The Board of Directors is pleased and honored to announce that Robert Martindale, MD, PhD, FASPEN, has been selected to receive the 2022 ASPEN Champion Award in recognition of his significant and sustained contributions to the association.
Dr. Martindale is a professor of surgery at the Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, Oregon, and serves as the medical director for Hospital Nutrition Services. He will receive the Champion Award at the ASPEN 2022 Nutrition Science & Practice Conference in Seattle, Washington, on Sunday, March 27. The awards ceremony will also be streamed.
Throughout his professional career, Dr. Martindale has focused on caring for medical and surgical patients with complex nutrition issues. “His years of supporting and furthering the field of nutrition and advancing ASPEN’s mission are truly significant,” said Mayo Clinic’s Ryan T. Hurt, MD, PhD. “Dr. Martindale is one of the most knowledgeable academics I know. He has been a member of the ASPEN/SCCM critical care guidelines committee and not only incorporates those guidelines in practice but also educates others on the importance of these cornerstone nutrition recommendations.” Dr. Martindale has received numerous teaching awards for his mentoring of young physicians and investigators.
"It was Dr. Martindale who got me involved with ASPEN when we both were on active duty at Eisenhower Army Medical Center in Fort Gordon, Georgia, in the early 1990s,” recalls ASPEN President Gail Cresci, PhD, RD. “He continues to tirelessly and passionately educate all clinicians—physicians, dietitians, pharmacists, and nurses—globally. He is truly a nutrition support champion!”
A graduate of Humboldt State University, Dr. Martindale received his PhD from UCLA and his medical degree from George Washington University. He completed his surgical residency at the Madigan Army Medical Center and served in the U.S. Army for nine years. Dr. Martindale began his academic career in the Department of Surgery at the Medical College of Georgia in 1993 before joining the faculty at the Oregon Health & Science University in 2005.
Dr. Martindale’s research interests include perioperative methods for optimizing surgical outcomes, abdominal wall reconstruction, surgical metabolism, management of enterocutaneous and enteroatmospheric fistulae, and nutritional modulation of immunity.
He serves on numerous professional committees at the local, national, and international levels and the editorial boards of several journals. Dr. Martindale is the author of over 300 publications and co-editor of a textbook on surgical and critical care nutrition and serves as a reviewer for more than 15 medical journals. He received the Excellence in Nutrition Support Education from ASPEN in 2019.
Dr. Martindale’s service to ASPEN includes chairing the Annual Conference Program Committee and the Medical Practice Section. He also served on the Education and Professional Development Committee, the Clinical Guidelines Editorial Board and the Post Graduate Medical Education in Nutrition Task Force.
A popular lecturer both nationally and internationally, Dr. Martindale is a frequent presenter at ASPEN’s educational seminars, research workshops, and postgraduate educational programs.
Please join ASPEN in congratulating and thanking Dr. Martindale during ASPEN22 in Seattle. If you are attending virtually, you can send him a message on the conference site.