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THE PROGRAM IN NUTRITION AND HEALTH SCIENCES (NHS)
offers a Ph.D. degree through the Division of Biological and Biomedical
Sciences within the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Nutritional
Sciences has entered a renaissance with the increased recognition of the
role of nutrition in disease prevention and health maintenance. The goal
of the Program in Nutrition and Health Sciences is to provide students
with the necessary skills to investigate the relationship between nutrition
and human health, especially with respect to the prevention and control
of nutritional problems and related diseases. At a basic level, this includes
obtaining knowledge of how nutrients participate in biochemical processes
and affect molecular events such as control of gene expression. At a population
level, the goals are to obtain a better understanding of the causes and
consequences of variations in nutritional intakes and status in order
to improve dietary practices and to enhance health on a national and international
level. The program integrates the fields of nutrition and public health
sciences because many of the important questions of human health involve
the interface between these disciplines.
 The
two major facets of modern nutrition that the program utilizes are molecular/cellular
and population/epidemiologic. By combining the expertise of scientists
at Emory University, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
the Carter Center, local universities and other organizations in the metropolitan
Atlanta community, training is obtained with an integrative perspective.
Faculty and students are generally identified with one or two areas of
emphasis; however, collaboration among members is facilitated by shared
seminars, joint teaching and research.
EDUCATIONAL AND RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES:
The core curriculum utilizes faculty from different disciplines to provide
broad expertise in: basic research on the molecular mechanisms underlying
normal and abnormal cell physiology; the elucidation of the genetic basis
for an organism's response to environmental factors; development of new
indices for assessing nutritional status, exposure to environmental toxins,
etc.; epidemiologic studies and intervention trials to understand how
nutrients relate to disease; clinical studies in disease prevention, treatment
and rehabilitation; and an understanding of these factors in the context
of nutritional and international issues of public health.
Students may enter the program with a specific interest in one of the
areas of emphasis, but the nature of the first year curriculum encourages
students to explore all areas of nutritional sciences. During the first
year, students take formal coursework, participate in seminars and discussion
groups, and attend seminars given by Emory faculty and visiting scientists.
They also begin research with faculty members selected in consultation
with the Director of Graduate Studies. By the end of the third semester,
the student is expected to choose a faculty adviser and to start development
of a dissertation.
In later years, the student will develop an individualized program of
instruction that would span more than one area of emphasis. Additional
courses will then be taken in other areas to prepare the student to meet
future challenges in Nutrition and Health Sciences research.
The Program in Nutrition and Health Sciences is comprised of faculty
members representing the Graduate Division of Biological and Biomedical
Sciences, which includes faculty from the School of Medicine, School of
Public Health, Emory College and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention. Within the program are areas of focus on molecular and
cellular nutrition, clinical nutrition, and population nutrition, including
international nutrition and nutritional epidemiology and surveillance.
The research interests of the faculty fall into three major areas:
- BIOCHEMISTRY, MOLECULAR AND CELL BIOLOGY
- CLINICAL AND PREVENTIVE NUTRITION
- POPULATION NUTRITION
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