, and environmental hazard assessment. Her articles published in peer reviewed medical journals continue to be widely accessed and cited by other scientists. She is widely known for blowing the whistle on the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) when the agency attempted to block publication of her findings of inorganic mercury in high fructose corn syrup. To publish these findings, she retired early and gave up her career as a United States Public Health Service Officer. Mother Jones published an award winning article about Dr. Dufault's investigation and it can be accessed at the following link:
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2009/07/corn-syrups-mercury-surprise
Training as a Health Educator
Dr. Dufault earned a doctorate degree in health education at A.T. Still University, the oldest institution of osteopathic healthcare in the U.S. The university is comprised of two medical schools, two dental schools and one graduate school. The curriculum is designed so that practitioners learn evidence based practices that focus on promoting wellness and preventing disease. Dr. Dufault's studies and dissertation were focused on the nutritional aspects of maintaining and promoting health and wellness in families with learning disabled children.
Clinical Trial Work
Dr. Dufault has thus far developed web-based nutrition education interventions for three different clinical trials. Two were designed to help Native American college students improve their dietary pattern and reduce their risk of Type-2 diabetes. Diet surveys were conducted before and after each intervention to determine the effectiveness of the coaching instruction and curriculum. During one of these trials, blood samples were taken before and after the nutrition coursework to measure changes in glucose and inorganic mercury levels. In both trials, students significantly increased their consumption of whole healthy foods and significantly decreased their consumption of processed foods. Students also lost weight and reduced their BMI. In the blood study, students who participated in the web based nutrition intervention significantly reduced their glucose levels and had lower inorganic mercury levels at the end of the study compared to students that did not participate in the web based nutrition intervention.
In another clinical trial, Dr. Dufault developed web based nutrition curriculum for parents of children with autism and ADHD. Diet survey data was collected before and after the intervention. Parents who particpated in the web based nutrition curriculum significantly increased their intake of whole, healthy foods and significantly decreased their intake of processed foods. Parents reported the family dietary changes improved their child's overall behavior.
Publications
Dufault and Gilbert. (2017, October 23). Why does autism impact boys more often than girls? Scientific American Read now.
Dufault. (2018). Food labeling requirements may explain lower autism and ADHD prevalence in the United Kingdom. Integrative Food Nutrition and Metabolism. Read now.
Dufault et al. (2009). Mercury exposure, nutritional deficiencies and metabolic disruptions may affect learning in children. Behavioral and Brain Functions, 5:44. http://www.behavioralandbrainfunctions.com/content/5/1/44
Dufault et al. (2012). A macroepigenetic to identify factors responsible for the autism epidemic in the United States. Clinical Epigenetics, 4:6. http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1868-7083-4-6.pdf
Dufault et al. (2015). Blood inorganic mercury is directly associated with glucose levels in the human population and may be linked to processed food intake. Integrative Molecular Medicine, 2(3):166-179. http://oatext.com/pdf/IMM-2-134.pdf
The Guidelines for Acquiring and Transferring EPA Real Property and Complying with the Community Environmental Response Facilitation Act (CERFA), EPA, December 1997
Dufault et al. (2000). Reducing Environmental Risk Associated with Laboratory Decommissioning and Property Transfer, Environmental Health Perspectives, Vol. 108, Supl. 6, 1015-1022. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1240234/pdf/ehp108s-001015.pdf
Biological Risk Engineering Handbook, ISBN: 1-5667-0606-8 CRC Press, November 2002 Lead author on two chapters: Medical Setting Infection Control, Infection Control
Dufault et al. (2005). In Another Country, Indian Country Environmental Hazard Assessment Training Project, Synergist, https://www.academia.edu/8318809/In_Another_Country
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