Martha Clare Morris (1955 – February 15, 2020) was an American nutritional epidemiologist who studied the link between diet and Alzheimer's disease. She led a team of researchers at the Rush University Medical Center to develop the MIND diet.

Martha Clare Morris
Born
Martha Clare Chinn

1955
Died(2020-02-15)February 15, 2020 (aged 64)
Oak Park, Illinois
Alma materUniversity of Iowa
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Known forMIND diet
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of Iowa
Rush University Medical Center
Thesis (1992)

Early life and education

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Martha Clare Chinn grew up in Flossmoor, Illinois. She graduated from Homewood Flossmoor High School. She completed an undergraduate degree at the University of Iowa, followed by a master of sociology at the same university.[1] She undertook her doctoral studies at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, graduating with an ScD.[2]

Career

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Morris worked with Denis Evans while completing her ScD and, in 1992, moved to Rush University Medical Center in Chicago with him. On Evans' retirement some years later, Morris became director of the Institute for Healthy Aging at Rush.[2]

Her research focused on diet, rather than just genetics, being a significant contributor to dementia, in particular Alzheimer's disease.[1][2] Leading a team of researchers at Rush, she developed the Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay diet, commonly known as the MIND diet.[1]

Morris died of cancer at her Oak Park home on February 15, 2020.[2]

Works

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Book

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  • Diet for the MIND: The Latest Science on What to Eat to Prevent Alzheimer's and Cognitive Decline, 2017 ISBN 978-0316441155

Selected journal articles

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Megan, Graydon (2020-03-05). "Martha Clare Morris, Rush researcher who studied link between diet and dementia, dies at 64". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2022-02-23.
  2. ^ a b c d "Martha Clare Morris, ScD, 1955-2020". Rush University Medical Center. 2020-02-20. Retrieved 2022-02-23.