Students
NHS students are doing amazing things! There is too much to list everything here, but here is a snapshot of some of their work.
Md. Masum Ali
Year of Entry: 2024
Previous Education: University of Dhaka (BS, Nutrition and Food Science , MS, Nutrition and Food Science), University College Cork (MS, Food Security Policy and Management)
Faculty Mentor: TBD
Research Interests: Food security and nutrition policy, dietary assessment, micronutrient deficiencies, complementary feeding and child growth, maternal nutrition and birth outcomes, nutritional epidemiology, surveillance, non-communicable disease (hypertension and diabetes), nutritional epigenetics, program evaluation.
Recent Work: Google Scholar
Year of Entry: 2020
Previous Education: Saint Louis University (BS, Nutrition & Dietetics, RD, MS Nutrition & Dietetics, MPH)
Faculty Mentor: Aryeh Stein
Research Interests: developmental origins of adult disease, epigenetics, early-life nutrition interventions, food security
Recent Work: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=FSgKw1MAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao
Year of Entry: 2021
Previous Education: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (BA, Anthropology); Emory University (MPH, Epidemiology)
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Jean Welsh
Research Interests: Maternal and child nutrition, childhood obesity, chronic disease surveillance
Recent Work: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=BOYnnJoAAAAJ
Year of Entry: 2019
Previous Education: Northern Michigan University (BS, Sports Science), University of Wyoming (MS, Kinesiology and Health)
Faculty Mentor: Terry Hartman
Research Interests: Dietary patterns, dietary intake methods, plant-based nutrition, cardiometabolic disease prevention, physical activity
Recent Work: https://scholar-google-com.proxy.library.emory.edu/citations?user=7RNGCPwAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao
Moses Ekwueme
Year of Entry: 2021
Previous Education: Imo State University (BS Nutrition and Dietetics); London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine MS Nutrition for Global Health
Faculty Mentor:
Research Interests: Design, implementation, and evaluation of community-based interventions aimed at improving micronutrient status of women and children
Jenna Feeley
Year of entry: 2023
Previous education: University of Maryland (B.S., Nutrition and Food Science)
Mentor: Francisco Pasquel
Research interests: The intersection between nutrition and chronic health conditions, the gut-brain axis, the microbiome, metabolomics, and maternal and child nutrition
Recent Work: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=BDz1Ho8AAAAJ
Year of Entry: 2021
Previous Education: Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán (BS, Nutrition), Instituto Nacional de Salud Pública (MS, Clinical Nutrition), Instituto de Estudios Universitarios (MS, Health Institutions Management).
Faculty Mentor: TBD
Research Interests: Translational nutrition, immunometabolic diseases, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, omics sciences
Recent Work: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/lucia%20a.gonzalez%20ramirez.1/bibliography/public/
Year of Entry: 2022
Previous Education: Washington University in St. Louis (MPH, Global Health) & Fisk University (BA, Biology)
Mentor: Dr. Usha Ramakrishnan
Research Interests: Early child nutrition, especially human milk feeding and its impact on individual, family, and population health across the life course; global maternal-child health; implementation science; Sub-Saharan Africa and the Black diaspora
Recent work: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?as_ylo=2018&q=Aishat+Gambari&hl=en&as_sdt=0,11
Helaina Huneault
Year of Entry: 2020
Previous Education: University of Windsor (BHK, Kinesiology), Wayne State University (RDN, Nutrition and Dietetics)
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Miriam Vos
Research Interests: Nutritional metabolomics & lipidomics, precision nutrition, cardiometabolic health, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, obesity, gut microbiome, epigenetics
Year of entry: 2023
Previous education: University of Dhaka, Bangladesh (BSc & MSc, Food and Nutrition), Wageningen University, The Netherlands (MSc, Nutrition and Health)
Mentor: TBD
Research Interests: Maternal and child nutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, breastfeeding, complementary feeding, child growth and development, non-communicable diseases (heart disease, cancer, disease, and diabetes).
Recent Work: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=5nJlzmkAAAAJ
Laura Klein
Year of Entry: 2024
Previous Education: University of Texas at Austin (BSA Biochemistry, BA History), UT Health Science Center (MPH Epidemiology)
Faculty Mentor: TBD
Research Interests: nutritional epidemiology, cancer, nutritional interventions, precision nutrition, food is medicine, gut microbiome, aging
Year of Entry: 2022
Previous Education: Yale University (BA, Sociology), Yale School of Public Health (MPH, Chronic Disease Epidemiology)
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Mohammed K. Ali
Research Interests: cardiometabolic diseases, obesity, global health, implementation science, health system strengthening
Recent Work: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=F8CtjroAAAAJ
Leandra Lacayo
Year of Entry: 2023
Previous Education: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (BSc, Psychology), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (MPH, Nutrition),
Mentor: TBD
Research Interests: Chronic disease prevention, food insecurity, implementation science, health disparities, food equity, global health
Zhongyu Li
Year of Entry: 2023
Previous education: University of Washington (BS, Biology), Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (MSPH, Human Nutrition)
Faculty Mentor: TBD
Research Interests: chronic disease (cancer, diabetes, and obesity) prevention, Food is Medicine, implementation science, cost effectiveness, nutritional epidemiology, nutrigenetics, precision nutrition.
Recent work: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=dbIKtu4AAAAJ&hl=en
Gahyun “Josie” Lim
Year of Entry: 2023
Previous Education: Kyung Hee University (BS Food and Nutrition, MS Food and Nutrition)
Faculty Mentor: Drs. Young-Mi Go and Dean Jones
Research Interests: OMICs Technologies, Nutritional Biology, Metabolic Diseases Recent Work: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=H-W6VsQAAAAJ&hl=en&inst=15365353816232672843
Jane Obi
Year of Entry: 2019
Previous Education: Georgia State University (BS, Nutrition); Baylor (BS); Georgia Southern (MPH, Epidemiology)
Faculty Mentor: Mary Beth Weber
Research Interests: Contextual factors surrounding obesity prevalence & prevention; health disparities; retail food environments; systems science; chronic disease prevention
Year of Entry: 2022
Previous Education: Hallym University (BS, Food Science and Nutrition; MS, Food Science and Nutrition)
Faculty Mentor: Jessica Alvarez, Joshua Chandler
Research Interests: Omics, Pathophysiology, Precision Nutrition, Body Composition, Molecular Nutrition, Cell Biology
Recent Work: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=hVIUiEEAAAAJ&hl=en
Hannah Posluszny
Year of Entry: 2024
Previous Education: Rutgers University (BS, Nutritional Sciences- Dietetics Option), Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (MSPH/RDN, International Health- Human Nutrition)
Faculty Mentor: TBD
Research Interests: Life course epidemiology, body composition, growth, metabolism, the nutrition transition, double burden of malnutrition, maternal and child nutrition
Recent Work: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/hannah.posluszny.1/bibliography/public/
Josh Preston
Year of Entry: 2023
Previous Education: University of Kentucky (BSc, Biology), Emory University School of Medicine (MD, in progress)
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Dean Jones
Research Interests Aging, metabolism, biomarker discovery, endocrinology, nutritional interventions, critical care nutrition, women's health and menopause, biology of sex differences, cardiometabolic disease, type II diabetes, exposomics, maternal and child health, toxicology
Recent Work: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=_ZUkfa4AAAAJ&hl=en
Year of Entry: 2022
Previous Education: University of Hertfordshire, UK (BSc, Nutrition), University College London, UK (MSc, Clinical and Public Health Nutrition)
Faculty Mentor: Dr. Solveig A. Cunningham
Honors: 2024-2025 Emory Global Diabetes Center Doctoral Support Fund
Research Interests: Diabetes epidemiology, nutritional epidemiology, population health survey, birth cohorts, maternal and child health, and obesity and obesity-related chronic conditions and diseases.
Recent Work: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=QeD94y8AAAAJ
Year of Entry: 2020
Previous Education: University of Ghana (BSc, Nutrition and Food Science), University of Nottingham (MPH, International Public Health)
Faculty Mentor: Shivani A. Patel
Research Interests: Maternal and child health, nutritional epidemiology, cardiometabolic health, food systems, and nutrition policies
Recent Work: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&authuser=3&user=eD2RG5QAAAAJ
Selin Sergin
Year of Entry: 2023
Previous Education: Michigan State University (BS, Nutritional Sciences)
Mentor: TBD
Research Interests: Global health nutrition, nutrition policies and programs, micronutrient nutrition, nutritional biomarkers, and health inequities
Ana Maria Ramirez Tovar
Year of Entry: 2024
Previous Education: Universidad de Los Andes (MD, Medicine)
Faculty Mentor: TBD
Research Interests: Child obesity and cardiometabolic health, microbiome, MASLD genetics.
Recent Work: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9038-6589
Wei-Hsuan “Wendy” Lee
Year of Entry: 2024
Previous Education: Emory University (BS Biology), University of Cambridge (MPhil Epidemiology), Emory University School of Medicine (MD, in progress)
Faculty Mentor: TBD
Research Interests: micronutrient malnutrition, nutritional epidemiology, T2DM and related comorbidities
Chin-An “Simon” Yang
Year of Entry: 2021
Previous Education: National Taiwan University (BS Biochemical Science and MS Biochemical Science and Technology)
Faculty Mentor: TBD
Research Interests: Non-communicable diseases, nutritional -omics, gut microbiome, precision nutrition, nutritional biomarkers
Xinyu “Jocelyn” Zhu
Year of Entry: 2021
Previous Education: McGill University (BSc. Nutrition); The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (MPH, Nutrition)
Faculty Mentor: TBD
Research Interests: nutrition policy (SSB tax, restaurant menu labeling, nutrition education, etc.), public health nutrition interventions aiming to address food insecurity among underserved population.