Pennington Biomedical Research Center’s Dr. Corby Martin has been named the Louisiana Public Facilities Authority (LPFA) Endowed Chair in Nutrition, a chair established through private donations matched by the Louisiana Board of Regents Support Fund. Dr. Martin was nominated by Pennington Biomedical leadership, with his appointment approved by the LPFA and Louisiana Board of Regents at its June meeting.

Dr. Martin is Associate Executive Director for Scientific Education and Director of the Ingestive Behavior Laboratory and the Human Phenotyping Core at Pennington Biomedical. As Associate Executive Director, Dr. Martin serves on the executive committee at LSU’s Pennington Biomedical Research Center and as the Center’s Chief Academic Officer, representing Pennington Biomedical on LSU’s Chief Academic Officer Committee.

A new correspondence highlights a critical gap in modern medical education, arguing that digital simulations and virtual reality fail to transmit the hands-on "tacit learning" essential for clinical practice. By attempting to recreate a dissection using the detailed ancient texts of the Roman physician Galen, the study demonstrated that written instructions and digital tools alike cannot replace the physical intuition and judgment gained through real-life, mentored practice. To address this, the correspondence suggests identifying and integrating these unspoken, tacit elements into the design of future digital pedagogical tools to better align with the actual needs of clinical skill acquisition.