In Memoriam: John Paul SanGiovanni
John Paul SanGiovanni, associate professor in the School of Nutritional Sciences and Wellness and the BIO5 Institute, passed away on September 25. His family, friends, colleagues, and students remember him as a kind and caring man who dedicated himself to serving others through personal connection and through his impressive research career. He is survived by his wife, Brigitte, his two sons, Jean-Philippe and Daniel, his parents and his siblings.
“John Paul was a passionate and accomplished scientist with a remarkable breadth and depth to his work,” said Scott Going, former director of the School of Nutritional Sciences and Wellness. “He had a stellar career, and his scientific achievements were extremely impressive. But it was his zest for life and commitment to the people around him that will be missed most. He was always eager to help his colleagues and students – and their students and their families – in whatever way was needed.”
At the University of Arizona, SanGiovanni focused on the effect of different foods and nutrients on our molecular biology. Prior to joining the faculty in 2019, SanGiovanni spent two decades at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He also served as founding director of the Center for the Study of Nutrient-Responsive Systems and Director of Food and Nutrition programs for the NSF Industry-University Collaborative Research Center to Stream Health Care in Place, and was a 2022 delegate to the European Nutrition Genetics Society. His professional memberships included the American Society for Nutrition, the American Society for Human Genetics, the International Society for the Study of Fatty Acids and Lipids, and the American Society for Experimental Neurotherapeutics. His research has been cited more than 20,000 times and has been published on the covers of such prestigious journals as Science, Nature Medicine, the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and the Journal of the American Medical Association.