The University of the West Indies is pleased to announce the promotion of Senior Lecturer and Director of the Sickle Cell Unit, Tropical Medicine Research Institute, Dr. Marvin Reid to the rank of Professor.

Professor Reid holds the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery Degree as well as the Doctor of Philosophy in Community Medicine from the University of the West Indies. He has completed studies in Clinical Nutrition at the University of Southampton, United Kingdom (1993) and Postdoctoral Studies from Baylor College of Medicine, Texas, USA (2000).

He joined the staff of the UWI in 1990 as a Medical Officer in the Tropical Metabolism Research Unit and was appointed Research Fellow in 1995. In 2000 he was appointed Lecturer and promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2004. He is also an Associate Lecturer in the Department of Community Health and Psychiatry.

In April 2004, Professor Reid was appointed Director of the Sickle Cell Unit, the only comprehensive centre in Jamaica that is dedicated to the care of persons with sickle cell disease.  The Unit is also recognized internationally as a leading centre of excellence. He has demonstrated strong leadership qualities and is an excellent administrator. Under his direction, patient care has improved through a system of continuous audit to ensure best practice. He has also negotiated clinical trials which have been conducted rigorously and successfully, thus making the Unit a preferred centre for the conduct of such clinical trials.

Professor Reid’s research spans the gamut of Community Health, Family Medicine and Human Metabolism. As a Metabolist and Clinical Nutritionist he is skilled in the application of stable isotope methods which involves attaching non radioactive chemicals to nutrients which are then infused into or ingested by the patient. The distribution of these labeled nutrients in tissues and body fluids are then measured and this helps researchers understand how the body functions in health and disease.  In particular his work has centred on how the body adapts to oxidative and nutritional stresses. More recently he has focused on how these adaptive responses increase susceptibility to cardiovascular and renal diseases and the complications of sickle cell disease.

Professor Reid is a well respected academic who has earned local and international recognition for his work especially those related to  stable isotope based metabolic research.  He is a key collaborator on several National Institute of Health (NIH) Grants and is the Principal investigator on an important Regional International Atomic Energy Agency Grant, supporting Stable Isotope assessment of breast milk intake and its effects on growth in infants. He currently has grants totaling three point eight million United States dollars (US$3.8Million).

Professor Reid has made a very strong contribution to undergraduate and postgraduate teaching in the Faculty of Medical Sciences. He teaches Biostatistics and Clinical Nutrition to undergraduate medical, MSc and DM students. He has successfully supervised one PhD student and is currently supervising two others.

He has contributed most significantly to international literature. He has published in excess of 54 papers in peer reviewed journals, one book chapter and 23 abstracts. He is also a reviewer for eight peer reviewed journals, seven of which are international journals.

His professional activities have achieved widespread recognition. He is a member of the Medical Association of Jamaica, the Caribbean College of Family Physician, the American Physiology Society and the American Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition.

Professor Reid has participated in a number of sporting activities at both the local and international levels. He represented Jamaica in volleyball between 1985 and 1995 at the Pan American Games and the Caribbean Volleyball Championships. He was Sportsman of the year for the University of the West Indies, Mona in 1987 and represented Jamaica in Track and Field, Long Jump at the World University Games that same year. He is certified by the International Volleyball Association as a Grade 1 Coach and referee in Volleyball.