Nutrition and Health

Eileen Kennedy is the Dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University and was the first Director of USDA's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion. Kennedy holds an undergraduate degree from Hunter College, two master's degrees from Pennsylvania State University, and a Doctor of Science in Nutrition from Harvard's School of Public Health. Kennedy has long been involved in the academic arena of nutrition conducting research and teaching at Tufts, Columbia University, Cornell University and Johns Hopkins University. In 2008, Dr. Kennedy was named president of the "Smart Choices" board. “Smart Choices” is a front of label nutrition benchmarking system, a program whose criteria are based on government dietary guidelines and widely accepted nutritional standards.

Assessing the health and nutrition impacts of policies and programs; nutrient density and diet diversity; interventions for obesity prevention.

After completing studies at the renowned School for Complementary and Natural Medicine, Southern Cross University, Australia, Keonie Moore has become a highly sought-after presenter for her experience in scientific implementation. As the director of ReMed Natural Medicine Clinic, a multi-modality clinic that exemplifies scientific implementation in the Australian Health sector, Keonie is involved in clinical mentoring to enhance additional integrative clinics and practitioners in the assimilation of research findings and evidence into clinical practice.

Keonie Moore is involved in clinical mentoring to enhance additional integrative clinics and practitioners in the assimilation of research findings and evidence into clinical practice.

Dr. Wilna Oldewage-Theron is a Professor of Nutrition in the College of Human Sciences at TTU where she teaches graduate classes on Issues in Nutrition: Food Security among others. Dr. Oldewage-Theron has fifteen years Community Nutrition research experience in Africa and her research interests include the factors contributing to household food insecurity and malnutrition, specifically micronutrient deficiencies, in resource-poor communities focusing on women, children and the elderly. Her community research and development program at present is mainly focused on soy applications and the nutritional benefits of soy for human health in South Africa.

Her research interests include the factors contributing to household food insecurity and malnutrition, specifically micro nutrient deficiencies, in resource-poor communities focusing on women, children and the elderly.

Theresa Loomis received her B.S from the University of Rhode Island and her M.S. and Doctorate of Clinical Nutrition from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. She is a Registered Dietitian (RD) with 11 years of experience in neonatal and pediatric nutrition. Theresa has conducted research in a number of areas related to the nutrition care of the high-risk infant, including the impact of a Registered Dietitian in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) setting on the adequacy of parenteral nutrition administration and the timeliness of the initiation of enteral nutrition, the use of post-discharge formulas in low birth weight (LBW) infants after discharge from the NICU, and the adequacy of vitamin D intake in LBW infants. Her doctoral work looked at the impact of standardized feeding guidelines for low birth weight infants on enteral nutrition administration, growth, and bone and liver health and was recently published in the Journal of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition. She has publications on the use of probiotics for infants and on nutrition after NICU discharge. Currently Theresa is an Assistant Professor at SUNY Oneonta and is the Director of the Masters Program and Dietetics Internship.

Use of and Benefits of Conducting Nutrition Focused Physical Exam by RD's in the clinical setting, Prevalence and Barriers to RD's practicing in the NICU, Vitamin D administration in Children with Obesity, The impact of Role Modelling on Weight Loss in children with Obesity.

Dr. Marianna Baum is a nationally and internationally acclaimed scientist in the area of nutrition, metabolism and HIV/AIDS. She was the first scientist to investigate the relationship between HIV infection and micronutrient status. After her large-scale NIH-funded studies showed deficiencies in micronutrients as the disease progressed, Dr. Baum and her team conducted clinical trials supplementing specific micronutrients. These NIH-supported studies showed that long-term micronutrient supplementation improved nutritional status and immunity, delayed disease progression, and improved overall quality of life in HIV infected individuals. Dr. Baum’s most recent studies involve the risks for HIV and Hepatitis C disease progression in the presence of drug and alcohol abuse, their effect on liver disease, its prevention and treatment.

Nutrition, metabolism and HIV/AIDS, Metabolic effects of Hepatitis C/HIV infection, Drug and alcohol abuse and its effect on liver disease in Hepatitis C/HIV infection

Dr. Chaodong Wu, MD, PhD, is a tenured Associate Professor of Nutrition at Texas A&M University (TAMU) (College Station, Texas, USA) and a Faculty Fellow of Texas A&M AgriLife Research. Prior to his tenure, Dr. Wu was an Assistant Professor of Nutrition at TAMU (2007-2013), and a Research Assistant Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis, Minnesota) (2003-2006). Since his postdoctoral training, Dr. Wu has made a series of significant contributions to the understanding of liver physiology in relation to systemic metabolic homeostasis. After his appointment at TAMU, Dr. Wu has focused his research on overnutrition-associated insulin resistance, diabetes, and fatty liver disease. Dr. Wu has also explored how overnutrition induces peripheral circadian clock dysregulation in the context of inflammation and metabolic diseases. Dr. Wu has authored and co-authored over 56 research articles and delivered over 50 presentations nationally and internationally. Currently, Dr. Wu is funded as Principle Investigator by grants from the NIH and American Diabetes Association. Dr. Wu is a full member of American Society of Nutrition, American Diabetes Association, and Chinese American Diabetes Association. Since 2010, Dr. Wu has been invited to serve on many NIH study sections and American Heart Association scientific review meetings. Dr. Wu is also a member of the editorial board of Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry. Since his appointment at TAMU, Dr. Wu has chaired and served on more than 20 graduate committees, and trained 6 postdoctoral fellows.

overnutrition-associated insulin resistance, diabetes, and fatty liver disease

Duska Curic, PhD, is a full professor at the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology. She is teaching undergraduate, graduate and PhD studies in food technology and human nutrition. She is the head of the Laboratory for Cereals Chemistry and Technology and she was the Vice-Dean for Science from 2007 to 2011 at the Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology. Duska Curic is a member of the Governing Council in the Croatian Society of Food Technologists, Biotechnologist and Nutritionists, and a member of the scientific panel on dietetic products, nutrition and allergens of Croatian Food Agency.

Grain quality; Storing and milling of cereals; Rheology and chemistry of dough; Bread industry and processing; Pasta processing; Application and advantages of extrusion technology in the food industry; Organic food production and Food chemistry

Dr. Sanaa Ragaee has been working as Cereal Program Manager and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Food Science at the University of Guelph, Canada since 2005 until present. She received her PhD degree in the field of grain chemistry and biochemistry from the University of Saskatchewan, Canada. Dr. Ragaee has extensive research experiences working with the grain industry in Canada including millers, bakers and food developers. She is highly skilled in the fields of grain chemistry and biochemistry. Her research areas include ingredient interactions and functionality, modifying non-gluten proteins for improved gluten-free food products, functionality of different prebiotics for the frozen dough industry, developing high fiber wheat products for the functional food industry, wheat quality, and effect of processing on bioactive components in grains. All research projects in Dr. Ragaee laboratory are supported by several food industries in Canada.

Her research areas include ingredient interactions and functionality, modifying non-gluten proteins for improved gluten-free food products, functionality of different prebiotics for the frozen dough industry, developing high fiber wheat products for the functional food industry, wheat quality, and effect of processing on bioactive components in grains.

Poirier has been employed at MTSU since 2005. She received her B.S. and M.S. degrees in Family and Consumer Sciences from Florida State University and University of Arizona. Her Ph.D. was received in 1998 from Florida International University in Miami, Florida in Adult Education/Human Resources Development focusing on health-related quality of life within a large urban population. Prior to coming to MTSU, Dr. Poirier taught three years at Zayed University in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Additionally, she has worked at the University of Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Florida International University, Florida Atlantic University, University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Service, and the Provincial Government of Alberta, Canada. Dr. Poirier has more than 15 years of international teaching experience working in culturally diverse environments.

Her strengths include creating innovative educational programs with a focus on food and culture, identifying appropriate nutrition outreach efforts to solve community problems, and empowering students for successful careers.

I hold a BSc in Pharmacology and Toxicology (from the University of East London-UK), an MSc in Neurophysiology (from University College London-UK), a Post-Graduate Certificate In Academic Practice (from Manchester Metropolitan University), and a PhD in Human physiology (specialising in Pharmaco-genetics at University College London-UK). My research links with institutions around the globe are maintained through my roles as grant reviewers for 10 awarding bodies worldwide, peer-reviewer for 20 journals, 3 journal editorial board memberships, research panel membership for the British Physiological Society as well as being part of the scientific committee for international conferences such as the WCAA (World Congress on Active Ageing).

Nutrition & Diet

Suzie Waddingham has been an Accredited Practising Dietitian for 20 years, with a passion for public health nutrition, evaluation and creating healthy eating among children. She has worked at a community and state government level, and more recently in academia.

She is finishing her doctorate, which presents a new way of approaching healthy eating habits among children.

Prof. Min-Hsiung Pan completed his PhD in 1996-2000 in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from College of Medicine, National Taiwan University. Currently he is a Distinguished Professor in Institute of Food Science and Technology, National Taiwan University. The major research focus of my laboratory is to understand the molecular mechanisms responsible for natural dietary compounds on human diseases and carcinogenesis. He won the Outstanding Research Award of National Science Council in 2011 and the Ta-You Wu Memorial Award of National Science Council, Taiwan 2007. He was awarded with the 46th Ten Outstanding Young People, Taiwan in 2008 and elected Fellow in the Agricultural & Food Chemistry Division of the American Chemical Society, 2014. He is author of more than 270 articles with 8579 Citations, several chapters in 12 books and having H-index- 47.

His current research interests focus on the discovery and development of novel nutraceuticals that can be used in functional foods/dietary supplements to prevent chronic diseases such as cancer, inflammatory condition, epigenetic regulation, liver fibrosis and obesity.

Dr. R. te Biesebeke has a PhD from the Top Institute Food and Nutrition, the Wageningen University and Research Centre in the Netherlands, a M.Sc. in Biology from the University of Utrecht, and holds a Biochemistry Engineering (Ing) degree from Saxion Polytechnics (the Netherlands). He started his career in R&D in Molecular Biology in the Unilever Research Laboratory (the Netherlands), followed by Biochemical Research in the Laboratoire de Biochimi of the Ecole Polytechnique (Paris, France) and as PhD fellow in TNO Quality of life (the Netherlands). He had progressively evolving responsibilities in global operating businesses like FrieslandFoods (the Netherlands) and Nestlé (Switzerland). Dr. R. te Biesebeke is former task force member of ILSI Europe (Brussels, Europe) and External Expert of the World Health Organisation (Geneva, Switzerland). As Chief Scientific Officer and Chairman of the HNM Foundation.

He is interested in the Quality of life through the interaction of Human Genome, Nutrition & Microbiology