Ph.D. Pharmacology, University of Iowa 1979

A.B. Cell Physiology, Rutgers College 1973

Research Areas: Health benefits of nutraceuticals and functional foods and effect of select natural extracts on inflammation, protein glycation and LDL oxidation

Opportunities for Collaboration:  Labs interested in studying the mechanisms of atherosclerosis and diabetic complications

Dr. Greenspan’ s research interests center on the health benefits of nutraceuticals and functional foods; these terms can be broadly defined as natural food products that are ingested or incorporated into the diet to help slow the progression of certain disease states.  In the past several years, Dr. Greenspan has investigated the effect of muscadine grape extracts (Georgia is a major producer of this Southern specialty grape) and select sorghum bran extracts on important biological processes such as inflammation, protein glycation and LDL oxidation. These pathways are thought to be the underlying cause of two of the most prevalent diseases in America, coronary heart disease and diabetes.  It is interesting to note that while natural products have been shown to inhibit protein glycation and LDL oxidation both in vitro and in vivo, there is currently no FDA approved drug designed to arrest these critical disease pathways.   Dr. Greenspan’s work in natural product research has led to the commercialization of numerous products both in the United States and on international markets.

Elrod SM, Greenspan P* and Hofmeister EH High Phenolic Beer Inhibits Protein Glycation in Vitro. J Amer. Soc Brew Chem. 75: 1-5, 2017. Impact Factor 0.49.

Dorsey P, Pegg RB, Liu X and Greenspan P*. Inhibition of Protein glycation by Pomegranate (Punica Granatum) Whole Fruit and its Components. J. Food Chem Nanotech. 3:120-125, 2017.

Katy Robbins, Phillip Greenspan and Ronald B. Pegg* (2016), Effect of pecan phenolics on the release of nitric oxide from murine RAW 264.7 macrophage cells. Food Chem 212:681-687, 2016

Katherine S. Robbins, Yi Gong, M. Lenny Wells, Phillip Greenspan, Ronald B. Pegg. Investigation of the antioxidant capacity and phenolic constituents of U.S. pecans. J. Functional Foods, 15, 11-22, 2015.

Dorsey, PG and Greenspan P. Inhibition of protein glycation by pomegranate and other fruit juices. J. Med. Food 17:447-54, 2014.

Robbins KS, Ma Y, Wells L, Greenspan P and Pegg RL. Separation and characterization of phenolic compounds from U.S. pecans by liquid chromatography-tanden mass spectrometry, J Agric Food Chem. 62:4332-41, 2014

Hargrove JL, Greenspan P, Dowd C and Hartle DK.  Inhibition of aromatase and alpha-amylase by flavonoids and proanthocyanidins from   sorghum bicolor bran extracts. J Med Food 14:799-807, 2011.

Burdette A, Mayer EP, Hargrove JL, Hartle DK and Greenspan P.  Anti-inflammatory activity of select sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) brans. J. Med. Food 13:879-887, 2010.

Farrar JL, Hartle DK, Hargrove JL and Greenspan P.  A novel nutraceutical property of select sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) brans: Inhibition of protein glycation.  Phytotherapy Res. 22:1052-1056, 2008.

• Georgia Agricultural Commodity Commission for Pecans (GACCP)
• Shaklee Corporation