Human Nutrition

Dr. Keith West, Jr., Director

The goals of the Human Nutrition program are to

• develop new, practical approaches for the assessment of nutritional status
• improve understanding of the biochemical and metabolic processes associated with nutritional diseases
• propose effective strategies for the prevention of those diseases

As part of the Department of International Health, the program focuses on nutritional issues of developing countries, although it also works on domestic issues in coordination with the Center for Human Nutrition. The multidisciplinary nature of nutrition is reflected in the program's faculty, which includes pediatricians, biochemists, epidemiologists, physiologists, anthropologists, and biostatisticians. Beyond their primary specialty, all program faculty have expertise in public health nutrition and in field work in developing countries.

The program provides training leading to both the Master of Health Science (MHS) and doctoral (PhD) degrees in Human Nutrition. The objective of the program is to provide students with specific foundations and the practical skills to address major nutrition-related public health problems.

Information on Degrees Offered by Human Nutrition