SUMMARY
Mayo Clinic researcher Lindsey A. Russell, M.D., studies nutritional support, short bowel syndrome and intestinal failure. She has expertise in microbiome research, including fecal microbiota transplantation for severe and recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection.
Dr. Russell evaluates objective measures of metabolism and body composition to help guide parenteral and enteral nutrition for patients with malnutrition and to improve clinical outcomes. She also leads quality improvement initiatives to enhance patient care and investigates novel therapies for short bowel syndrome.
Focus areas
- Improving the safety of parenteral nutrition. Dr. Russell leads quality improvement efforts to reduce complications associated with parenteral nutrition, including line infections, electrolyte abnormalities and liver disease. Her work explores how close monitoring, laboratory testing and digital health tools can help identify and prevent adverse events and improve patient care.
- Using body composition and metabolic assessment to guide nutritional therapy. Dr. Russell evaluates body composition and indirect calorimetry in patients receiving nutritional support for conditions such as cancer, short bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease. Her work aims to individualize nutritional therapy and improve clinical outcomes.
- Examining diet quality and microbiome changes in celiac disease. Dr. Russell studies the relationship among diet quality, changes in the gut microbiome and clinical outcomes in people with celiac disease. Her research compares these factors during active disease and when the condition is managed with a gluten-free diet.
Significance to patient care
Knowing how much nutrition a patient needs can be difficult, especially because those needs often change during illness and recovery. Dr. Russell studies tools that measure how many calories the body uses and the amount of muscle and fat in the body. These measurements can help care teams tailor nutrition support for each patient.
This information can help clinicians adjust nutrition as a patient's health changes, such as during an infection or a flare-up of inflammatory bowel disease. It also can show whether nutrition support is helping maintain or build muscle rather than increasing body fat.
By finding better ways to measure and monitor nutritional status, Dr. Russell aims to make nutrition care more precise and support better health and recovery.
Professional highlights
- American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition:
- Chair, Physician Preconference Course, ASPEN Nutrition Science & Practice Conference, 2026-present.
- Associate Editor, Nutrition in Clinical Practice, 2025-present.