Faculty and Staff

Public health nutrition promotion + disease prevention with underserved, vulnerable youth and families including: food and nutrition insecurity; developing/evaluating school- and community-based nutrition interventions; socio-environmental influences of eating behaviors. 

My research interest’s concerns nutritional and genetic determinants of hyperhomocysteinemia, and the molecular mechanisms through which hyperhomocysteinemia causes hypomethylation, endothelial dysfunction, and vascular disease. 

Micronutrients and pregnancy; placenta; adverse pregnancy outcomes; plasma volume; public health issues in low- and middle-income countries.

I am a neuropharmacologist with interests in G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling, nutritional neuroscience, neuroendocrine physiology, and preclinical drug discovery. 

Joanna teaches in the Undergraduate Nutrition and Dietetics Program and uses kinetic modeling to investigate the tissue-specific metabolism of dietary bioactive components in humans. She has training in micronutrient metabolism, clinical nutrition, and kinetic modeling.

Emily is a nutrition scientist interested in the interactions between diet and behavioral factors on growth and chronic disease risk in infants, children, adolescents, and pregnant women.

Our research focuses on metabolic studies in the airway epithelium, spanning from normal cells to at-risk epithelial cells, and ultimately to cancer cells.

Eating behaviors in children; neural mechanisms of taste preference and eating behaviors in children; food marketing and childhood obesity; genetic and neural influences in taste in children.

As a social and behavioral scientist, Stephen Kodish is interested in the design, implementation, and evaluation of interventions aimed to improve the health and nutrition of vulnerable populations globally.

Dr. Masterson broadly investigated how technology and media can influence eating behavior and he works to adapt these tools and methods to improve health.

Muzi Na’s research explores the mechanisms leading to health disparities, particularly with interests in social and behavioral determinants, such as food insecurity, diet and dietary behavior, psychosocial exposures, in relation to mental wellbeing and sleep health.

Best practices in teaching and learning; cultural competence and diversity skills; best practices in online and hybrid learning; nutrition education and health in the Latino population.

As a cognitive neuroscientist, Alaina is interested in the reciprocal relationship between neurocognitive function and pediatric obesity and neurocognitive influences on food choice and eating behavior.

Cardiovascular nutrition; diet quality as it relates to risk of CVD and diabetes; the role of foods, nutrients, bioactives and dietary patterns in the prevention of CVD and diabetes.

Brooke works in communications and marketing for the College of Health and Human Development, specifically the Nutritional Sciences and Kinesiology departments. This includes contributing to the college’s social media, website, writing, and press coverage.

Satiety and obesity; Influence of food characteristics such as variety, energy density, and portion size on energy intake across the lifespan.

The consequences of over-nutrition and the stress of "western diets" related to lipid mediators and a global shift of dietary fatty acids; identifying markers of disease and better ways to prevent or manage disease.

Manages the Nutrition and Immunity and the Lipid Mediator labs as well as coordinates the blood processing arm of the Data 4 Action study.

Macronutrient (dietary fibers)-gut microbiome interaction; microbiome- informed dietary interventions to improve chronic inflammatory diseases; mechanism(s) by which gut microbiota-derived metabolites (and products) alleviate or aggravate metabolic syndrome and IBD.

Central nervous system governs feeding behaviour and importantly, vice versa, the food consumed and the resulting neural and hormonal gut signals affect a broad network of neural circuits and behaviours.

Hassan works in Joshua Gross’s lab, which focuses on the molecular mechanisms underlying food reward and its downstream dysregulation of metabolism, particularly in response to obesogenic Western diets.

Maternal and child health nutrition – focusing on the impact of inflammation and micronutrients on placental health and human milk production.

Behavioral (feeding practices, sleep) and individual factors that impact food intake; Responsive parenting; Clinical and community-based childhood obesity prevention interventions