This lecture in honor of past ASPEN president Bruce R. Bistrian MD, PhD will highlight milestones in my own journey that, with the invaluable support of many mentors and mentees, have made a small contribution to our understanding of the clinical role, pharmaceutics, and practicalities of nutrition support therapies.

When the group of physicians got together in 1975, few could have imagined the massive impact that ASPEN would have on the nutrition care of patients worldwide. The early research programs established by Dr. George Blackburn and Dr. Bruce Bistrian in Boston exemplify the important role that ethical cooperation and mentorship with industry partners have played in providing insights into nutritional management of the critically ill. Subsequent grants by governments, professional societies and industry have influenced many researchers and stimulated my own interest in parenteral administration of amino acids, glutamine, micronutrients, novel lipids and latterly chyme fistuloclysis.

The privilege of involvement in international patient support groups has helped identify key attributes for successful mentoring and multidisciplinary networking. Mentoring can be confidence building, encourage development of specific skills and/or wider practical experience for addressing challenges as an essential part of one’s vocation. By inspiring mentees to follow the high standards set by pioneering giants like Dr. Bistrian, who always advocated close attention to study design to demonstrate efficacy, we can successfully tackle disease-related malnutrition.

Global implementation of the Vienna Declaration for a multidisciplinary and human rights approach, and consideration of other more speculative strategies that will empower patients to be at the center of parenteral, enteral and chyme reinfusion nutrition therapy can contribute to achieving ASPEN’s vision for a world in which every patient receives safe, effective and high-quality nutrition care. “With a little help from our friends”