Robert Rucker, Ph.D.

Robert Rucker

Distinguished Professor Emeritus

3415 Meyer Hall
Education
  • M.S. and Ph.D., Biochemistry, Purdue University
Research Interests

Dr. Rucker's current research focus is on the role of nutrients in early growth and development, the physiological roles of quinone cofactors derived from tyrosine, such as pyrroloquinoline quinone, and allometric scaling relevant to nutrition.

Selected past honors and activities:

Past President, American Society for Nutrition; Fellow: American Association for the Advancement of Science and American Society for Nutrition; Past Chair or Co-Chairperson for FASEB Summer Conferences on Micronutrients; service on Program Committees for ASN and FASEB (e.g., planning committees for Experimental Biology meetings); Plenary Speaker at International Nutrition Congresses; service on the Executive Committees for ASN, Exp. Biol. Med. And committees for USDA, NIH, and FASEB; Editorial Board service: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Journal of Nutrition, Exp. Biol. Medicine, Annual Reviews of Nutrition, Nutrition Research (current), Nutrients (current); Recipient: UC Davis Medical School Oettinger Research Award, American Society for Nutritional Sciences – Bordon Research Award, Distinguished Professor Title at UC Davis in 2005. Served as Chair and Vice-Chair of the Nutrition Department and in various positions for the Graduate Group for Nutritional Sciences. His research program remains active, but he no longer directs new students. 

Publications from the Past Ten Years:
  • RB Rucker. Reactive oxygen species: regulation and essential functions. In: Antioxidants in Health and Disease, eds. A Zampelas and E Micha (New York: CRC Press, 2015): 3-22.
  • J Zhang, S Meruvu, YS Bedi, J Chau, A Arguelles, R Rucker, and M Choudhury. Pyrroloquinoline quinone increases the expression and activity of Sirt1 and -3 genes in HepG2 cells. Nutrition Research 35 (2015): 844-49.
  • RB Rucker, MR Rucker. Nutrition: ethical issues and challenges. Nutrition Research 36 (2016):1183-1192.
  • RB Rucker. Pantothenic acid. In: Encyclopedia of Food and Health, vol. 4, eds. B Caballero, P Finglas, and F Toldrá (Oxford, UK: Academic Press, 2016): 205-08.
  • RB Rucker and W Chowanadisai. Coenzymes and cofactors. In: Encyclopedia of Food and Health, vol. 2, eds. B Caballero, P Finglas, and F Toldrá (Oxford, UK: Academic Press, 2016): 206-24.
  • RB Rucker, AJ Fascetti, and J Larsen. Vitamins, selected diet-derived factors, and minerals. In: Loeb and Quimby’s Clinical Chemistry of Laboratory Animals, 3d ed., eds. D Kurtz, J Prescot, and G Travlos (New York: Taylor and Francis, New York, New York, 2016): 1007-1093.
  • RB Rucker. Allometric scaling: theory and applications. Functional Foods in Health and Disease 7 (2017): 303-13.
  • K Jonscher and RB Rucker. Pyrroloquinoline quinone: its profile. Effects on the liver and implications for health and disease prevention. In: Dietary Interventions in Liver Disease, eds. R Watson and V Preedy (Cambridge, MA; Academic Press, 2019): 157-68.
  • RB Rucker, BA Watkins. Inadequate diet descriptions: a conundrum for animal model research. Nutrition Research. 65 (2019): 1–3.
  • RB Rucker RB, Starcher B. Boyd L O'Dell, PhD (1916-2019). J Nutrition 150 (2020):2609-2612.
  • Chowanadisai W, Hart MD, Strong MD, et al. Genetic and Genomic Advances in Developmental Models: Applications for Nutrition Research. Advances in Nutrition 11 (2020):971-978.
  • Miller, J.W., RB Rucker R.B. Pantothenic Acid. In: Present Knowledge in Nutrition, 11th Edition, Volume 1 ( Eds. Marriott, Bernadette P., Diane F. Birt, Virginia A. Stallings, and Allison A. Yates) Chapter 16 (2020) 273-288, Elsevier: Amsterdam, Netherlands.
  • KR Jonscher, W Chowanadisai and RB Rucker. Pyrroloquinoline-Quinone Is More Than an Antioxidant: A Vitamin-like Accessory Factor Important in Health and Disease Prevention. Biomolecules.;11(2021)11:1441. doi: 10.3390/biom11101441.
  • RB Rucker, RB, Jonscher and W Chowanadisai. Comparative Effects of Pyrroloquinoline Quinone (PQQ) and Resveratrol (RSV) on Mitochondriogenesis in Mice. FASEB Journal 36-S1 (2021): doi: 10.1096/fasebj.2021.35.S1.05142 (extended abstract).
  • AM Zivkovic and RB Rucker. Gut microbiota - nutrition and health. Nutrition Research 100 (2022):42-46.
  • RB Rucker. Allometric Scaling: Comparison of Interspecies Nutritional Relationships and Requirements. J Nutrition 152 (2022):2626-2627.
  • BA Watkins, JR Watkins and RB Rucker. Research diets and reproducible results in rodent models. The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry. 134 (2024: 109750. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnutbio.2024.109750
  • RB Rucker, FM Steinberg and W. Chowanadisai, W. Organic: Biochemical mechanisms and regulation of vitamins and vitamin-like cofactors. In: Caballero, B. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Human Nutrition, Elsevier, Academic Press. 2 (2024):215–249. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-821848-8.00156-6.
  • RB Rucker. Response to Tsuda et al.: the glomerular filtration rate is both age and allometrically influenced. Hypertension Research. (2025) 48 (2025):2126-2127.
  • I Muhammad, F Steinberg, J Larsen, and RB Rucker. Global warming and obesity: External heat exposure as a modulator of energy balance. FASEB Bioadv. 7 (2025) :e1487. doi: 10.1096/fba.2024-00140. PMID: 40212806; PMCID: PMC11980811.
  • Finley, D., & Rucker, R. B. (2025). Fredric W. Hill, Ph.D. (1918-2003). The Journal of Nutrition, S0022-3166(25)00424-9. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tjnut.2025.07.001
  • Watkins, B. A., Watkins, J. R., Shin, A. C., Zhang, G., Cremonini, E., Niraula, S. R., & Rucker, R. B. (2025). Application of AI-assisted methodology to evaluate diet and ingredient formulations for rodent models in nutrition and health research. The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, 146, 110046. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnutbio.2025.110046 

In Press

  • AJ Fascetti, JB Larsen, RB Rucker. Chapter: Trace Minerals. 7th edition Kaneko’s  Clinical Biochemistry of Domestic Animals Elsevier (Academic Press), (2026) in press.
  • JB Larsen, AJ Fascetti, RB Rucker. Vitamins. 7th edition Kaneko’s Clinical Biochemistry of Domestic Animals Elsevier (Academic Press), (2026) in press